Name: Diederik van Leeuwen
Track: Architecture
Studio: Interiors, Buildings, Cities
Year: MSc1 / 2026
Type: Design project
Tutor: Leontine de Wit, Rufus van den Ban
Description:
Building with what is already there becomes the new standard for Quai de Mariemont 40. A former rooftop garden above a garage is replaced by a shared garden on the ground floor, accessible to all. Throughout the building, elements are carefully reused: the garage door becomes the bar for the coffee corner; removed bricks return as brick terrazzo; roof beams are sawn into mezzanine flooring; old partitions become insulation. New additions remain low and horizontal, while a steel florist tower reconnects the building to its taller neighbor. Le fleuriste becomes the new reading corner of Molenbeek: a place to read, to meet, to watch artists at work, to buy flowers, and to rest in the garden. A place for the town.