Unilever has split off the margarine and spread department and will continue as an independent company called Upfield. Because of the splitting of the companies, the buildings have to be physically divided and split to two independent companies on one site.

The office space for Attic is located on the attic floor of the oldest factory building on the site. As a result, the building has historical qualities, in order to realize a contemporary landscape office, the following interventions have been made. First of all, a number of walls without architectural value have been demolished. This creates a more open space with more possibilities for the design. The different floors are connected by a void, creating an office landscape of five floors. The double wooden gable roof is now visible from different floors. The office landscape is given shape by placing various pieces of furniture. Every space has its own character within this larger concept Finally, a part of the tiled roof has been replaced for glass. The new workplaces are therefore provided with light and have a view over the river Maas. A contemporary office has been created without losing the historic character of the building.

To give the Hamershof a new, more chique, appearance the public space and facades of the shopping mall and houses are transformed. The current appearance of the public area in the Hamershof is cluttered and dated. The new public space must contribute to the renewed image of a pleasant, contemporary and comfortable shopping center where everyone is welcome. To achieve this, paving is completely replaced by 1 new floor that ensures coherence, recognisability and unity. All small and scattered pieces of furniture are replaced by less but larger multifunctional furniture. Seating elements, space for greenery and bicycle storage are combined into one large and beautiful object. Furthermore, the experience of the water in the center is completely different in the new situation. The water is getting narrower than in the current situation, but it is really experienced by raising it, making it touchable and cross-over. In this way, the Kooikersgracht becomes a destination instead of an obstacle in the plan. The new public area will also ensure the integration of the new House of Leusden in the (shopping) center of the municipality.

The project consists of 4 temporary workshop rooms for the International Brussels airport, in the entrance hall of the control tower building that was completed in 2005. The core of the hall is surrounded by the cafeteria and the auditorium. JDWA has been asked to solve the emptiness between the existing elements: the orange sitting areas, trying to create a strong dialogue with them and the generous roof light. In order to respond to temporary needs, fast installation and disassembly, the pavilions are made of wood. The main concept is to play with the natural light. The light enters the pavilions through the glass roof and then gets filtered by the wooden structure. In this way it is possible to see everything around it enjoy the natural light. As a marketing strategy, the corporate identity has been taken into account and the house style colours have been incorporated into the design (expo-walls). The interior is designed to be a flexible room where employees can have the space to co-create, write on the glass and relax on the couch. On the back side of all but one pavilion, an informal meeting space is integrated. In the other one the space is dedicated to a pantry. Each pavilion is 18 m2 suitable for 10 people.

The Becelhuis is part of the characteristic factory complex on the former Unilever premises located on the southbank of the river Maas in Rotterdam. In 2017 the margarine and spreads department demerged from Unilever and continued as an independent global company named Upfield.

The program of requirements for the transformation of the Becelhuis consists of an office program for the R&D department with several flexible workspaces, a professional kitchen with tasting counter and informal meeting rooms to provide various spaces for agile working. To create space for the new interior, two floors of the building have been cleared. In the center a new large void is linking both levels. A grand staircase is positioned in the void to connect the two floors. The wide steps of the staircase can be used as an informal meeting place, the tables attached to the railing on the upper floor as lap top work tables. The meeting rooms have functions integrated in the walls, like telephone booths, repro spaces, product displays and space for technical installations. All these facilities present themselves as one large furniture piece in the interior which extends over the full length of both the office floors. Sustainability has been a main issue during the design process. Through intensive reuse and transformation, the building use has been optimized.

In the eighties the residential neighbourhood ‘de Bosschen’ was developed. A good link with the Parkwijk and the city park on the other side of the ‘Steenweg op Tielen’ was unfortunately not realized. The development of the site between the road and the neighbourhood is the chance to conceive this link. In this plan 50 new houses around a new green public space are carefully positioned within the exiting situation. The program consists of family houses in different typologies, group housing for people with special needs and a new public space that links the existing neighbourhoods and the city park. The development of De Bosschen is a good opportunity to design the integration of the two residential areas. When this connection is made, also the spacious city park is within reach for existing and new inhabitants.

