Urban Quarter "Overleie"

The assignment comprises 3 scale levels: that of the Overleie quarter with respect to the city and its surrounds, that of the quarter itself and that of its specific subareas. 

At the level of the city, Overleie is seen as a potential link between the dense and intricate fabric of the city centre and the adjacent open and largely agrarian landscape. This specific position suggests three basic, spatial interventions: 

1. The landscape’s lobed structure, still prominent in the north-west of the urban mesh is reinforced and extended into the very kernel of Kortrijk. This is achieved via the alternative development of a number of subareas within Overleie, namely the Blekerij site – a former industrial site – and the college site, where a further condensing is combined with the preservation of spacious and connected landscape.  

2. Within the confines of the quarter itself, a number of former industrial zones are used to extend the intricate green structure from the core of Kortrijk across the river Leie. This leads to structures that allow for associated, land-bound residential development.  

3. The passing of the Leie is made tangible, deep into the fabric of the quarter. To that end, we avoid an overly linear waterfront development.  

Working further along the lines of these basic, spatial interventions, a number of strategic subareas and a long-term development framework was created. This framework lays the foundations for the development of specific, affordable and largely land-bound residential environments, each of which is manifest in response to the conditions within and around the subarea. As such, they represent a supplement to and alternative for the existing supply of housing.