Poort van Kessel- Lo
The project transforms the Knoop van Kessel-Lo from a suffocating infrastructural bottleneck into a clear and future-oriented city gateway: the Gate of Kessel-Lo. By first structurally addressing the fundamental mobility and spatial challenges, a coherent urban hinge emerges between Leuven’s inner city, Kessel-Lo, and the future Innovation District. This creates space for a sustainable modal split and further urban development.
The vision materializes through targeted infrastructural and landscape interventions. A new tunnel alongside the Blauwput Bridge untangles traffic flows and reduces barrier effects. The redesign of the Diestsepoort transforms the current complex traffic junction into a clear and legible urban intersection. At the same time, a robust green framework is developed, with Remy Park serving as a landscape anchor and connecting element within the urban fabric.
Pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport are given explicit priority through car-free routes, high-quality cycling highways, and the Spoorbelvédère — an elevated pedestrian promenade along the railway tracks that not only connects, but also opens up new perspectives on the city and the surrounding landscape.
* City Gate & Train Station - detangling an urban, mobility & infrastructural node in Leuven (Public Space, Infrastructure), 12 000 m2 / 4 ha, Leuven, Belgium, 2025, With XDGA, SUUNTA, Evolta, Bollinger + Grohman
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Key elements of the project :
- A broken bond of trust between residents and public authorities.
- Intensive participation process with different audiences and stakeholders, with a specific focus on the inclusive use of public space.
- Participation tools used: bilateral consultations prior to collective forums, a project center, analog and digital communication tailored to the target audience.
- Programming exercise carried out with the community
The Square Jacques Franck project aims to extrapolate the existing situation by increasing the number of activities (recreational, sporting, landscape) in order to dilute the current over-importance of the city stadium. A comb-like layout is proposed, alternating between programmed spaces (city stadium, play modules, commercial pavilion) and green spaces. Far from being a fixed form, this proposal serves as a framework for participatory actions, as it allows for the targeting of areas to be equipped and others to be planted with vegetation. This figure allows for the creation of a variety of spaces with different atmospheres and facilities, while ensuring a common identity.
The traffic pattern has been redesigned to optimize car space without losing parking spaces, and to free the square from fast-moving traffic (bicycles, scooters) by organizing it on a green strip along the edge. A large part of the square is thus calmed and greened. Seven sub-spaces have been created, including three gardens. The city stadium is thus surrounded by two gardens containing various facilities (play modules, workout equipment, street furniture, vegetable beds, etc.), which will be specified during participatory workshops.
During the four months of on-site consultations in the square, one of the most frequently criticized aspects of the current project concerned the benches: poorly positioned, uncomfortable, hard, and cold. After a detailed survey of the eight different types of benches present, we proposed several reconfigurations as well as wooden additions (backrests, seats) to improve their comfort and usability.
- A broken bond of trust between residents and public authorities.
- Intensive participation process with different audiences and stakeholders, with a specific focus on the inclusive use of public space.
- Participation tools used: bilateral consultations prior to collective forums, a project center, analog and digital communication tailored to the target audience.
- Programming exercise carried out with the community
The Square Jacques Franck project aims to extrapolate the existing situation by increasing the number of activities (recreational, sporting, landscape) in order to dilute the current over-importance of the city stadium. A comb-like layout is proposed, alternating between programmed spaces (city stadium, play modules, commercial pavilion) and green spaces. Far from being a fixed form, this proposal serves as a framework for participatory actions, as it allows for the targeting of areas to be equipped and others to be planted with vegetation. This figure allows for the creation of a variety of spaces with different atmospheres and facilities, while ensuring a common identity.
The traffic pattern has been redesigned to optimize car space without losing parking spaces, and to free the square from fast-moving traffic (bicycles, scooters) by organizing it on a green strip along the edge. A large part of the square is thus calmed and greened. Seven sub-spaces have been created, including three gardens. The city stadium is thus surrounded by two gardens containing various facilities (play modules, workout equipment, street furniture, vegetable beds, etc.), which will be specified during participatory workshops.
During the four months of on-site consultations in the square, one of the most frequently criticized aspects of the current project concerned the benches: poorly positioned, uncomfortable, hard, and cold. After a detailed survey of the eight different types of benches present, we proposed several reconfigurations as well as wooden additions (backrests, seats) to improve their comfort and usability.