Upgrading social housing without uprooting lives: Inside Peterbos 9

The 10 and 11 June visits to Building 9 of Peterbos, a social housing complex in the southwest Brussels neighbourhood of Anderlecht, will demonstrate how tenants’ living and shared spaces were improved through “winter garden” extensions to their apartments and the addition of ground-floor community services. 

The Peterbos 9 project, which began in 2016, focused on renewing both private and shared spaces while allowing residents to remain in their homes and maintain community ties. The decision to have residents stay in place was intended to avoid the distress of being relocated, with some tenants having lived in the building for decades, and significant financial costs and administrative issues.

During the two-year construction period, which ended in July 2024, all 80 apartments in Building 9 continued to be lived in.

The refurbishment was undertaken by architecture and urban design firm 51N4E and architecture studio Lacaton & Vassal for Beliris, a public service overseeing projects to improve Brussels’ built environment, and the social housing company Foyer Anderlechtois.

The project was carried out in consultation with residents. During the design phase, the team visited a quarter of residents’ homes to better understand how people live, use and socialise in their spaces. Residents were updated throughout the construction and invited to visit the first completed winter garden.

The works were organised to fit around tenants’ daily routines to limit disruption. Doing this required sustained coordination between residents, architects, the contractor and the client, and involved meetings, information and feedback gathering and sharing sessions and continuous communication.

‘Giant sun terrace’ in one’s own home 

The project’s architects focused on extending the existing structure by adding winter gardens to the building facade, providing each apartment with 54m2 of additional, private living space.

The winter gardens are enclosed areas connected to the main apartment by sliding glass doors to ensure apartments remain warm during the winter months. The outside windows are made of glass and polycarbonate panels, which offer both privacy and light.

Residents use their new spaces in different ways: as laundry rooms, play areas, or spaces for plants, and to spend time outdoors while remaining at home.

As one 84-year-old, a resident of the tower since its construction in 1971, remarked, “Last summer was one of the best summers ever because we now have this giant sun terrace and we're in the comfort of our own home.”

The project extends beyond individual spaces.

On the ground floor, apartments were converted into social work and commercial units, to bolster the building’s role within the neighbourhood. Existing amenities, including the local pharmacy, were kept, while spaces were created for entities such as Brussels-based SAAMO, a civil society organisation whose activities supporting vulnerable people and social protection contribute to life in Peterbos.

In the Peterbos 9 project, architecture is not only about spatial transformation but also taking a socially conscious approach to housing renewal by supporting residents to continue living at home, shape the project, and access new community services.

Peterbos 9 is one of 12 guided tours showcasing New European Bauhaus values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness around Brussels.

This article was produced in collaboration with 51N4E.