Usquare.brussels: the urban plan "Former Barracks at Ixelles" enters into force

On 19 November 2020, the Brussels Government approved, at the third hearing, the Urban Development Masterplan (PAD) for the former barracks at Ixelles. Steered by perspective.brussels, this is also the first PAD to be implemented.

This stage concludes the procedure for drafting the plan to convert the site of the former barracks at Ixelles into a lively, sustainable, inclusive district, which started in May 2018 and is called Usquare.brussels.

Steered by perspective.brussels, the PAD "Former Barracks at Ixelles" is the first Urban Development Masterplan to be implemented. The PAD is a regionally-managed planning tool that makes it possible to set out the strategic and regulatory aspects of an urban development project.

The future Usquare.brussels district

Behind the PAD "Former Barracks at Ixelles" is an overarching urban development strategy which proposes repurposing the complex of the former gendarmerie school (or former Ixelles barracks) covering 3.9 hectares in the heart of Ixelles. This development will bring new qualities to this unique district, enhancing its exceptional heritage by repurposing it in an inclusive and sustainable way.

The actors involved will concretise the objectives of this urban development strategy:

• Create a new mixed neighbourhood featuring accessible housing for families and students, as well as open spaces with communal facilities.
• Offer a new meeting place for the inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhoods. Various public facilities and spaces accessible to all are planned, including a new 2,000 m² park, thereby definitively erasing its closed and exclusive past.
• Give substance to innovation and academic excellence. The university world based at the site will be opened up to all, thanks to research units and FabLab facilities.

As such, the planned works will realise the ambitions shared by all the stakeholders to:

• Enhance the architecture of the site thanks to respectful urban planning and innovation. The characteristics of the former gendarmerie school will therefore be preserved, and will act as the setting for a range of uses, and a new lease of life.
• Embody sustainable development, environmental and landscape quality. Repurposing the site will concretise the city in transition, saving resources and providing access to an optimal quality of life for its users and inhabitants, without compromising the future.
• Encourage exemplary mobility. As such, most of the journeys within the site will be made on foot and by bicycle or in the neighborhood by using the various public transport services. In addition, the concept of the "city of short distances" where all needs are met without having to travel, will take shape by ensuring a diversity of facilities on the site itself.

These works will follow the major success of the temporary installation 'See-U'. Since April 2019, the aim of this transitional management phase has been to open the doors to the general public and allow them to discover this historic site.

The PAD will enter into force within 15 days of being published in the Belgian Official Gazette. It can be consulted online on the website of Perspective and at the Ixelles municipal administration.