Great writeups, thank you! Here are some additions on my part from my notes:
- in the design of the site there has been a lot of input from the fire brigade, who demanded an entrance of 4 meters wide and X meters high so the firetruck could fit through, and parts of the inner walkway and central square had to have reinforced soil so it could take the weight of the firetruck.
- to make the current building volumes energy passive, about 35cm of insulation was used, using typical rock wool isolation. The specifics of insulation use differ greatly dependent on the volume, creating one big block like brutopia generally needs less exterior insulation.
- unforeseen cost of paying the Brussels government for ‘stedenbouwkundige lasten’ because they were seen as a promotor of their site while they were finding people to complete the group with. This cost them about 82K EUR.
- the group is set up and has bought the site as a typical copropriété. the copro meets about once a year, but everyone is part of the Spiegel ASBL, and most meetings (monthly) are done as the ASBL. Focusing on the ASBL allows them to connect with other orgs throughout Jette to really be part of the social fabric of the neighborhood.
- they have several working groups: communication, garden, common rooms, technical/maintenance
- most of the finishings of the units were done through the same entrepreneur that delivered the casco buildings