PLUSOFFICE

Cityforward: From monofunctional office buildings to a vibrant urban district

As part of the redevelopment of 21 office buildings in the European Quarter involved in the sale between the European Commission, SFPI, and the Cityforward fund, PLUSOFFICE together with RE-ST and Osmos Network conducted a spatial and programmatic study to define the future urban framework and the conditions for transforming these buildings.

The reflection was based on a dual urban and architectural approach, combining an outside-in perspective grounded in existing district-level vision documents with an inside-out perspective starting from the DNA of the existing buildings. One of the key ambitions of this transformation was to introduce programmatic diversity with urban functions that complement office use, such as housing, retail, and public amenities. This strategy aims to move away from the current monofunctional model, making the district in general and its housing offer in particular more attractive.

An analysis of the buildings’ urban context, combined with the development of a matrix evaluating each building’s transformation potential, made it possible to identify which buildings had the greatest potential to be converted into housing or to provide an active ground floor that enhances interaction with the street and public space.

The study also focused on ways to improve the environmental and functional quality of inner-block spaces in this densely built-up neighborhood, by exploring options to open up and optimize ground floors and to adjust building volumes.

The results of this project-based research were summarized and translated into project-line documents.