De Silo - Field

At the heart of the site lies a raised, south-facing square, an enclosed outdoor space for events and informal meetings. The first level of De Silo merges seamlessly with this central forum, so the building and the district share one public place.

Quartier Canal is Hasselt’s oldest industrial area, wedged between the Grote Ring, the Albertkanaal, the Sasstraat and the Kempische brug. As traditional industry thinned out, the site risked emptying. Rather than treating that as decline, a2o-field’s masterplan starts from what was already happening there. Since the Drumschool/Muziek-O-Droom moved into a vacant warehouse in 1993, abandoned grain mills have been taken over by architects, caterers, creative businesses and cultural and youth organisations. Alongside them came PXL’s Rock Academy, still unique in Flanders, and a former VDAB training centre now used for experiments in urban development. The result is a hybrid district where industry, offices, education and culture no longer fit under one label, other than perhaps a “zone of activity”.

The masterplan sets out to make this mix work rather than to replace it. New and old uses are not always compatible: a teenage cyclist with a guitar on his back and a truck delivering steel share the same street, and parking was never part of the original design. Newcomers and established companies also needed time to learn to be good neighbours. Once the friction is addressed through constructive dialogue and practical measures, everyone can share the same streets, and even the same parties. The plan builds on this, and on the area’s real strength: because workers leave as the cultural life begins, the district is active around the clock, and it makes dense, efficient use of its space.

That intensity puts pressure on liveability, with mobility the main concern. The masterplan treats that concern as a starting point, since shared problems bring people together and generate new initiatives, the annual Bicycle Drag Race being the most visible example. Behind it lies a bold ambition shared by a group of local entrepreneurs: to make Quartier Canal the most attractive activity zone in the world, for workers, employers, customers, students, culture lovers, residents and passers-by alike. a2o-field’s masterplan gives that ambition a spatial framework, to be unfolded step by step, with anyone who wants to contribute welcome to join.