Masterplan Wilgenstraat Antwerp
This project focuses on the renewal of an ageing social housing neighbourhood in Antwerp. After the closure of the gasworks, the Wilgenstraat area became surrounded by modernist buildings that no longer meet contemporary living and comfort standards. AG Vespa and Woonhaven therefore opted for new construction to revitalise the area. Sweco drew up the master plan and the spatial quality report.
- Client
- AG Vespa + Woonhaven
- Location
- Antwerp
- Expertise
- Master planning, spatial quality report
- Partners
- Bovenbouw
Restructuring a historic social housing neighbourhood
After the closure of the gasworks, a modernist residential neighbourhood emerged around Wilgenstraat during the interwar period. Many of these buildings no longer comply with today’s living comfort and housing standards. AG Vespa and Woonhaven therefore decided not to retain most of the existing building stock and to replace it with new construction, based on an intelligently phased development strategy to avoid double relocation movements. At the same time, the site requires extensive remediation and the integration of additional neighbourhood-supporting functions. Sweco and Bovenbouw were selected as laureates of the design competition organised for this project.
Open park space and places for social interaction
The masterplan positions the site as part of a larger urban ‘superblock’ between Gasstraat and Halenstraat and translates this vision into three clear and legible building blocks within a car-free public framework. A new north–south connection cuts through the site, creating a strategic urban link between Park Spoor Noord and Borgerhout. A generous open park space structures this connection, providing breathing space within a dense urban context while also acting as a collective setting for social interaction and everyday use.
Robust building blocks at a human scale
The three building blocks are conceived as contemporary interpretations of the 19th-century urban block: robust, recognisable and firmly embedded in the urban fabric. Within this clear structure, strong emphasis is placed on human scale and urban refinement. Through a targeted architectural ‘toolbox’ of interventions such as articulated passages, chamfered corners, carefully detailed plinths, sheltered entrance zones and a nuanced façade rhythm, the massiveness of the blocks is softened and a direct relationship is created between the dwellings, the public realm and the surrounding neighbourhood.
all images © Sweco & Bovenbouw
