News

What energy at the 100 Neighbourhoods Forum!

11. Jul 2025

On 30 June, the second edition of the 100 Neighbourhoods Forum took place: an inspiring day programme packed with lectures and working sessions that we were able to set up thanks to the cooperation of the Agentschap Binnenlands Bestuur, Minaraad, VITO, Flux50 and VVSG and with the cooperation of the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency, SAAMO, ODE Flanders and KU Leuven. 

In the morning, chairman Jan Verheeke launched the central question: how do we accelerate neighbourhood by neighbourhood towards a fossil-free living environment? For that acceleration, the 100 Neighbourhoods Platform wants to create a learning and development environment, for and by local pioneers. Joachim Declerck guided us through the breakthroughs already achieved by the pioneers. How can we now connect that passion with the ambitions of policymakers and (impact) investors to continue building a critical mass of projects and partnerships in the coming years?  

We learned from inspiring examples from abroad. Petra Schöfmann took us to the city-wide “Phasing Out Gas” programme in Vienna where different transition paths are becoming clear for different neighbourhoods in the city: from small-scale collective projects in lower-density zones to extending the central heat grid in the city centre. Eline van den Ende explained how the Dutch Collective Heat Act appoints municipalities as directors of the energy transition. Public participation in the heat company should simultaneously protect consumers and speed up the transition.  

In no fewer than eight different sessions, we then delved into concrete projects to unravel ingredients of a coherent framework: social housing projects and residents' initiatives as locomotives, bundling investments per neighbourhood, local heat plans as a strategic framework for local policy, ... 

We concluded the day with an animated panel discussion moderated by chairman of the day Jan Verheeke and Hanne Mangelschots. Ruben Baetens (KU Leuven), Britt Berghs (City of Antwerp), Dirk De Meyer (ECoOB), Joris Soens (Fluvius) and Eline van den Ende (Ministry of Climate and Green Growth, NL) said it straightforward: the energy transition requires a collective approach and this should take different forms depending on the context. Local actors such as municipalities, cooperatives and developers need a framework to shape their project and partnership. It requires a director to grasp challenges across policy domains and link different goals. And shaping overarching policies from the ground up then leads to significant efficiency gains in the process. We look forward to taking up this joint challenge with shared energy! 

More News
All News
22. Apr 2026

We are changing names!

Architecture Workroom Brussels becomes WORKROOM, House for Transformation  → more

21. Apr 2026

Want to join our team?

WORKROOM is looking for a new employee to join its committed and dynamic team.  → more

31. Mar 2026

Toward a Resilient Water Landscape Without Borders

Workshop day on Borderless Resilient Waterscapes within the framework of JCAR ATRACE → more

24. Mar 2026

Co-designing future oriented societal infrastructure

Closing session Learning Environment for Societal Infrastructure → more

16. Jul 2025

Open Workroom Sponge Landscapes: call for projects & objects

Send in your project or object and become part of the OPEN WORKROOM SPONGE LANDSCAPES!  → more

7. Jul 2025

A new organisational structure for Architecture Workroom

The board of Architecture Workroom Brussels is pleased to announce a new phase in its leadership and organisational structure. → more

EN FR NL
WORKROOM

Since 2010, Architecture Workroom Brussels has focused on the future of our living environment. The organisation began as a safe haven to address the link between space and societal transitions, aimed at fostering a futureproof design practice, commissioning and building culture.

It has now become evident that the transformation of our streets, neighbourhoods, and landscapes is both a prerequisite and a lever for achieving societal goals in synergy. Yet we observe that these transformations remain difficult to imagine and implement. They span so many sectors and involve so many actors that responsibility falls on everyone, and therefore, ultimately, on no one.

That is why we make it our mission to create the space that connects them. And with this refined mission comes a new name: WORKROOM, House for transformation. WORKROOM is the shared space where the future of our living environment is not only imagined but also organised.

We are currently taking the lead on three mission-driven transformations:

  • SOCIETAL INCUBATORS - By 2030, stakeholders from the youth, culture, sports, care and education sectors will join forces to create renewed societal spaces that tackle loneliness and counteract the fragmentation and pressure on public infrastructure.
  • FOSSIL-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS - By 2030, at least ten neighbourhoods will be underway with the transition to fossil-free energy in an inclusive and affordable way, with a view to completely phase-out fossil fuels by 2040.
  • SPONGE LANDSCAPES - By 2030, we will have achieved our water, agriculture and nature goals through a single, coherent approach at catchment area level, in which strong regional coalitions collectively enhance the landscape's sponge capacity.

To make these transformations a reality, WORKROOM works shoulder to shoulder with pioneering designers, local authorities, organisations and businesses, governments, knowledge institutions and impact investors.

Through co-creative design, we imagine shared pathways to the future in exhibitions, publications, innovation programmes and public programmes. These are the workrooms where we connect the actors capable of realising these transformations. From there, we design shared ownership and the organisational, funding and policy models that lead to real change.

The name is simpler. The stakes are higher. WORKROOM is the shared space where we tackle the social and spatial transformations that no one can achieve alone. In an era of polarisation, compartmentalisation and instability, that is perhaps the most radical thing we can do.