Project

Constructing a Water Plan assembled from a multitude of tangible places

The City of Brussels' water ambitions are impressive: by 2050, the city must be recognised on the global stage as a water city, where water is visible, managed in a circular system and accessible to everyone in the city. Moreover, water serves as a driving force for other transitions, such as the sustainable redesign of public space and improved quality of life in the city. How do we set in motion a new methodology for our approach to water, in which we don't redesign just one street, square or neighbourhood, but a multitude of them? A new generation of projects is required on different scales, for which a vision, models and forms of collaboration must be developed and tested in practice. The new Water Plan for the City of Brussels is the first major step in this direction.

The pressure flooding has exerted on Brussels in recent decades has led to a serious increase in hydraulic engineering expertise. At the same time, drought poses a major issue due to the changing climate, the effect of which has been acutely felt in recent summers. Technological or specific hydraulic engineering solutions alone no longer suffice: more space is needed for a healthy and resilient water system. However, space to achieve this is extremely scarce. Consequently, more than ever, the water issue poses an urban challenge. The Water Plan is focused on implementation and was devised in close cooperation with the City and its various services. The plan builds on the tools and knowledge already available to the City and complements them in areas where water needs more space. 

We compiled the new Water Plan for Brussels with the City and in association with Antea. The plan can be used as an operational roadmap or practical toolbox, which the city can effectively apply on different scales: from the level of a single dwelling to that of the city as a whole. We are not only defining the vision, but also ensuring it is translated into tangible places and concrete projects. In doing so, we are not producing unrealistic plans with new tools, but supplementing the tools the city already has in innovative and creative ways, so it can fulfil its ambitions for water. 

The plan was published in January 2023. The Water Plan uses water as a catalyst, which contributes to the realisation of the urban environment and can turn challenges into opportunities.

We formulated seven sites: urban territories where water issues are not only a threat but also an opportunity. For each site, we collected targeted input from various actors in the area to formulate a focused approach to those sites. 

Six water challenges are key to the Water Plan:

1 - Restoring and enhancing the invisible and fragmented hydrographic network 

2 - Increasing efforts to combat drought and heat stress 

3 - Increasing efforts to combat flooding 

4 - Improving the ecological quality of surface water and groundwater 

5 - Safeguarding access to water for all and boosting circular use 

6 - Increasing stakeholder engagement and implementing effective water policy

The project fiches, designed on different scales, define specific water actions for the City of Brussels. They are proposals for measures and collaboration to support the transition to sustainable and integrated water management, starting with everyday and recognisable places.

A Water City will not be achieved by 2050 with merely a handful of iconic projects; it will require a multitude of smaller projects that are part of the City's daily operations. Despite the scarce amount of available space, we are creating places for the major ambitions the City of Brussels wants to fulfil.

 

Year: 2020-2021

Commissioning parties: City of Brussels

Partners: Antea Group en Architecture Workroom Brussels

More information

Objects
Waterplan Brussel (NL) 36 MB
Plan Communal Eau (FR) 37 MB
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.