Residence Belgica

Residence BELGICA, an 11-storey residential tower with two recessed 'crown floors', is the very last project on the ZAAT front line in Temse. It thus also forms the final piece of the reconversion of the Boelwerf site.

Organic architecture on the Scheldt

For the design, architect B2Ai took inspiration from the bow of a ship and the water of the Scheldt which resulted in an organic shape of the tower. Like the other apartment buildings on the Zaat, this project will be named after one of the ships once built by the Boelwerf. The Belgica, an oceanographic research vessel, left the yard in 1984 and is still operational (its successor Belgica II was launched at the end of 2020). Its expressive bow shape makes it claim its place alongside the Scheldt.

Architectural concrete

The façade was wrapped by a wave-like balcony in white architectural concrete, realised by C-concrete. The residential tower is a real eye-catcher in its unique design. The curved and undulating concrete parapets of the terraces, the conical façade sections of the penthouse in exposed concrete make this residential tower unique. The materialisation forms a contemporary application and interpretation of the existing white riverside architecture.

The curved precast terraces largely determine the architectural appearance. The precast elements guarantee consistent quality and offer increased efficiency by saving time during construction. Furthermore, this precast concrete application allows more complex shapes with precise and sharp details, making this material extremely suitable as a high-quality architectural element. For this project, the structure is 50% precast concrete, the façade consists of profiled aluminium sheets and external joinery, the parapets are 50% precast concrete.