Who heats the city? – News – Architecture Workroom Brussels

Ghent aims to be climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this, all buildings will have to be heated using fossil-free heat rather than gas. Beyond a technical challenge, this presents the city with major societal choices: who takes the initiative? Who bears the risks of the necessary investments? How can heating remain affordable for everyone? And what role do residents, businesses, network operators and public authorities play? 

From 9 October to 13 November 2026, ‘Who heats the city?’ will take over the old library next to the City Hall. It is not a traditional exhibition, but a temporary space for development and dialogue for everyone involved in the heating transition. Through seven questions, the space explores how a fossil-free Ghent can become a reality: ranging from the choices residents make today to the planning, financing and organisation of collective heating systems at neighbourhood and city level.

The space brings together reference projects, maps, diagrams and practical examples, and for five weeks will serve as the backdrop for discussions, workshops, lectures and working sessions. Various lessons learnt from the Muide Meulestede Living Lab are showcased, supplemented by examples from other Flemish cities involved in the 100 Neighbourhoods Platform. ‘Who heats the city?’ is an invitation to collectively map out the next step: how do we move from isolated pilot projects to a widely supported and affordable heating transition for all residents of Ghent?

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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.