How can you give old concrete a second chance?
Imagine a plot that was once bustling with steel industry, but now lies vacant and waiting for new life. This is the story of Porte Ouest, a 100-hectare site in the western part of Charleroi, Belgium. A team of experts, is working on a Master plan to revive this plot and bring it back to its full potential, by reusing materials and implementing a circular economy.
Maximizing opportunities
The multidisciplinary team of Studio Vigano – Sweco with IdeaConsult, Origine, and de Trame is leading the project to create sustainable growth in Porte Ouest. This area, which used to be mainly steel industry, now consists of vacant industrial sites and still-active industry. The Master Plan aims to create a new combination of functions and uses with a predominantly industrial character, whilst bearing in mind the economic, social, and environmental potential of this strategic site on the scale of the Charleroi Metropolitan area and the Walloon Region.
The goal is to maximize the potential of circular economy in a broad sense, including new business models like product-as-a-service and sharing economy, to create an efficient and sustainable use of raw materials.
We consider materials on-site to verify both their quality and quantity, ensuring they meet the criteria for reuse. Therefore, it is mainly concrete and steel that are given a new life.
We consider materials on-site to verify both their quality and quantity, ensuring they meet the criteria for reuse. Therefore, it is mainly concrete and steel that are given a new life.
Companies in symbiosis
The project prioritizes transnaturality with a landscape that is considered an evolving resource that can contribute to the production of renewable energy or to the process of soil treatment and regeneration. The potential for circularity and symbiosis between future companies are also fundamental themes of this Master plan, in particular with a view to saving energy and minimizing their environmental impact.
With this master plan, Porte Ouest can become a thriving hub of industry and innovation, creating jobs and sustainable growth for the region. It’s a story of transformation and renewal, a testament to the power of circular economy to bring new life to old plots.
