THE BUILDING AS A HUG

Embraced by your enviornment,

inside you are safe and free.

There are two perspectives on the hug: one from the outside and one from the inside.

Our building functions in the same way:

A brick exterior shows a warm building that feels inviting but maintains privacy inside. One sliver allows a permanent view into the building: the circulation.

The interior, is mostly open and protected by this exterior shell. People can move freely whilst always having a view into the interior garden, connecting all spaces together.

North facade

West facade

South facade

North facade

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The hug in its context

THE CIRCULATION AS THE VISIBLE HEART OF THE HUG

+4: staircase

The circulation as a symbol in the city and the park

The circulation as a meeting place, an inside-outside space and an additional storage space on each floor.

FRAMING THE CITY

The circulation creates a visual and psysical buffer between the hug and the Becopark, but it also frames our view:

- Views throughout the building create a clear frame around the new Becopark, and the city of Brussels.

- A view through the building, creates a frame on the industrial buildings of the Brussels harbour.

Frame on the city

Framing the city

A PUBLIC BUILDING OPEN TO ALL THE PUBLIC

The hug, a centre for drug addicts, should be a place where everyone feels welcome, and always serve as a public building for those who are most in need.

But the surrounding neighbourhood should also experience some advantages of having this prominent building in their area.

In order to maintain a link with the other residents, The Hug opens up its ground floor for community events. In this way the meeting rooms can be used outside of office hours -in the evenings and weekends- to house language courses, neighbourhood parties, or even sewing classes.

This allows the amazing work organisations like alléedukaai currently organise here to still take place once the building has been constructed.

0: weekdays 9h-17h: Meeting room

0: outside working hours:

meeting place for the neighbourhood

-1: Risk mitigation: injection room

Chapel of Nothing

Thierry De Cordier

NATURE AS A HEALER

The original call asks for a garden and two terraces.
The hug provides one multulevel garden, three interior terraces with green spaces and a large rooftop garden. In this way, the outdoor areas are more than doubled and every floor has a close link to green spaces.