ICHEC

Masterplan, renovation and extension of a Management School

The ICHEC Brussels Management School is a business college located on two separate sites in southeast Brussels. In the seventies, the Montgomery site was set up near the Cinquantenaire in three remarkable, large town houses built in the early twentieth century. In the eighties, an exposed concrete brutalist architectural complex completed the buildings. Each year, the school boasting several training and research centres welcomes more than 2000 students.

The renovation of the Montgomery site started with a master plan aiming at clarifying and simplifying the spatial organisation of the edifice to improve its legibility, functionality, accessibility and overall safety.

The purpose of this master plan also consisted in studying, over five years, the economic and organisational feasibility of the global renovation of the site without disrupting daily activities. 

After refurbishing the main auditorium and creating a students' restaurant, all 4 entrances of the site were clarified and the various secondary vertical flows were replaced with a new circulation core that, through its strategic position, allowed access to persons with disabilities to the near totality of the site.

The high-quality original architectural spaces were renovated and new rooms were created. The whole was equipped with contemporary furniture purposely designed for the project.

The exterior of the site, which is located within an interior courtyard facing the street, were landscaped to offer users meeting and relaxation areas.

The renovation also includes an action plan focused on sustainable development and aiming at reducing functional costs and environmental impact whist guaranteeing an increased comfort for users.

For every intervention, TWYCE ARCHITECTS carries out an in-depth demand analysis and engages in constant dialogues with the Client to reach an exact formulation of needs, taking into consideration the context in its spatial and temporal entireness.

TWYCE ARCHITECTS’ projects respect the heritage of the past whilst anticipating the needs of the future. They remain resolutely authentic and contemporary: the original building and new intervention dialogue in a mutual, balanced esteem with no predominance of one section over the other nor withdrawal of a part of the edifice for the benefit of another. New elements constitute a full phase of the edifice’s temporal stratification compared with former sections. The new intervention reflects its era both formally and technically: there is no mimicry or formal timidity.