Woluwe Shopping plans another substantial expansion

The Woluwe Shopping retail centre in Brussels has applied for a permit for an expansion which would see another 7,800m² of shopping space created on the above-ground car park near the Roodebeek metro stop.

The Dutch real estate company Eurocommercial, which bought the shopping centre in 2017 for some €468 million, has applied for an urban planning permit for the expansion on the intersection of Rue Saint-Lambert and Cours Paul-Henri Spaak in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. The Altiplan agency, which oversaw the previous extension of the shopping centre, will conceive the new expansion alongside teams from Jasper Eyers Architects.

The plans for the expansion of Woluwe Shopping will be at the top of the agenda when an information session for citizens organised by the municipality takes place in the Wolubilis cultural centre on 14 September. Eurocommercial hopes to have a licence for the new building in the first half of 2022.

The plans foresee the creation of a new two-storey building providing the shopping centre with an additional 7,800m² of retail space, which will bring its overall volume to 55,000m². An additional underground car park on two levels, where more than 350 visitors can park their cars, will also be built. This will increase the overall parking availability to 2,000 spaces. The plans also include space on top of the retail area for a hundred apartments.

The new building will give the shopping centre a more prominent entrance on one of the area's busiest boulevards. Altiplan says it wants to design the new building to mirror the newly renovated Wolubilis. This suggests that the extension will feature curved structures in white with lots of glass. "Together, both buildings create the effect of a city gate," Altiplan states. "The new entrance better integrates access to the metro station and also anchors the centre to its urban surroundings."