New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
asbl.humah@gmail.com

Basic information
Project title
Modular housing for homeless people

Full Project Title
Implementation of bio-based and low consumption modular housing for homeless people in Brussels

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
5 homeless persons are being relocated after the implementation of the first "HUMAH modular housing" in Brussels at the end of the year 2022.
HUMAH ambition is to increase the supply of affordable housing to fight against homelessness based on 3 pillars :
- building high quality, bio-based and low consumption housing for the most vulnerable people ;
- working with people excluded from the labor market during the construction phase ;
- converting urban wastelands into sustainable city spaces.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Local

Where was your project implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Belgium

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Brussels

Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2022-12-31

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
If you are submitting this project as part of a group, please provide the contact details of the other individuals or organisations
- Name of the organisation(s): HUMAH asbl
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: François
  Last name of representative: Marty
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: France
  Function: Administrator
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Avenue Jacques Brel 38 - bte 0
  Town: Brussels
  Postal code: 1200
  Country: Belgium
  Direct Tel: +33 6 98 22 15 13
  E-mail: asbl.humah@gmail.com
- Name of the organisation(s): Chênelet
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Anne-Gaëlle
  Last name of representative: Charvet
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: France
  Function: President
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 877 le petit Wandin
  Town: Bonningues-lès-Calais
  Postal code: 62340
  Country: France
  Direct Tel: +33 3 21 35 78 24
  E-mail: agcharvet@chenelet.org
  Website: https://chenelet.org/
- Name of the organisation(s): Infirmiers de rue
  Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
  First name of representative: Pierre
  Last name of representative: Ryckmans
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: Belgium
  Function: Coordinator
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rue Gheude 21-25 / 4
  Town: Anderlecht
  Postal code: 1070
  Country: Belgium
  Direct Tel: +32 2 265 33 00
  E-mail: info@idr-sv.org
  Website: https://www.infirmiersderue.be/en
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
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In case my project is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
Social Media

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
HUMAH ambition is to increase the supply of affordable housing to fight against homelessness based on 3 pillars :
- building high quality, bio-based and low consumption housing for the most vulnerable people;
- working with people excluded from the labor market during the construction phase;
- converting urban wastelands into sustainable urban areas.

HUMAH is an NGO which has been created by the belgium NGO Archi Human and the French solidarity-based SME Foncière Chênelet :

-Archi Human, a Belgian NGO, founded by Luc SCHUITEN architect, aims to provide the homeless with decent housing and psycho-social support with the help of its member associations (Infirmiers de Rue, Diogènes and SMES-B) : https://archihuman.com/
-Foncière Chênelet, a French solidarity-based and social SME, brings to the HUMAH projects its competencies in ecological construction of social housing training people excluded from the labor market : https://fonciere-chenelet.org

HUMAH is developing two kinds of new projects on the so called "urban wasteland", following the "Housing First" approach :
- Construction of social housing : one ongoing project (Evere, Belgium)
- Provision of modular housing : project completed presented here (Brussels, Belgium)

The implementation of high quality modular housing carried out by HUMAH offers a new housing solution to increase the supply of affordable housing for homeless people in Brussels. In this project HUMAH has provided 5 modular housing designed to restore confidence and dignity to homeless people living on the streets for many years.

This project has been set up in partnership with Infirmier de Rue, a belgium NGO providing psycho-social support to homeless people. Another partner is the NGO Baita in charge of renting the 5 modular houses.

Those 5 modular housing have been implemented in the second half of 2022 on a land owned by the municipality (CPAS) in Neder-Over-Heembeek in Brussels.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
housing first / affordable housing for homeless people

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
bio-based construction

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
low consumption housing

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
training of persons excluded from the labour market

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
urban wasteland conversion

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
HUMAH housing is designed to maximise environmental performance and energy efficiency. Fighting against energy poverty is one of the pillars of this project in order to reduce the energy cost as much as possible for the inhabitants, but also to lower the environmental impact of building during their entire life cycle. HUMAH construction work is based on renewable and healthy resources such as wood, straw, terracotta bricks, green roof, water-rain recovery, etc.

