In 2017, the City of Charleroi, in partnership with Charleroi Bouwmeester, launched a renovation and development programme called ‘Plan Places’ covering seventeen public spaces in the area. Among these is Place Destrée in Gilly, whose transformation, orchestrated by Central, reflects a focus on the existing social and spatial context.

The first steps date back to 2015 and the Europan 13 competition. Place Destrée was one of forty-nine sites selected across fifteen countries. It was an urban area facing several challenges: a vast asphalt car park (135 offical spaces as well as several “wild” ones), insecurity linked to drug dealing, suburban houses with only one façade opening onto the public space, and poorly defined boundaries. The forty-four received proposals confirmed the site’s appeal, and three teams were awarded prizes and then invited to participate in a second competition for the master plan, which was won by Central.