Spatial quality

BMA has at its disposal a number of tools to support clients throughout the entire process, from the project definition right up until the delivery.

CompetitionsOpens in new windowExternal link, research by designOpens in new windowExternal link, design reviewsOpens in new windowExternal link and project meetings are the main tools used to assist and encourage clients, providing the best possible support for improving the quality of their projects.

The design competition is BMA’s most important tool. Competitions put assignments for architecture, urban planning or public space on the market openly and push up the quality of the projects.

Both public and private clients can call on BMA’s support for the best possible competition procedure. 

The drawing is at the heart of research by design. This tool, which exists at BMA since 2016, intervenes as early as possible in the design process and contributes in its own way to the quality of projects. Whether the aim is to define the right questions, to clarify the urban planning framework of a competition, or to improve and optimize projects through imagining alternative proposals, research by design employs the medium of architecture to feed into the discussion through the use of drawings, sketches and images.

This method makes it possible to focus on the actual spatial impact of a project (volume, models, program, etc.), taking the context into account, with the aim of achieving the highest possible level of quality in collaboration with all the stakeholders involved.

The more the dialogue on the quality of a project is initiated upstream of it, the more this dialogue will bear fruit. Indeed, seeking an opinion on the eve of a permit application does not allow a useful discussion about the project. It is in this line that the Brussels Spatial Planning Code (CoBAT) wishes to stimulate project promoters to provoke a discussion on architectural quality early enough.

Therefore, since September 2019, the BWRO stipulates in Article 11/1Opens in new windowExternal link that for all permit applications for projects with a total floor area of ​​more than 5000 m², advice must be requested from the BMA to be added as part of the permit application file.