Project

open workroom Houses for the common good

Houses for the common good are the places where together we care, learn, meet, organise, find support and belong. The collective resources that make society. The third edition of the open workroom addresses the loss of public infrastructure and changing societal questions together to support a radical and necessary shift: from a building stock trapped in sectoral logics and no longer matching today’s needs, to a dynamic network of societal infrastructure driven by local demand. 

Renovating our community infrastructure is a major challenge. Not just physically, but because its original programmes rarely fit today's needs, pushing more public real estate onto the private market. Meanwhile, in an increasingly diverse, ageing and individualised society, demand for places proximity, encounter and community keeps growing. Two forces are pulling in opposite directions, each one making the other more urgent. 

The third edition of the open workroom takes as its mission to build the collective strategy that can turn this double trend around. 

Five inspiring projects point the way: de Boomgaard, Molenwest, Globe Aroma, the Holy Cross Church of Boekhoutte and the Patrimoniumscan (translates to building-stock scan) of the village core Aartselaar are portrayed by filmmakers Bertrand Lafontaine and Michael Lombarts. The video documentaries reveal how Houses for common good become possible: not from sectoral goals, but from who uses the space, who shapes it, how it adapts to local needs, who owns it, who pays for it, and who keeps it alive. 

Together with the Nine keys for future-oriented societal infrastructure, they form the basis for the exhibition, allowing us to collectively sketch the conditions to realise Houses for the common good beyond one site, one coalition or one opportunity.  

PROGRAMME 

Yes indeed, just as the last two editions (operation energy neighbourhoods and sponge landscapes), the open workroom invites you to roll up your sleeves and join in! The open workroom functions as a setting for a programme of closed workshops and public talks. 

A series of four public talks forms the framework for the open workroom's programme. The people driving the exhibited projects present their practical or research experience, followed by a roundtable discussion that allows us to co-envision the strategy to realize many Houses for the common good.  

Thursday October 1st, 2026 – March 31st, 2027 
Visit the exhibition for free on open Thursdays between 10:00 – 18:00 or request a guided tour for your group. 

Thursday October 1st, 2026 – OPENING NIGHT  
18:00 – Guided tours  
19:00 – Beyond the  brief:  Designing  Houses for the  common  good  [register here] 
What does it mean to design Houses for the common good? Beyond designing with materials, structures and technical solutions alone, a thorough understanding of local needs and societal questions is fundamental to shaping the physical space for a community of users. New relationships between client, designer and user are transforming the role of architects. Thinking outside the rigid lines of the CAD drawing, they bring together user coalitions and explore actual needs through co-creative processes. The design becomes intertwined with organisational and financial strategies. Throughout, the principle of sufficiency, or the ‘economy of enough’ is guiding: how do we create buildings that are sufficient for today and adaptable for the future? Through various cases, examples, we explore Houses for the common good as a new design practice. 

Tuesday November 17th, 2026 
18:00 – Guided tours  
19:00 – A house of many: the economics of collective ownership  [register here] 

Thursday February 18th, 2027 
18:00 – Guided tours  
19:00 –  Not just bricks: empowering the  people’s  work  [register here] 

Thursday March 18th, 2027  
18:00 – Guided tours 
19:00 –  For the common good: setting targets for a post-sectoral strategy  [register here] 

PARTNERS 

The open workroom Houses for the common good builds on the insights of project initiators, public authorities, civic organizations, funding organizations, designers, developers, users, and communities. Both the programme and the exhibition could only take shape thanks to the valuable contributions of the quality committee that accompanied its development: Peter Bosschaert (De Ambrassade), Bertrand Lafontaine (Architectura), Gunter Bousset (Team Coördinatie Brussel), Inge Van de Walle (Cultuur OP/TIL), An-Sofie Gysemans (Cultuur OP/TIL), Elke Verhaeghe (De Federatie), Bart Verhaeghe (De Federatie), Winnie Poncelet (Found&Fuel), Roel De Ridder (Platform Toekomst Parochiekerken), Eva De Baerdemaeker (PLEK-WERK), Kätti Robb (perspective.brussels), Caroline Englebert (VGC), Christophe Cousaert (VIPA), Eline Aerts (Team VlaamsBouwmeester) and Jim Segers (City Mine(d)). 

The open workroom is an initiative by Workroom in close collaboration with PLEK-WERK, with the support of the Flemish Government, Department of Culture.  

Would you like to become a partner or contribute to the open workroom programme? Contact us: openworkoom [​at​] workroom.org

Duration: October 1, 2026 - March 31, 2027

Location: Pachecolaan 34 (6th floor), 1000 Brussels 

Featuring work of: 1010au, B-ILD, Buurtwerking de Boomgaard, Collectief Noord, LIVEZ, Gemeente Aartselaar, Generiek, Globe Aroma, Miss Miyagi, Pepijn Kennis, Samen voor Morgen, Stad Leuven, Stadsmakersfonds, Studio Campus, Veneco

Graphic design: studio de Ronners

Scenography: Anton Parys

With the support of: Flemish Government, Department of Culture

Request a guided tour: through the link

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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.