Two living groups for 8 inhabitants with a light mental handicap and 4 service flats are integrated in the new housing plan for de de Bosschen neighborhood. Den Leeuweric is a compact and efficient building with a focus on the individual dweller. The scale, design and materialization of the Leeuweric building correspond follows the housing of the surrounding de Bosschen area, thus pairing the terms ‘community healthcare’ to a ‘cozy home’ for its residents.

The base for the development of Ter Heidelaan is the combination of a clear and powerful new public space with compact, sustainable houses. In this new system, a hierarchy in outdoor space, provides different typologies. The new lane is the fundament for the design, a connecting element between the Liersesteenweg and the sidewalk on the east side. The roadway is asymmetrical, this creates a wide lane with green space on the sides. A space for trees, water and green. On the north side, 2 courtyards are linked to the lane. Apartments and ground-level homes are situated around the courtyards. A building with compact apartments is situated between the lane and the courtyard. To point out the relationship between the various parts (courtyard and lane), the apartment building is lifted. This creates a visual relationship between the public lane and the more intimate yard. A covered outdoor space is created where the entrance to the apartments is situated. This space is also useful as a meeting point. There is a need for new, smaller social housing in Aarschot. Around 80 affordable homes are provided, in the first and second phase. These houses are designed in different typologies and this will lead to a diverse neighbourhood. A neighbourhood with a lot of attention for outside space and the relationship between interior and exterior.

Some upcoming changes adjacent to the Impasse des Moineaux ask for a intelligent approach for the sustainable (re)development of this inner area on Rue Gray. Cleaning up the dirty soil, the necessity for affordable housing and an access to the research center for urban green make the transformation necessary. The informal green atmosphere that determines the quality of the existing vegetable garden defines the conditions for the re-design of this un-urban place right in the center of Brussels.
Precisely by seeking to maximize the influence of the garden we avoid a fragmentation of the garden. All other elements are designed as ‘objects in the garden’.

The ‘Schuurblok’ concept is based on maximum quality for both ‘your own home’ as well as for the public space. On the one hand, Schuurblok presents itself as a block in the heart of the new area whose scale is related to the scale of the public space and the new neighborhood garden. On the other hand the project refers to the ‘grain’ of the individual family houses in the area. This way we obtain an image in which the appearance of the whole and the expression of the individual house are reflected equally in the general image of the project.

The renewal plan puts emphasis on the integration of green and the connection to adjacent green structures in the area. Compact blocks of 3 houses are positioned in such a way that space for compact public squares is created along the Klimopstraat.
The first housing block has a somewhat different status and is addressing the central park. This is our robust answer to the relationship of these houses and the central park in the plan.

The specific design of the urban plan of this new living area with approximately 50 new dwellings results in an “untraditional, non-flemish” development in the center block of the neighborhood. Here we propose to position back-toe-back houses with a compact outside space. The border between public and private needs to be designed carefully. This results in a healthy mix of different types of houses, including the standard Flemish house with a garden to a penthouse with a large roof terrace.

The building’s footprint occupies the entire site. It’s a striking building that meets all imposed conditions by means of smart transformations on the shape and internal organization regarding the integration in the area, the program for housing and parking, spatial quality, social living qualities and architecture. The rather simple outside of the building is completed with an exciting inner world where the common outside space and the entrances to the houses are located. The materials emphasize the difference between inside and outside.

The project consists of an integral redevelopment of the plot of a former office villa on the Koningin Astridlaan in Turnhout. The intensive remodeling of the villa makes it possible to realize 4 apartments within the volume. In the garden there is space for the realization of 4 family houses and a kindergarten. This combination of housing and social services contributes to the liveliness of the neighborhood. The outside space will be redefined and will become part of the public space of the Astridlaan.

