2023-06-25 06:30:00
Bomel is a district of Namur. Long a northern suburb of the city, located outside its walls, it gradually became part of it during the 19th century, while remaining separated from the center by the station.
Bomel stretches from the railway to the Vedrin plateau. It is a residential area, still expanding and hosting several services to the population, close to the center, the multimodal station and the RAVeL. There is a Natura 2000 area, but also the Espace culturel des Abattoirs, the Jardin Passion theater and the Baie des Tecks, the largest comic strip library in Wallonia, where young and old can indulge their passion for comics. Bomel would come from “balm”, which means underground cavity, but this etymology is controversial.
In any case, the cavities were numerous in the district following the extraction of stone, iron pyrite and lead. Several quarry sites and lime kilns testify to this intense activity of the past. For its part, the Houyoux valley, now vaulted, has had many water mills, some dating back to the Middle Ages. To the east of the district, a large glass factory was in operation in the plain of Herbatte until the 20th century.
Bomel was an advanced defense zone for the stronghold of Namur. The Houyoux and its tributary the Arquet (the route of which is that of the two main streets of Bomel) fed the ditches of the urban enclosure. And the forts of Saint-Antoine and Pied Noir, located in Bomel, formed for a long time, with those of Saint-Fiacre, Coquelet and Balart further east, a defensive belt controlling access to the city.
The former slaughterhouses are integrated into the Bomel district, on the left bank of the Meuse. ©photo Vincent Rocher ©SPW-AWaP
Slaughterhouses. Built between 1937 and 1946, the new slaughterhouse in Namur replaces the establishments located rue Basse-Neuville. The plans were drawn up on the basis of those of the Luxembourg slaughterhouse (1830), while the project received the support of the economic recovery office, whose artistic direction was assumed at the time by Henry Van de Velde.
The facilities are ideally located near the Houyoux river, the train station and the cattle market located in Vedrin. The slaughterhouse, with modernist architecture all in curves and great harmony, is characterized by yellow bricks, a horizontal composition underlined by overhanging cornices and the hollow treatment of the joints. Only the tower of the old burner, with its 24.5 m height, interrupts this scheme.
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The constructions were functional and very neat. The complex presents varied volumes sometimes with curved sides, sometimes orthogonal, where the light enters via bays provided, originally, with metal frames or glass bricks. Inside, the yellow ceramic tiled walls with black mesh and the terracotta floors blended perfectly with the reinforced concrete structures and industrial frameworks.
The choice of materials, the arrangement of these, the ventilation and natural lighting of premises, the rational construction of sewers, the installation of water distribution and the installation of steam and oil heating systems. hot water were incredibly modern. The fight against the enemies of the slaughterhouses was particularly developed there, the elimination of rats and flies being among the main elements having presided over the development of the plans. The establishment was a great success until its closure in 1998.
The former slaughterhouses are located in the heart of a district undergoing a full revival. ©photo Vincent Rocher ©SPW-AWaP
Abandoned, it was saved from demolition thanks to the action of the Bomel neighborhood committee. In 2012, its renovation (3000 m2) is planned as part of the “Namur Confluent Culture” cultural development plan. It is carried out by the BAEB office, at the same time as a private residential complex around a vast public space. At the request of the cultural center team, Rotor intervened for the interior design, then empty of any furniture.
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The collective provides the equipment while thinking about the use and management of the place, within a tight budget: “Perhaps for the first time, we were able to use the full range of materials that Rotor dismantled in parallel on its deconstruction sites in Belgium.” For example, elements of the cafeteria from the headquarters of the BNP Paribas Fortis bank in Brussels, then being demolished, were installed in the restaurant-bar, while doors from another dismantled office building in Brussels , have been reassembled and transformed. Most of the equipment was made on site by Rotor, which took up residence in the slaughterhouses for two months. The Wallonia-Brussels Cultural Institute of Architecture set up its headquarters there when it was created in 2019.
BOMEL SLAUGHTERHOUSES – CULTURAL CENTER OF NAMUR
The Cultural Spaces of the Abattoirs are intended to host artistic and socio-cultural projects. The overall project aims to promote artistic creation and allow the development of everyone’s creativity. It fulfills the missions devolved to a local cultural center while being intimately linked to the regional cultural center, located in the Royal Theater.
The Cultural Action Center carries out cultural and artistic actions there with associations, artists and residents, programs exhibitions, concerts and shows for young audiences, and develops projects, school activities and mediation actions. artistic. It also includes the center for expression and creativity called Ateliers’Bis, which aims to develop creativity through artistic workshops and socio-artistic projects.
The rehabilitation of the building has given it a second life. ©photo Vincent Rocher ©SPW-AWaP
ORGANIZE YOUR VISIT
Cultural spaces of the Abattoirs
Traverse des Muses 18 in 5000 Namur
+32 (0)81 25 04 03
1. The former slaughterhouses are integrated into the Bomel district, on the left bank of the Meuse. 2. Their restoration has also enabled quality urban development. 3. The former slaughterhouses are located in the heart of a district undergoing a full revival.
4. The Cultural Spaces of the Abattoirs are intended to host artistic and socio-cultural projects.
5. Rehabilitation of the building
gave it a second life. 6. The slaughterhouse, with modernist architecture all in curves, is characterized by yellow bricks and a horizontal composition, underlined by overhanging cornices.
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