Stad Brugge bouwt circulair ontmoetingscentrum te Lissewege

A model and catalyst for circular building in Bruges and beyond

Stad Brugge has a very varied and rich heritage of more than 500 buildings. This makes it one of the largest property owners in Bruges and its surroundings. The city council is aware of its exemplary role within society. That is why it systematically tries to take on a pioneering role with regard to new developments.

After years of experience with energy-efficient building and renovation, the time has come to learn to deal sustainably with (building) materials... time for circular construction! The City of Bruges is rolling up its sleeves and launching a pilot project: the construction of a circular meeting centre in Lissewege. The centre is intended not only to become an example but also a catalyst for circular construction in Bruges and beyond.

Multifunctional meeting centre
The centre will offer space for sports, youth and socio-cultural facilities. The chosen site is the former primary school 'De Regenboog', which has been empty since 2012. The site is 1.4 ha in size, situated on the edge of the built-up area of Lissewege, and has a green, open character. In the new meeting centre, local associations and individuals will be able to organise all kinds of activities. Since their needs are fairly similar, all the spaces will be made as multifunctional as possible. This results in a compact, efficient and adaptable infrastructure, without sacrificing user-friendliness.

A learning process with attention for all aspects of circularity
To give the market the opportunity to organise itself according to this new way of working, various consultation moments will be organised. Both prior to, during and after the bidding process. The input from these consultation rounds will help to shape the financial and legal aspects of the contract.

During construction, much attention is paid to reusable or recycled materials, with an eye to the impact on the health of the users. A BIM-based classification system will show, track and code the materials and systems used, to encourage future reuse and transformation.
Circular business models will also play a role in the new meeting centre, both at the level of solutions (e.g. lighting or furniture) and at the level of the entire building.

Stad Brugge will monitor and map out the entire process by creating an easy-to-use tool. This workflow will be used to set up new projects and help launch circular building on a wide scale.
Throughout the process the city will refer to the classic building project and quantify the differences between the two models. In this way it can underpin the choice for circular construction, and encourage clients and the market to change their mindset.