ONLINE BRUSSELS HERITAGE - ONE-DAY SEMINAR - 11/12/2014

insulation. Unfortunately, this is also often impossible from a heritage point of view because of historical buildings’ decors. Figure 3 we see elegant mouldings, colours and panelling. It is obvious that you cannot just glue insulation board onto this. Nor is this type of decor reserved solely for so-called “top-class” heritage. The interior of many Brussels middle-class homes are quite similar to this. This contributes to the richness of the Brussels heritage. Modern buildings and concrete structures do not suffer as much from the new, smooth look, but in these cases the technical challenge of solving cold bridges is often a difficult problem.

HISTORICAL WOODWORK

Let us now concentrate on the façade and the historical woodwork, the windows and doors. Each period, typology and architectural style is characterised by a different type of woodwork, bringing great diversity to the architectural heritage of Brussels. The windows and doors contribute as no other to the coherent image of the façade and the architecture and are in some cases even small works of art themselves (fig. 4 and 5). They bear witness to the technique and the craftsmanship of yesteryear. But they could also be considered elements of valuable and precious materials: 150 year old oak, for

Fig. 3

Dining room in the residence of architect Jamaer, 1876, Stalingradlaan 62, 1000 Brussels (© KIK-IRPA). The rich decors that decorate not only grand Brussels residences, but more modest homes too, make interior insulation impossible without removing the heritage elements.

Fig. 4

The windows and doors are an integral part of the façade architecture. Brugmannlaan 30, arch. Lesec et Quoilin, 1937 (© GOB).

Fig. 5

Diongre garden city, arch. J. Diongre, 1925, Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, (Ph. de Gobert© KCML). The replacement of the historical woodwork has radically altered the character of the façade.

18 | Architectural heritage and energy performance