The finalists of the BigMat International Architecture Award 2025 for Belgium are: Palais des Expo in Charleroi by AM architecten jan de vylder inge vinck - AgwA and Housing and offices Quai Godefroid Kurth by Olivier Fourneau Architects
Generous boulevards and squares unfold across three floors, complete with streetlights and garden benches. The building’s skeleton – bearing the colour code of its previous uses (green for tennis courts, for example) – frames views of smokestacks and rewilded slag heaps to the west and the streetscape of the city centre to the east. The middle of the first floor slab has been removed to create an atrium down to the lowest floor, where the soil of the unmade sloped ground tumbles unheeded around the building’s columns. The chimneys of the disused heating plant – previously concealed within an internal courtyard – soar upwards.
source: Eleanor Beaumont, “Breaking convention: Chapex in Charleroi, Belgium, by AgwA and Architecten Jan de Vylder Inge Vinck”, in Architectural Review,
The design is inspired by the compositional principles of the neoclassical architecture found on the quay (base, rhythmic and structured brick façade, presence of an oriel window on the bel étage, etc.), while incorporating contemporary functional requirements (terraces, balconies, bicycle parking, etc.).
The façade of the second and third floors is set back from the pavement and is on two different levels, creating a comfortable terrace on the second floor and ensuring that the third floor is aligned with the neighbouring dormer windows. The flat roof profile aligns with the building adjacent to the neighbouring house, which isolates the unique profile of this latter building.
Source: Olivier Fourneau Architectes
BigMat International Architecture Award 2025 honours exceptional architectural contributions from seven participating countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
Oana Bogdan of &bogdan represents Belgium as a jury member.
Past winners include: Xaveer de Geyter, Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal and Eduardo Souto de Moura.
