Brussels’ Northern Quarter, a monofunctional office district, was built in the 1960s. To create it twenty hectares of the existing urban structure were demolished. It is only now that a diverse urbanity is being created there. The two office towers of the World Trade Center have been converted into a mixed-use development consisting of housing, hotel, and offices, which was given the new name ZIN. Between the existing tower blocks the architects from 51N4E and l’AUC inserted a new building with 14 double floors that connects the older blocks. Offices alternate with apartments from floor to floor. It is above all the public plinth, a kind of four-story greenhouse bathed in light, which provides a new location for civil society. Much the same can be said about the lushly planted roof terrace, which has public access through the hotel. An interim use over a period of one and a half years using small-scale, hybrid spatial programs served as a test phase for the concept.

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