The project for the development of public spaces in the historic heart of Schaerbeek is the "flagship" operation of the Pogge Sustainable Neighborhood Contract led by the municipality through RenovaS.

Adopting the proposal of "reclaiming public space" programmed by the basic file of the CQD (Alive Architecture & Taktyk 2017-2018), the project invests a sequence of public spaces that from Place Colignon to Avenue Louis Bertrand, passing through the Pogge and Houffalize squares, reinforces the links of this densely inhabited neighborhood with Josaphat Park. This sequence of open spaces is accompanied by a series of emblematic buildings, each of which in its own way reflects the different moments in the construction of the district: the Hôtel Communal, the Ecuries van de Tram, the communal basins of the Neptunium and finally the Brusilia tower.

The participation work carried out beforehand with the inhabitants and more specifically with the schools of the district revealed a great difficulty of the users to appropriate the open spaces: discomfort, insecurity, incivilities are often evoked and translate by these negative aspects a burning lack of conviviality! This perception also reveals a great fragmentation of the public spaces of the district, which most of the time seems to be a real obstacle course to cross. In response to this observation, the project proposes to link them in the form of a walk, a real thread of the project that offers the opportunity to recreate physical and social links by articulating different strong ambitions for the neighborhood:

- Strengthen the presence of nature in the city;
- Strengthening the availability and accessibility of public transport and shared mobility for all;
- Strengthen the place of pedestrians and cyclists and their crossing of the district;
- Regulate the presence of the automobile with respect to the standards of the Good Move Plan;

Articulating these ambitions, the project is materialized in the form of a redesign of the grounds that reinforces the continuity and legibility of public spaces, favors their appropriation and reinforces their environmental qualities.

The town of Tournai wished to have a new multi-modal transport hub connected to its train station and to refurbish Rue Royale. This competition was the perfect occasion to rethink the urban routes and redefine how the town fits in with its territory. The site of the train station along with Crombez park and square is both vast and fragmented into a series of spaces with difficult connections. This fragmentation is the result of historical territorial continuity which is now experienced as discontinuity. In order to remedy this situation, the project proposes to reconfigure the site as a whole to create connections between the existing and future sections, integrating the architecture, infrastructure and landscape within a spatial structure to clarify the town’s relation to its territory. It also proposes to introduce the concept of an urban open space to create an area for play and socialising. Positioned just in front of the line of the façades, the urban open space affirms its presence in the view of the boulevard, creating continuity with the outlying green belt. It requalifies the square to form a true connection, both physical and visual, between the station and Rue Royale. The station project consists of a spacious multi-modal hub linked to the square and culminating in a car park and bicycle parking with roof terrace, a park and ride facility and a landscaped bus station. The Rue Royale is remodelled to give priority to non-motorised transportation, providing very wide pavements to share. The central part destined to vehicle traffic is surfaced with quartz-infused concrete. The pavements and bicycle lanes are covered in reclaimed sawn paving stones. The whole is finished off with smooth concrete edges and metal studs. The textures and tone of the paving focuses on continuity with the façades to accentuate unity in Rue Royale.
For the project as a whole, the textures of the materials used for the paving give an understated and rhythmic look with natural blue-grey tones and little contrast, underlining the regularity and harmony that characterises the architecture in Tournai.