Social cultural organizations ‘Ons Huis’ and ‘Figulus’ want to develop further into a Kulturhus. Together with all the current users we worked on a plan for the adaptive reuse of the existing buildings that can represent of the envisioned collaboration. In center of the site parts and later additions of the existing buildings will be demolished to make place for a new transparent lobby representing the collaboration. The new building is facilitating the whole and makes sure the existing monumental buildings can be used intensively.

In collaboration with Deca Packaging Group we designed a new headquarters that matches the innovative, future-oriented and ambitious character of this company. The result is a-building-in-one-piece where all the groups business parts are integrated. The new building presents itself as one robust building. The different functions are represented as aberrations to the main volume.

The complete building is cladded with steel façade profiles. Through the variation of the format of these point profiles cladding, the scale of the different façades is nuanced. The image of the building changes with the position of the sun and is always different depending on the moment in the day. The cladding is not a standard material. The profile is custom made for this project. The development of the material was a close collaboration between our designers and Arcelor Mittal.

The result is a façade where three different folded profiles are used. By changing the angle of the fold, a play of light and color emerges. Although the whole building has only one color, the different folding provides variation and liveliness in the image. The façade of the office is finished with the same façade profiles. Only here the profiles are perforated and movable, so they act as traditional sun-shadings.

Dewaco wants to realize 19 new housing units on the site of former knitwear factory Henri Verhulst.
Traces of the industrial past can be found almost everywhere in the Flemish villages around Brussels and Aalst. Lots of unused factory buildings were demolished without a second thought. ‘Housing Factory Hogeweg’  redevelops this example of cultural heritage into a contemporary project where old and new strengthen each other. 19 new housing units are realized within the footprint of the former factory, leaving space for a new public neighborhood garden in the center of the building block.

28 senior apartments in Ten Kouter are outdated. The brief defined the redevelopment of the 28 units. In our proposal we added family housing to the base program in order to create a mix of housing types and of future inhabitants. In the new situation the existing street becomes a square where the use by pedestrians is leading. With this mix Ten Kouter can develop into a truly pleasant residential area for both young and old.

The open space between the Huis van Droo and the elderly home will be used by both the elderly and the children. On the one side, the children of the daycare center will use the space as their playground. On the other side, the elderly people will use it as their garden and terrace. Together we made a plan where individual, simultaneous and common use is made possible and stimulated. We looked for similarities between the smallest children and the elderly. Themes like circuits, safety, overview and coziness are considered in the plan.

Nieuw-Sledderlo is in redevelopment. The park in the heart of the neighborhood will form the relaxed public space of this area. The new building for Gigos is the link between the street and the park. De corridors between the different rooms are replaced by a transparent central space, which can be inside or outside.

The combination of the image of the existing building and the new interventions result in the characteristic image of this building. The existing casco is flexible but a energetical and acoustical update is necessary. The image is kept, but there is some room for interventions in the facades matching the new use. The façade of this very long building gets an update and the roof is adapted to match the acoustical requirements of the theater-café . The monumental blue garagedoors moved to the interior of the foyer and make place for a large window defining the relation between inside and outside. The rithme in the façade openings is where necessary restored and strengthened by adding new openings. Also in the long facades the border between inside and outside fades away by adding large double doors.

The Beukenlaan is positioned in the center of a quiet neighborhood. A green playground and a soccer field lie in the center of this area. Kids come here to play and the inhabitants come here to relax.  The development of the site at the Beukenlaan provides an excellent opportunity to meet the potential of the area as the meeting point of the neighborhood. By turning the new housing and addressing the playground, the relation of this place with its surroundings remains optimal. The proposed new housing is for families and seniors.

