PROCEEDINGS OF ONE-DAY SEMINAR - The energy future of existing buildings in Brussels: between preservation and performance - 11/12/14 - (Page 86)
ONLINE
BRUSSELS HERITAGE - ONE-DAY SEMINAR - 11/12/2014
THE BRUNFAUT TOWER
PRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
CHALLENGES OF A RENOVATION
VINCENT DEGRUNE
ARCHITECT/ENGINEER, MUNICIPALITY OF MOLENBEEK-SAINT-JEAN
THIS CASE STUDY RAISES THE QUESTION OF THE FUTURE OF TOWER BLOCKS,
THE HERITAGE VALUE OF WHICH IS, AT FIRST GLANCE, NOT IMMEDIATELY EVIDENT.
MANY EXAMPLES OF SUCH CURRENTLY UNFASHIONABLE BUILDINGS ARE TODAY
THREATENED WITH DEMOLITION, AND NOT JUST IN BRUSSELS. FACED WITH THIS
POSSIBILITY, THE MUNICIPALITY OF MOLENBEEK-SAINT-JEAN COMMISSIONED
THE PARISIAN ARCHITECTURAL FIRM LACATON-VASSAL & DRUOT TO CONDUCT
A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN STUDY TO ASSESS THE IMPACT AND FEASIBILITY OF
VARIOUS RENOVATION OPTIONS.
I have been fascinated by this project to renovate the Brunfaut tower
(fig. 1) and the issues raised by the
project for more than four years.
However, the work has yielded
more questions than answers,
which is probably a very good
thing. My presentation is not overly
technical but rather aims to extend
the notion of heritage to culture,
and that of energy performance to
sustainability.
The Brunfaut tower was not lucky
enough to have been designed by
a famous architect; it was little
known architect, J. Roggen and
his consulting engineer, M. Van
Wetter, who designed the building.
The absence of such renown has
probably contributed to the critical, even malicious, way in which
the structure is viewed today. It
is referred to as the kartonenblok
or "cardboard box" in the neighbourhood. The building is thus
perceived as a symbol of an era
when people were punished by
being piled on top of each other
in office buildings. We have tried
to immerse ourselves in the context in which it was built, which
is important when talking about
heritage. The Brunfaut tower was
built in 1966. At that time, the
ideal of modernity had to some
degree arrived in Belgium (and in
Brussels in particular), but some
twenty or thirty years behind the
United States and France. These
countries had been building based
on the Corbusian model since the
end of the war, with the strong,
simple idea that high-rise construction would provide a solution
both to urban sprawl and the preservation of ground space. Today,
the issue of tower blocks has
arisen again, but it seems that we
are no longer concerned about the
second notion, even though the two
are inextricably linked.
The 1960s were also a period of
great enthusiasm with regard to
mobility. For example, the Leopold II
86 | The Brunfaut tower. Presentation of the conceptual design challenges of a renovation.
viaduct was built to link the Expo '58
site to the city centre (fig. 2). This
structure was subsequently dismantled and rebuilt in Bangkok, where it
has recently been renovated. This
pretty amazing example of reuse
took a completely ground-breaking
approach to recycling.
A newspaper article from 9th
October 1966 was very useful
in helping us to understand the
extremely innovative and ambitious nature of the tower, not only
from a technical but also a social
perspective, as its construction
was aimed at effectively addressing problems with hygiene in this
"inner suburb" of Brussels. The
construction process was also
described in the article. It can be
seen that the building was completed in less than eight months,
with an extraordinarily sparing use
of resources and materials. Today,
a culture of performance predominates, whereas fifty years ago it
was a culture of efficiency that
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PROCEEDINGS OF ONE-DAY SEMINAR - The energy future of existing buildings in Brussels: between preservation and performance - 11/12/14
Contents
EDITORIAL
A WORD OF WELCOME
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS WHEN RENOVATING?
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE: COMPATIBILITY CHALLENGES?
URBAN FORMS, TYPOLOGY AND IMPROVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF OLD BRUSSELS BUILDINGS
THE LISTED HOUSES OF THE LE LOGIS AND FLORÉAL GARDEN CITIES ADAPTATIONS TO CURRENT ENERGY AND COMFORT NEEDS
FINANCIAL IMPACT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES IN LE LOGIS AND FLORÉAL
ANALYSIS OF UNCERTAINTIES IN DYNAMIC THERMAL SIMULATIONS FOR OLD HOUSING: A CASE STUDY OF ONE APPARTMENT AND ONE HOUSE IN THE PARIS REGION
RISK ANALYSIS FOR APPLYING INTERIOR INSULATION IN HISTORICAL BUILDINGS: A CASE STUDY OF THE FORMER VETERINARY SCHOOL IN ANDERLECHT
IEDER ZIJN HUIS: THE RENOVATION OF A MODERNIST SOCIAL HOUSING TOWER BLOCK
HE BRUNFAUT TOWER: PRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN CHALLENGES OF A RENOVATION
PRESENTATION AND RESULTS OF THE “PLAGE” PROJECTS LOCAL ACTION PLANS FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT
THE BELGIAN BUILDING RESEARCH INSTITUTE: A CONTRIBUTION TO HERITAGE MAINTENANCE EXPLORING THE TRAINING OF HERITAGE ADVISORS SPECIALISING IN ENERGY
SUSTAINABLE RENOVATION OF A BRUSSELS HOUSE: A CHALLENGE FOR BUILDING TRADESMEN
CONCLUSION
COLOPHON
PROCEEDINGS OF ONE-DAY SEMINAR - The energy future of existing buildings in Brussels: between preservation and performance - 11/12/14
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