Belle-île Belgium, Liège Shopping Center, New Belgian Retail Building Extension Project, JDS Shop Design Images
Belle-île, Liège Shopping Center
14 Dec 2021
Location: province of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium
Architects: JDS Architects

Belle-île Shopping Center by JDS
The project in Belle-île (Liège) is an extension of an existing shopping center. This shopping center is located between 2 waterways, the river Ourthe and the ?Canal de l?Ourthe?, which flow into the Meuse a little further.
It is a former industrial site that has grown into an urban green space a stone?s throw from the center. The place is popular for shopping, but is also located on the famous RAVeL that runs along the Ourthe. In that regard, it is also an important destination for leisure activities such as cycling, hiking and simply enjoying nature. The Canal de l?Ourthe is now a Natura 2000 site, with beavers resurfacing.
The actual shopping center is a typical peripheral shopping center from the 1990s. It consists of a late post-modern, introverted volume that stands above an enormous parking lot. The footprint of the existing building is approximately 35,000 m² and can be seen as 3 different, unmixed layers: 35,000 m2 of parking on the ground floor, 35,000 m2 of shopping center on level +1 and finally 35,000 m2 of unused roof.

The clear dichotomy between the building environment and the shopping center itself is self-evident, without connection or contextual awareness. This very strange state rep...