The architecture of an architecture faculty must first and foremost be exemplary: a model for the students, lecturers and staff who work in its spaces every day. But what can this exemplary function mean in the context of the ‘new climate regime’, which often reduces architecture to a polluting, energy- and resource-intensive discipline? The five competition proposals for the new architecture faculty of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels offer a variety of answers.

The ULB’s architecture faculty had been looking for a new location for its educational facilities for years. In 2022, as part of the European recovery plan, the choice fell on the renovation and refurbishment of Building L, a functionalist building with a visible concrete skeleton on the Solbosch campus. During the summer of 2022, a ‘sprint competition’ was organised by the ULB, supported by the Brussels Chief Architect. Five teams were given eight weeks to prepare a concise draft design that pursued two objectives: an energy-efficient renovation of the building envelope and its subsequent transformation into an architecture faculty. The partnership between V (Brussels) and Hart Berteloot (Lille) won over the jury. Despite the tight deadline for this competition, each team presented relevant insights for the transformation of the existing heritage, its energy renovation and the spatial qualities of an architecture faculty.