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THE ENERGY FUTURE OF EXISTING BUILDINGS IN BRUSSELS: BETWEEN PRESERVATION AND PERFORMANCE

personality. The modernists called this quality: “unité dans la diver-sité, diversité dans l’ unité” unity in diversity, diversity in unity.

THE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Recently, the Brussels legislation regarding urban development has begun to allow large groupings of buildings belonging to different owners to be managed by heritage management plans. Thanks to the management plan, most buildings are exempt from building permits and subsidies are easier to obtain. The management plan for Le Logis and Floréal was the first in the new legal urban development framework in Brussels; the plan was approved by the Brussels Government on 23/05/2014 and published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 01/09/2014. The first steps towards the management plan were taken back in 1999, i.e. before the heritage protection act. The composition principles (“unity in diversity, diversity in unity”) had to be unravelled, technical details measured and the diversity of the local heritage mapped out. Also the form and content of a management plan as an instrument still had to be first invented and then refined.

In 2000, an inventory was made of the 1,060 listed houses. In an inventory, the condition of the houses is assessed and documented with the intention of applying the heritage protection act. The inventory allows the nature of the works and subsidies to be determined as well as any violations of the heritage protection act.

In 2001, the houses and the design of their surroundings as a whole were both listed. In the period 2006-2008, the first-generation documents from 2000-2002 were complemented with new themes and detail relating to built-up elements in the surroundings. Finally, in May 2014 the official management plan became a reality. The management plan describes the permitted works both in text and with drawings:

• to the outer shell of the dwellings: the façades, exterior wood work, roofs and garages;

• in the surroundings: the garden sheds, parapets and banisters, retaining walls and technical installations (energy, water, tele phone, etc.).

The objectives of the management plan are:

• to preserve the principle of “unity in diversity, diversity in unity";

• to cater to contemporary needs (thermal, acoustic, hygiene) without damaging the heritage value of the buildings;

• to avoid the usual permission procedures for the above-mentioned works.

Two exceptions remain subject to permission: insulating the façades and treating damp in walls and façades. An audit demonstrating that the intended works are effective, of priority and without any adverse side effects for the building and its inhabitants must be carried out prior to these works being undertaken. The previous intervention (pp. 24-34), by Julien Bigorgne, clearly demonstrated that damp problems only become worse if treated incorrectly.

The authorities act as coaches for the management plan. Specifically, this means:

• informing, documenting and raising awareness regarding the heritage;

• providing well-researched solutions;

• granting subsidies.

The management plan functions in relation to two other concepts, and distinguishes itself from these:

• The reference situation describes the technical, historical and artistic individuality and the coherence of the heritage, including the adaptations to current needs.

• The management plan for heritage describes all of the possibilities permitted to realise the reference situation.

• The projects are the descriptions of the specific works owners are carrying out on their property.

Fig . 4

The coherence in the larger whole of the garden city originates from the complexity of the composition, more specifically the arrangement of the elements and houses on different scale levels



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