A combination of demolition and intensive reuse will transform the Nieuwhof into a ‘Kulturhus’. The original building grew in 3 phases. The current entrance is actually situated at the back entrance of the 3 different buildings. Through a radical change in the internal organization of the building, the different functions become visible again and new relations are created. Together with the current users we worked intensively on the plans, also for the interior and the outside spaces. Adaptations on the façade create a real link between inside and outside, making the whole more transparent and inviting.

What looks like a regular house in an ordinary street, is in reality a modest housing complex consisting of twenty group houses for inhabitants with a mental disability. In the smaller ‘barns’ situated on the back of the plot, the 8 ground bounded houses are located. The main house with 12 apartments is located in the street. The ‘back house’ hase an identical shape but is lifted up 1 story. On the ground floor the common spaces are situated directly in contact with the garden. The Passerel is an exeption in this part of the plan. A public route leading visitors through the whole development starts here. Inside the block, next to the barns, the vegetable garden of the Passerel is situated together with a playground for the smallest children.

The reuse of the former practice rooms and the development of ‘shed houses’ was an essential part of the urban development plan for the Brewinc College location. Each shed is transformed into a house or working unit. The houses are folded around a garage at ground level, so as to maximize the living atmosphere around the central courtyard. Future buyers are offered a series of interior prototypes for their shed unit.

Park the ‘Hoge Rielen’ is a nature recreation domain with various pavilions to accommodate organised youth groups. In 2007 the Helix pavilion by Hans Barbier needed an update of it’s sanitary facilities.
Late 2007 Open Architects & JDWA won this competition. Early 2011 the pavilion was delivered. We’re only waiting now for the ‘GreenGrid’ facade to be overgrown so the pavilion becomes one with nature.

Duiven municipality wants to develop Droo-Zuid to be at the center of a residential service area. The aim is to provide housing for both younger and older people who require some form of care, so they can live amidst their family, neighbours and friends. Together with the users and the neighborhood we developed ‘Huis van Droo’; a community centre ‘new style’ –  the new heart of Droo-Zuid. The sports hall, situated in the center of the building, is wrapped with other public program. The neighborhood lounge, facing the entrance of the neighborhood, is the most public place in the building. The new kindergarten, care, and other neighborhood function are all positioned around the central hall.

How to represent the collective image of a new Chinese architectural avant-garde? There currently exists a group of architects trying to react on the architectural climate. Are these architects really acting as a group? Or are they individually striving to offer an alternative? The exhibition design offers a generic display method in which the 50 projects contribute to the ‘collective image’ without losing the identity of the individual designers. 50 projects of 28 architecture offices and architects were presented on 70 ‘boxes’ and 24 hanging columns of  1.80m x 1.80m each.

The Dutch Reformed Church (NHK) in Groede will be renovated. The foundation managing the church wants to renew the interior to make multifunctional use of the church possible. Ceremonies, services, lectures and exhibitions have to be able to be organized in the building. Our proposal brings back the original light and space in this Flemish Hall-Church. The historical division between the French and Flemish church is demolished. The original space is recreated. Through the materialization of the floor the history of the church remains visible. To make the multifunctional use possible 2 new volumes are inserted in the interior. The new additions have a different material to make the interior tell the history of the church.

Artist Ai Weiwei asked 17 architects to design a pavilion for the Jinhua Architecture Park along the Yiwu river. Restaurant 13 is build from steel, stone & bamboo as an interpretation of the Chinese dining culture. Three different speeds of ‘eating-out’ converge in a traditional watch-and-be-watched restaurant-typology; street food, eating at the table or laid-back lounging. Also in the detailing of the project traditional Chinese elements are appearing in a contemporary way.

For the Dutch pavilion at the 2003 Biennial in Venice, we collaborated with artist Alicia Framis on a multifunctional presentation space for her ‘anti-dog’ collection. The space consisted of a steel frame (5m diameter) covered by actual dresses of the collection. Inside videos are shown. The same room serves as a changing room used by the models taking part in the performance.