150 local residents have signed a petition in protest of a construction project near Bois de la Cambre.
A former office building on Avenue Lloyd George will be converted to accommodate a commercial space on the ground floor along with 31 apartments in the floors above. The site consists of two blocks: one is 35 metres wide and nine floors high while the other is 110 metres wide and eight floors high.
Jaspers-Eyers Architects, who has been commissioned for the project, will demolish the taller of the two blocks and replace it with a new, larger one. The finished site will include 13,350 m2 of office space, 5,380 m2 of residential space and 10,166 m2 of underground parking.
Local residents are unhappy with the project as they believe the increased width and height of the new constructions will have a considerable impact on the area.
"For people who live close to the building, the size means less sunlight, less heat and therefore more energy costs during cold periods," Eponine Franckx, who initiated a petition against the project garnering 150 signatures, told Bruzz. "The gardens will also become shadier, which will make it difficult to grow certain plants."
Moreover, the petition argues that newly constructed apartments will have a view into pre-existing ones, therefore incurring "a loss of privacy and intimacy."
Traffic concerns
Local residents are equally concerned about the renovation's impact on traffic in the area.
"For several years now, part of Bois de la Cambre has been inaccessible to traffic, resulting in more traffic on Avenue Lloyd George," they outlined. "According to the plans, taking offices and homes into account, there would be approximately 1,845 additional trips every week because of the building, which would likely worsen traffic congestion."
Signatories demand that the number of office spaces be reduced for this reason. They also request that the height of both buildings be scaled down in the interest of preserving privacy.
