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

1/3

The hug in its context

Entrances -

- Tadam
- General
- Home

General Zone -

The guard office with view over the general entrance, the central garden and the social buffer.

General Zone -

Multilevel garden that leads to minus one.

General Zone -

Bike Parking, space for waste and technical installations. The splitlevel above creates space for ventilation.

General Zone -

A higher ceiling lets natural light reach into the general zone.

Risk Mitigation Zone -

A drug usage center to create a safe place for drugusers and provide clean equipment.

General Zone -

Communal area, with sanitairy units, laundry room and a kitchen.

Administration Zone -

Public meeting rooms, open to all the public.

Outreach Workers -

Shared space, with sanitairy units and an office space.

Tadam -

Medicinal Drugusage Center

The lower splitlevel host the public areas.

Tadam -

The upper splitlevel host the more intimate areas, the drug usage rooms and consultation offices.

Administration Zone -

An landscape office , a terrace and cafetaria.

Home -

Communal areas for the residents of the home studios.

Home -

Studios of the Home.
Residents can stay here for one to three months.

General Zone -

Waiting room of the psycho-social zone and general space are connected via a void.
A terace protected by the facade links the two zones together.

Psycho-Social Zone -

Intergration
infermary
Womansrooms

Medical Zone -

- Consultation area for LAMA and médecins du monde
- Activity space
- Polyvalent offices

Shelter -

Communal areas for the residents and staff of the shelter.

Genral Zone -

- Roof terrace with garden
- Technical installations inside the building.

Shelter -

Resting areas for the guests of the shelter.
This is for short stays.

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.