The modular housing implemented in Brussels are composed of wooden modules (wooden framework, cladding, battens...), wood triple-glazed windows and include a bio-based insulation with wood fiber providing a high energy efficiency as well as a thermic and hygrometric regulation which is a source of comfort for the inhabitants. The wood used for HUMAH Housing projects come as much as possible from the North of France Region and from sustainably managed forests.

Furthermore, by implementing "light" housing, this project contributes to the no net land take objective as well as to recycling wasteland into green and sustainable urban areas. These modular houses will be relocated to other places when needed.

Lastly, HUMAH provides housing solutions integrating the training of people excluded from the labor market during the off-site construction phase. Its model is based on off-site prefabrication of housing elements in order to employ people that can increase their skills in a progressive way as well as raise awareness in the eco-construction field.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
HUMAH housing projects design housing with bio-based material which make them healthy and confortable for the inhabitants, but also aesthetic with the outside and inside wooden cladding. This aesthetic dimension is even more visible when the housing project is located on a field tagged as a wasteland which brings a completely new vision of the urban spaces. The choice of wood is a choice of comfort and integration for inhabitants of the modular and for the city: it brings the forest back to the city.

Furthermore, the modular housing design has been thought with NGO working daily with homeless people in order to provide quality housing adapted to their needs.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
In terms of inclusion, this project aims to rehouse and sustainably support people who have lived in the street for many years. HUMAH projects are following the "Housing First" approach which prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. In this respect, the modular housing project is seen as the foundation for life improvement and this is even more important to provide high quality and long term housing solutions to those people.

The ecological aspect is also key in our objective of inclusion, because the poorest are often the ones that are far away from ecology… but are people who need it the most !

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
Through the partnership with Infirmier de rue, which is working daily with homeless people in the street, the needs of this population have been taken into account in the development of the modular housing project. The development of the modular homes comes from Infirmiers de Rue experience.

This housing solution has been chosen because it corresponds particularly well to a section of the targeted population, for whom the integration of a more traditional social housing can be complicated.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
The following stakeholders are part of the modular housing project in Brussels :

- HUMAH : provider of the modular housing solution ;
- Chênelet : construction of the modular housing solution by training people excluded from the labor market ;
- Brussels' public center for social action (CPAS) : providing the land where the project have been implanted ;
- Infirmier de rue : providing the psycho-social support to the rehoused persons ;
- Baita : a social rental agency managing the rental part of the project.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
The design of our modular homes comes from 3 different fields, which are specialties of the different stakeholders : eco-construction (build in a global approach, thanks to natural resources, for a sustainable investment, living places), social work (work with people to empower them) and project management (mix skills to achieve a specific goal) .

Thanks to the interaction of stakeholders and their specific skills we achieve to create a solution that fits the inhabitants needs but more broadly societal needs : inclusion and sustainability.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
The project's results at this stage are the following :
- 5 persons sustainably rehoused in affordable housing (in terms of rent and charges) with psycho-social support ;
- Land valuation for the owner (CPAS) with a sustainable and social project
- Unemployed people trained back to work ;
- Amount of Biosourced raw materials / CO2 avoidance.

As the 5 persons have just been rehoused, more social impact and results will be available during the year 2023. The first results will be presented in the next annual activity report published by Infirmier de rue.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
PDF
PDF
- pdf-1-10083.pdf
- pdf-1-10083_0.pdf
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
Environmental innovation : bring ecology to the poorest. Ecological housing allows important savings on usual consumption charges, is a source of wellbeing and comfort, but the sector is still underdeveloped and is mainly for wealthier people. So we choose to build healthy and comfortable ecological houses for people with the lowest incomes.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
Design of the modular homes from the street experience of Infirmiers de Rue and Foncière Chênelet ecological social housing experience.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
Other projects could be developed using temporary occupation of the land to answer the housing crisis that impacts mainly the most vulnerable. HUMAH's ambition is to keep on developing such projects in partnership with municipalities interested in offering innovative housing solutions for the citizens who need it the most.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
HUMAH provides local solution to tackle the following global challenges :

*Housing crisis and lack of affordable housing : the main challenge for HUMAH is to developp new projects and approaches to provide more social housing for the most vulnerable people.

*Global warming : HUMAH housing is designed to maximise environmental performance and energy efficiency.

* Land wasting : reuse abandoned land to host temporary housing
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted project, is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes