Kwartier 51 redevelopment Sijsele

The former military barracks Kwartier 51 in Sijsele is a beacon along the N9 between Bruges and Maldegem. After the Belgian army abandoned the site, the City of Damme and WVI (intermunicipal organisation) were able to acquire the land to launch a project of village core expansion, via a PPP procedure, under the ambitious heading of ‘neighbourhood of the future’.

To translate the ‘neighbourhood of the future’ idea into an equally ambitious but realistic project, seven principles were developed.

1. The neighbourhood of the future is part of the characteristic landscape.
As a regenerative development, the project provides space for nature by keeping the built-up areas as compact as possible and thus preserving and strengthening the existing green zone. In this way, a continuous, undeveloped park zone of more than 8ha is created.

2. The neighbourhood of the future takes maximum advantage of its proximity to the core.
On the larger urban planning scale, a loop for slow traffic through the village centre of Sijsele was developed, to which Kwartier 51 connects seamlessly. The ‘Sijsele loop’ ensures maximum attachment to the existing village centre.

3. The neighbourhood of the future is a lively meeting place.
Besides the public functions of the youth accommodation centre Stafblok and the events hall Parkloods and the private functions living and working, Kwartier 51 also offers supporting and activating functions such as restaurant, bars, neighbourhood shops, childcare, etc. The park zone will also be used as an outdoor activity zone.

4. The neighbourhood of the future offers a home for everyone in the village centre.
Various building clusters will create diverse and pleasant living environments tailored to a multitude of target groups, such as cohousing, care living, lifelong living, starter homes, and so on. These typologies are envisaged as in new construction and renovation projects.

5. The neighbourhood of the future will be multifunctional with space for businesses.
The presence of the existing military sheds offer an opportunity to bring work and activity to the site in addition to housing. The existing sheds will be volumetrically extended by subtly raising the roof structure. On Dorpsstraat, newly built creative hubs are implanted in wood structure. The Hoofdkwartier forms the gateway to the site at the intersection between living and working.

6. The neighbourhood of the future builds on what is already there.
Maximum preservation and possible reuse of existing structures is a premise of the project team. Of the 30 buildings present, a new function will be devised for 22 of them. Because of the impossibility of conversion (building physics, specific design...), the remaining buildings will be demolished, the materials of which will be harvested in a circular way and used in new building parts of the project.

7. The neighbourhood of the future is climate-neutral.
The project team maximises the positive impact on nature, water, climate, energy and materials. In the protected park zone, there is room for water collection and infiltration. For energy generation, the roofs of the existing sheds will be used for solar energy. The installation of a heat network, linked to geothermal fields under the collective buildings, valorises the economies of scale of the project.