Page 57 - AGC_EN_iBook

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ThE SITE aND ITS SURROUNDINGS
Attracting major companies to Louvain-la-Neuve quickly led to the urban zones initially earmarked for these corporations to be exhausted.This meant that new zones needed to be assigned, extending the city’s boundaries, among others to the other side of the N4 trunk road.
Great caution was exercised in giving up farmland and elds for the likes of Shell (the Shell Research Centre) in 1986, Sedilec in 1998 and nally AGC in 2010.
Bordered to the west by the N4 and a row of splendid old trees, and to the south by exit 8a (Louvain-la-Neuve) of the E411 motorway, the site bene ts from a remarkable location and great visibility, meaning that merging the building into the landscape and generally landscaping the whole site was a major challenge.
Vehicle access had to be as discreet as possible and occurs by
way of Avenue Jean Monnet, entering the site at the lowest corner, in the north-east.
A main driveway, curved and recessed, leads to the forecourt,
the main (south) lobby and the car park under the building.
A secondary drive along the north of the site provides access
to the second lobby and for trade deliveries.
A bicycle track and footpath link the site to the N4 and to the public transport network.
Discreet parking facilities are available underneath the building (the structure is on stilts) on a concrete-paved area that follows the site’s sloping contours.
With the landscaping aimed at promoting biodiversity, the site features three zones offering natural diversi cation: the wet zone (‘pondscape’), the wooded zone, and the open eld zone.
The site’s natural slope has been modelled to create a pondscape featuring a network of interconnected pools that collect rainwater and allow surface water to slowly drain into the ground. Biodi- versity and plant diversi cation are dependent on the different microclimates and the degree of humidity in each pool. A rich ora characteristic of ponds is developing on their banks, ranging from aquatic plants to semi-wetland or dry-land ora.
These zones offer ideal shelters for the development of natural ecosystems attracting birds, insects and amphibians.
A wooded zone, again with diversi ed vegetation, is to be found next to the pondscape. It is made up of mixed hedges and trees creating a varied landscape, both in terms of colours and plant textures.
The selected species, with their small fruits and berries, turn the mixed hedge into a shelter, a nesting area and a source of food.
The third zone consists of lawns and elds, managed according to their use: either extensively in the form of natural elds, or intensively as lawns for walking on.
The site’s enclosure was subject to the same careful considera- tions. Impassable, it is hidden by a low hawthorn hedge that does not impede the view across the park.
Remodelling the landscape: project plan