After a successful public-private partnership, the Residence "La Vallée du Hoyoux" in Huy (Belgium) opened its doors in November 2019. A versatile complex including a residential care centre, assisted living apartments, a specialized care department, shops and parking spaces were built on an abandoned industrial site. To obtain a refined, attractive and sustainable result, the designers opted for Rockpanel facade boards. 

Used products
Rockpanel Colours RAL 9010 & RAL 7022
Rockpanel Woods Beech

Residence "La Vallée du Hoyoux" mainly consists of a residential care centre (114 rooms) and assisted living apartments (31 apartments). “The aim was to create a link between the city centre, the hospital and the Sainte-Catherine district, thus reviving some forgotten sites in the territory of Huy,” say the designers of B2Ai, one of the two architectural firms that were responsible for the design. Fabrice Rossi, manager at Bureau d’Architecture Henri Garcia, B2Ai’s partner in this project adds: “This project was the symbolic kick-off for the renewal of the site. In the development of "La Vallée du Hoyoux", we therefore focused on strong contextual elements, such as the surrounding landscape." 

Energetic and ecological performance 

“The new building had to belong to the absolute top in terms of energy and ecology,” Fabrice Rossi explains. “It was also important that the sustainable properties were reflected in the general aesthetics. Our design approach was primarily focused on reducing the energy demand of the complex based on well-considered choices with regard to the building envelope. This allowed us to limit energy demand without sacrificing comfort and maximize natural energy gains through passive design strategies.”

Rockpanel Colours and Woods 

The architects opted for Rockpanel facade cladding, as it offered many advantages, including a combination of robustness and flexibility. Fabrice Rossi: “Initially we thought of white render, but we quickly abandoned that idea to limit maintenance costs for the client.” In total, almost 4,000 m² of these low-maintenance Rockpanel facade boards were used, of which 2,800 m² were Rockpanel Colours boards in RAL 9010 and RAL 7022 – and 1,000 m² Rockpanel Woods Beech. Fabrice Rossi was especially very pleased with the wide range of colours and designs, the cost-effectiveness of the boards, their dimensional stability and the fact that they can be installed very quickly.