Maison du Peuple

Project: Maison du Peuple
Architect: Czvek Rigby

Momentary association

Czvek Rigby

Programme

Transformation of the former Maison du Peuple site into a mixed use project comprising:

Polyvalent socio-cultural spaces
Spaces for associations
Productive spaces (workshops)
Housing (10 units)

About: The site of the former 'Maison du Peuple' comprises a cluster of buildings gradually built over the past century to replace an old bourgeois country house (nicknamed ‘Château de Cureghem’) acquired in 1905 by the workers' cooperative 'La Maison du Peuple'.
The main guideline of the proposed action is to create a new complex hosting new social utilities echoing the social and cultural heritage of the site. In line with a process of gradual transformation, the project plans to restructure the site by revaluing, or ‘reinventing’, existing heritage and building new facilities, so as to offer a range of associative, socio-cultural and productive spaces, as well as an ensemble of 10 social housing units.
The site is structured along a central transversal axis linking the Chaussée de Mons to the Quai de l'Industrie, as an extension of the historic entrance to the 'Maison du Peuple'. This axis is an invitation to stroll and discover the site, linking the different buildings, existing and new, as well as two open spaces: a garden on the Chaussée de Mons side, and the ‘Cour des Curiosités’ on the Quai de l'Industrie side.

The garden, bordered by a fence that alternates solid and open fields, forms a new interface of entrance and transition between the neighbourhood and the site. It hosts the terrace of the ‘café populaire’, housed on the ground floor of the 'Maison du Peuple' building.
The 'Maison du Peuple' building, originally designed and built in 1926 by the architect R. Pringier, is to be renovated to provide on its upper floors a range of multi-purpose modular spaces dedicated to economic and associative activities.
The 'Salle des Fêtes', built at the same time in the very heart of the site, is considered a ‘found object’, bearing the marks and scars of its alterations over the past century. Accessible through its restored former vestibule and fitted with a new roof to improve its thermal and acoustic insulation, it is intended to host a range of socio-cultural events.
The old ‘Magasin Central’, built in 1913, together with a new workshop building along the Quai de l'Industrie, provide modular spaces for the development of local productive and economic initiatives.
A new residential building is located at the junction of Rue de l'Ancienne Gare and Quai de l'Industrie. Its high structure marks the presence and entrance to the site on the quay, contributing to the punctuation of the canal's urban landscape. The dwellings, comprising 1 to 4 bedrooms, benefit from multiple orientations and unobstructed views towards the courtyard, the canal and the city.
Framed by the 'Salle des Fêtes', the workshops and the apartment building, the 'Cour des Curiosités' provides a generous outdoor space for the various users of the site and the neighbourhood. It accommodates a small wetland that contributes to the management of rainwater through infiltration and to the development of biodiversity at the heart of the building block.

The redevelopment of the site focuses on creating spaces that encourage programmatic synergy and overlapping uses. Its design offers a flexible and adaptable framework, encouraging appropriation by multiple users within an intrinsically common ensemble.