Les Ateliers Claus, independent cultural platform for visual art and music is a well-known creation and residence structure based in Brussels, working for years with recognized and upcoming artists.
 The project, a mix between new construction and renovation, consists in creating, on two plots and buildings located in a dense urban context, a new cultural equipment mainly dedicated to music, but not only. The program (2 music venues, a bar with atrium, a lodge for artists, 3 housing units and a music studio) are spread all over the 6 levels in a joyous complexity, inherent to the implantation of the two plots.

The existing building to be renovated was and remains the « public » building, while the new building is complementary, « at its service », while clearly distancing itself and affirming its own identity. This complicity between both buildings allows us to integrate the architecture and the program in the neighborhood and rhythm of existing façades all around. Once inside buildings, the boundaries between one and the other are constantly fuzzy and misleading. The concert hall and recording studio upstairs works as a « box in the box » and offers verified acoustic qualities. The project also presents some challenges in terms of stability and techniques.