;
  • Products
  • Samples
  • Product Benefits
  • Support
  • Inspiration
  • About us
stones campaign

Discover Rockpanel Stones: naturally textured

Read more
Rockpanel woods campaign

Discover Rockpanel Woods: unique by nature

Read more
Rockpanel Colours campaign 1

Discover Rockpanel Colours & colour your imagination

Read more
Rockpanel metals pagekey visuals

Experience a new standard in metal facade cladding. Make your metal vision rock

Read more
Chameleon Campaign VIsuals

Why fit in when you were born to stand out? Dare to be extraordinary!

Read more
coffeetable book images

Order a printed copy of our brand new coffee table book

Order your copy now
1/6
  • Home
  • Products
    • Products
    • Products
    • Design Facades
      • Design Facades
      • Design Facades
      • Rockpanel Colours
      • Rockpanel Metals
      • Rockpanel Chameleon
    • Nature Facades
      • Nature Facades
      • Nature Facades
      • Rockpanel Woods
      • Rockpanel Stones
    • Premium Facades
      • Premium Facades
      • Premium Facades
      • Rockpanel Premium
  • Samples
  • Product Benefits
    • Product Benefits
    • Product Benefits
    • Made From Stone
    • Fire Safety
    • Durability
    • Sustainability
      • Sustainability
      • Sustainability
      • Environmental product declarations (EPDs)
      • Building certification schemes
      • Cradle to Cradle
    • Ease of use
    • Freedom of design
  • Support
    • Support
    • Support
    • Downloads
      • Downloads
      • Downloads
      • Documentation
      • Declarations of Performance
      • CAD Drawings
      • NBS Specifications
      • BRE Details
      • Certificates
    • Applications
      • Applications
      • Applications
      • Ventilated Facade
      • Exterior Cladding
      • Renovation
      • Roofline
    • BIM Portal
    • BIM Solution Finder
    • Working with Rockpanel
      • Working with Rockpanel
      • Working with Rockpanel
      • Handling
      • Sub-frame constructions
      • Fixings
      • Bending
      • Corner Solutions
        • Corner Solutions
        • Corner Solutions
        • Painting edges
      • Fixing distances
      • Maintenance
        • Maintenance
        • Maintenance
        • ProtectPlus
  • Inspiration
    • Inspiration
    • Inspiration
    • Case Studies
    • Facade Configurator
    • Reference Locator
    • Info Centre
    • Webinars & Events
    • News
      • News
      • News
      • UK portfolio 2024
    • CPD Seminar
  • About us
    • About us
    • About us
    • Made From Stone
    • Contact us
    • Dealer Search
    • Careers
    • It’s time to build a better future
    • Business ethics
    • Sustainability at the ROCKWOOL Group
  • Our Organizations
  • ROCKWOOL Group
  • ROCKWOOL
  • Rockfon
  • Grodan
  • Lapinus
  1. Inspiration
  2. Belle Vue

Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels: from old beer brewery to modern hotel centre

In the middle of Brussels, close to the Brussels canal, you’ll find a building that combines centuries of history with innovation. What used to be beer brewery Belle Vue, is now a hotel and restaurant centre, of which Hotel Belvue, Belgium’s first fully passive hotel is a major part. Architect firm l’Escaut was responsible for the renovation, in which Rockpanel Ply was used as façade cladding.

Industrial hotel centre in Brussels

The development of the former Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels forms part of a sustainable urban regeneration project to rejuvenate the renowned but declining industrial site along the Brussels canal. Renovated according to low-energy standards, the former malt house contains diverse functions including a hotel school, hammam and restaurant. This is complemented by an adjoining new passive tower that accommodates 29 three-star hotel rooms. Other developments on the site include a youth-focused hotel and apartment block.

Creative architectural solutions

The architecture of the malt house renovation and corner tower responds to the challenges of the site and brief in a smart and sensitive way. The continuous facade of the brick brewery presented a closed barrier along the canal, with only limited openings.

