A Place at the Zenne – Adaptive Reuse Along the River

Bachelor thesis project under the guidance of Wes Degreef

This project, titled A Place at the Zenne, was my bachelor thesis, guided by architect and tutor Wes Degreef. The assignment asked us to design a socially engaged intervention that also included a dwelling for someone actively using the space.

My approach was based on minimal intervention. I aimed to create a design that was as economically efficient as possible while still having a meaningful spatial and social impact. Rather than adding new structures, I focused on connecting and reactivating a series of vacant brick buildings located along the Zenne river.

Through a few targeted architectural moves, I established new links between these buildings, creating a cohesive whole. The existing bricks were repurposed to construct large parts of the new dwelling, while also helping to forge stronger material and visual connections with the surrounding context.

These newly introduced pathways not only served as circulation routes but also became places for encounter and exchange. They stitched the buildings together into a shared fabric of movement and interaction.

Each part of the site was reprogrammed to host specific social functions. One space became an open kitchen for young chefs, another was turned into a learning and making hub. In this way, the project offered a layered response to both spatial vacancy and community needs by using architecture as a catalyst for regeneration through simplicity and care.