Kardinal Mercier Square | OMGEVING

Jette, also known as Sint-Pieters-Jette is one of the greenest amongst the 19 communes of the Capital Region of Brussels. Located in the tiny valley of Molenbeek, north-west of the centre of the capital, it offers its inhabitants a fair combination of urban and rural environment.

Until mid-19th century it remained a small village with a large square at its heart, later named after Cardinal Joseph Mercier. With the progression of the industrial revolution and the construction of a train line between Brussels and Dendermonde, Jette underwent rapid transformation turning it into a residential satellite of bourgeois Brussels. Under the same circumstances, the square has also evolved. Surrounded by essential public facilities, the Kardinaal Mercier Square became a popular meeting place, offering its visitors a range of cultural activities. 

With new plans for improving the public transport infrastructure, Jette's train station will be renovated and transformed into a communal hub of the Regional Express Network (GEN), providing easier access to the whole of the capital. The emerging demand for better accessibility of the new station and efficient mobility around it gave incentive to rethink and redesign its main square.
The new square maximises pedestrian space and reorganises car traffic to once again connect to public and non-public facilities, thus forming a coherent urban landscape. The intervention improves the identity of the square creating a homogeneous yet diverse environment for contemporary urban life.