The new hospitality functions required more openness and light. To resolve this, the two middle sections of the facade and a part of the roof was cut out from front to back, breaking up the building mass and making it a lot lighter.

Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
Belle Vue Brewery in Brussels, old brewery transformed into Hotel Belvue. This building is clad with Rockpanel Ply facade cladding.
1/5

Industrial heritage preserved during renovation

The industrial heritage of the brewery was an important consideration in the new design. “The new building needed to engage in a dialogue with the past while having its own contemporary language,” explains Florence Hoffmann from l’Escaut. “We wanted a result that contrasted with the existing building without competing with it.” The six-storey hotel, built according to passive house standards, is placed at the tip of the site on a compact trapezoidal footprint. With its recognizable, light-coloured facade, it becomes a landmark for the area. Composed of a playful grid of window openings and Rockpanel board material, the lively facade beautifully reflects the site. The oversized grid, based on 600-mm-wide panels, recalls the modularity of the brick and stone canal walls.

Facade cladding in every possible colour tone

As facade cladding, Rockpanel Ply was chosen. This facade board only has a base primer and can be painted in any desired colour. Devised by artist Michel Leonardi, the colour scheme pairs subtle grey tones that relate to the 1960s concrete residential tower behind and accentuate the aged stonework along the canal, with vivid red accents for the balconies. Michel Leonardi explains: “The idea was also to create a ‘skin’ that changes subtly with natural light; it appears as white and should not be harsh given the orientation of the site. The choice of facade material proved wise: being able to ‘paint’ the panels allowed infinite nuances so that the colour perceptions vary constantly depending on the viewing angle and natural light.”

Alongside customization, Rockpanel board material contributes to achieving the project’s high sustainability ambitions. The project was recognised as a BatEx (Bâtiments Exemplaires) exemplary project for sustainable construction in 2011. Florence Hoffmann: “I like the matte aspect of ROCKPANEL which means the facade doesn’t look plastic or artificial. It’s also a cost-efficient and standardised product; our architecture often uses standards to reinterpret them, which allows us to create architecture that is sensitive to its unique context.”

*Disclaimer: Due to changes in our assortment, it is possible that the designs shown in this case study are no longer available. Feel free to contact us in case of doubt.

20180814 RW-RP PHO 00153

Rockpanel Colours

Imagine the freedom of choosing any colour you like from an artist’s palette and then painting your building in the perfect tone of your choice. That’s the choice you have with the Rockpanel Colours range.

Organization Rockpanel
  • ROCKWOOL Group
  • ROCKWOOL
  • Rockfon
  • Grodan
  • Lapinus

Products

  • Products
  • Design Facades
  • Nature Facades
  • Premium Facades

Samples

  • Samples

Product Benefits

  • Product Benefits
  • Made From Stone
  • Fire Safety
  • Durability
  • Sustainability
  • Ease of use
  • Freedom of design

Support

  • Support
  • Downloads
  • Applications
  • BIM Portal
  • BIM Solution Finder
  • Working with Rockpanel

Inspiration

  • Inspiration
  • Case Studies
  • Facade Configurator
  • Reference Locator
  • Info Centre
  • Webinars & Events
  • News
  • CPD Seminar

About us

  • About us
  • Made From Stone
  • Contact us
  • Dealer Search
  • Careers
  • It’s time to build a better future
  • Business ethics
  • Sustainability at the ROCKWOOL Group

Rockpanel

ROCKWOOL Ltd.
Wern Tarw
Pencoed Bridgend CF35 6NY
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (1656) 863210

Contact us
Rockpanel
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Statement
  • General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Delivery
  • Cookie Declaration
  • Declartions of Performance
  • Guarantee Statement
  • Newsletter
  • BIM Portal

Copyright © 2022, ROCKWOOL Ltd. All rights reserved. v2.45.65.295

We manufacture board material mostly used in ventilated constructions, for facade cladding, roof detailing, soffits and fascias.

  • Europe
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Spain
  • Switzerland (German)
  • United Kingdom
Compare2/3
Compare