De Oude Gasfabriek in Lier, Belgium
residential redevelopment project
For 90 years, the site had been left undeveloped, mainly because of the historical soil contamination. An intensive dialogue with the local residents and a multidisciplinary approach were key throughout the project. This resulted in the realisation of four building volumes, located amidst a green park area with ponds, mutually connected by a paved walking and cycling path and accounting for 134 apartments and licensed service flats, 4 shopping units and an underground car park. The project has been sold entirely.
Blocked derelict site successfully unlocked and redeveloped.
Bottlenecks such as heritage issues, the location in a flood-prone area, concerns of local residents and the fragmented ownership of the site made the realisation of this project very complex. Initially, the city of Lier was prepared to pay for the remediation costs itself. In the end, it found in Jan De Nul Group a suitable development partner that purchased the whole site, including all remediation and redevelopment risks.
