British studio David Chipperfield Architects has completed the Hertogensite residential complex in Leuven, Belgium, with a series of interconnected brick-clad forms.

Situated on a narrow site between a fragment of the city’s medieval wall and a branch of the river Dyle, the complex comprises a 14-storey tower, nine townhouses and a small apartment block united “into one coherent building”.

David Chipperfield Architects has the Hertogensite housing in Belgium

“The design process was influenced by two main questions: how to tie together three different typologies into one coherent building, and how the building should respond to its unique surroundings,” said David Chipperfield Architects associate Julien Gouiric.

“The townhouses, a small apartment building and a tower were unified by the architectural expression of each unit,” he told Dezeen.

The complex unites three typologies into a single building

Hertogensite sits at the centre of a masterplan involving the redevelopment of a former hospital campus, which aims to reintegrate the site into the surrounding city.

Grey-toned brick cladding is used throughout the 8,000-square-metre complex to unify its three typologies, while also emphasising their sculptural character.

The tower can be seen within the Leuven skyline

Rising above the apartment block and townhouses, the tower is intended as a symbol of the new neighbourhood and can be seen within the Leuven skyline.

Two apartments are hosted on each floor of the tower, while a penthouse sits at the top. Its lower floors are connected to a park and its upper floors look towards the city centre.

Geometric cut-outs in the tower host inset balconies that alternate on either side of the tower – reflecting the height of each apartment unit.

“The mirroring of balconies resulted in openings in each corner, a key design move to make the building omnidirectional,” Gouiric said.

Geometric cut-outs contain the tower’s inset balconies

Sandwiched between Hertogensite’s tower and apartment block is the row of nine townhouses, each featuring similarly blocky forms with inset and protruding balconies.

The townhouses step up in plan from three storeys at the front to four storeys at the rear, where private gardens overlook a branch of the river Dyle.

“The stepping in plan of the townhouses enriches their relationship with the medieval wall, alleviating the narrow street in between,” Gouiric said.

A row of townhouses and apartment blocks sit adjacent to the tower

Bookending the Hertogensite development is the four-storey apartment block, which contains smaller flats, while also forming a connection between the townhouses and an existing building on the site.

Other residential buildings recently featured on Dezeen include an east London estate regeneration that draws on Scandinavian design principles and a cooperative housing block near Zurich that references “robust” industrial structures.

The photography is by Maxime Delvaux.

Project credits:

Architect: David Chipperfield Architects
Client: Resiterra nv
Directors: Benito Blanco, David Chipperfield, Mattias Kunz, Billy Prendergast
Project architect: Julien Gouiric
Team: Katie Jackson, Kelvin Jones, Peter Jurschitzka, Nayem Mohammad, Ele Mun, Jusin Park, Renato Pimenta, Joana Ribeiro, Gabor Tajnafoi, Oliver Ulmer
Local architect: Bureau Bouwtechniek
Structural engineer: Establis
MEP consultant: Creteq
Facade consultant: Bureau Bouwtechniek
Quantity surveyor: Bureau Bouwtechniek
General contractor: Vandeobos
Landscape architect: Wirtz International Landscape Architects

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