The highly-anticipated masterplan for Brussels’ new development area, the Tour & Taxis Lake Side, has been submitted for approval. The new district is mainly residential – adding 800 homes in a series of buildings designed by EFFEKT, MVRDV, Binst Architects, POLO, HUB, 3XN and Cobe. 

Apart from the residential program, which will partly consist of high-rise buildings as a response to the urgent need for housing in Brussels, the masterplan also includes offices, restaurants, local shops and public facilities immersed in a landscape design by Bas Smets.

The most striking aspect of the new plan is the abundance of green open spaces between the buildings with as many species of plants, herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees as possible.  The Tour & Taxis park will also be expanded further. The plan is to turn Lake Side into one of the most sustainable neighborhoods in Brussels, at least on such a large scale. For example, all office buildings seek BREEAM Outstanding certification, the highest level of an internationally recognized method for assessing the environmental performance of buildings. 

The site is already largely closed to car traffic and the aim is to completely prohibit car access in the future. A large parking lot for bicycles has already been set up and the main entrance to the site is now reserved for cyclists and pedestrians. Only underground parking is still possible.  

More than a century ago, the Tour & Taxis district was one of the world's first multimodal freight transport platforms integrating water, road and rail. At its peak in the 1960s, the site employed more than 3,000 workers daily. Following the decline of logistics activities at the end of the twentieth century, Tour & Taxis became one of the most disused places in Brussels. 

Formerly a place welcoming goods from all over the world, the site has been transformed in recent years into an event and cultural center where all nationalities meet. With, among other things, the famous Gare Maritime, the Royal Warehouse, the new ponds, housing, restaurants, offices, shops and the largest park recently developed in Brussels, this site has become one of the country’s main attractions. 

Working together with coordinating architect Bureau Bouwtechniek, MVRDV has designed the masterplan for Nextensa, and the hope is that the construction of Lakeside can begin in early 2025. According to Nextensa, the completion of the Park Lane residential project is scheduled for the end of 2024. Information about Lake Side can be found on the development’s website.