Iris residence

Etterbeek sits at the centre of Brussels' institutional geography — the European quarter to the north, the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel within easy reach, and a residential neighbourhood that has maintained its character despite the proximity of European institutions. The commune has its own market, its own independent restaurant culture, and the kind of neighbourhood texture that makes Brussels worth living in rather than just working in. For students, it offers a practical central location without the pressure and the pricing of the immediate European district.

Iris Residence is an urban regeneration project — the conversion of a former nursing home in Etterbeek into 118 student dwellings. The modulation of the concrete structure lent itself naturally to student accommodation, allowing the project to preserve the building's underlying logic while renewing it for a new use. Residents have access to a fitness room, relaxation and coworking room, laundry room, garden, concierge, educational support service and extensive bicycle shelters.

Delivered in September 2018, Iris Residence was developed with BREEAM standards in mind and later sold to Xior Student Housing, a European leader in student housing. The project remains part of our broader commitment to urban regeneration in Brussels: identifying buildings that have reached the end of one life and creating the conditions for another.