Bekaert site
Collective housing
The former industrial Bekaert site in Hemiksem is being redeveloped into a residential landscape along the river Scheldt, within a green park environment: this way, 'Park Aan De Stroom' will be the catalyst that breathes new life into Hemiksem's identity as a municipality along the Scheldt.
Park Aan De Stroom will be locally anchored and sustainably integrated. We keep the history of clay mining, brickmaking and steel wire production in mind, but the landscape, the relationship with the village fabric of Hemiksem and its location along the Scheldt are important elements that we integrate into our design as well.
Within this historical, industrial context, we design homes that convey a powerful architectural language with great legibility for each individual dwelling. Besides a house with private garden and integrated bicycle storage, each resident has access to an additional, green outdoor space: the private, communal inner area.
In part by clustering parking on one location per building block, the new buildings are subordinate to the landscape and the green space is paramount. Together with the planned layout of the Scheldt banks, this creates a valuable ecological connection to the other green areas along the Scheldt, including the Abbey Park.
We choose materials that preserve the link with the industrial past: the typical red bricks, stately grid structures and ceramic elements refer to the former, locally based Gilliot factory.
Finally, we include all possibilities for sustainable construction. These involve mobility (facilitating multimodal travel, giving priority to pedestrians and bicycle-inclusive construction), water management (optimal use of rainwater and grey water recovery), renewable energy (a local heat network and a neighbourhood battery), circular solutions (future-oriented structures and expansion possibilities in CLT), biodiversity (application of indigenous species and extensive green management), and so on.
Park Aan De Stroom will be an area of connection that not only looks back but, thanks to its historical roots, also builds on Hemiksem's village fabric and its connection to the Scheldt.
