The former industrial railyard in the centre of Brussels is transformed into large park, imagined as a river valley. The ballast of the former tracks is stored underground to retain rainwater, while fast-growing pioneer trees on its banks start the ecological succession of this park in constant evolution.

Year: 2012 – ongoing
Client: Nextensa
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Photographs : Michiel De Cleene

Thirty-two trees have been planted around a stone circle in a natural clearing of the Sonian forest. The trees and stones of the memorial isolate a circular area in the forest as place to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels of 2016.

Year: 2016 – 2017
Client: Brussels Capital Region
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene

The central business district along the Part-Dieu railway station is charactereised by high rise buildings. The project looks for fertile soil to plant as many trees as possible to create a new green horizon amid the sky-scrapers.

Year: 2015 – 2021
Client: Lyon Part-Dieu
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Urbanist: l’AUC
Photograph (5): Thierry Fournier
Photograph (6): Laurence Danière

The refurbishment of the courtyard of the old prison is centred around four existing trees. A series of large circular benches provide generous seating opportunity in their shade, while giving their roots more place to grow.

Year: 2021
Client: The Jockey Club CPS Limited
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Architect: Beau Architects
Photographs : Leon Xu Liang

A series of seven monuments, dispersed over the Belgian territory, remembers the victims of the Covid crisis. Each of them is a mutated variation of a broken circle. Together they form a family of interconnected places for solace and silence. In Gent, the monument is a first act in the gradual transformation of a former field into a biodiverse forest.

Year: 2021 – 2022
Client: Moving Closer & Kunstwerkt
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Photographs (1, 2, 3): Michiel De Cleene
Photographs (7, 8): City of Gent

The green buffer between a motorway interchange and a residential area is made by the plantation of one thousand trees. Different species are planted according to different grids, creating an accessible arboretum.

Year: 2011 – 2012
Client: City of Antwerp
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene

A pedestrian promenade connects the city hall with a new library, bridging a height difference of four meters. Two large staircases planted with trees provide access and light to the parking garage underneath, while water jets become a new destination on the promenade above.

Year: 2010 – 2017
Client: City of Waregem
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Architect: Robbrecht&Daem, Goedefroo+Goedefroo
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene

Set in the park of Tour & Taxis, this monument celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The thirty articles are written in four languages on thirty different natural stones, creating a contemporary obelisk surrounded by eight evergreen pine trees.

Year: 2018
Client: Brussels Capital Region
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene

The main market square and station plaza lie on either side of a canal running through the city. Both are refurbished to become part of a single platform spanning the valley. A specific choice of hardscape, vegetation and urban furniture creates a new centrality in the urban sprawl the marks the region.

Year: 2007 – 2020
Client: Municipality of Ingelmunster
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Architect: 360 Architects
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene

Transformation of the former industrial site into a new neighborhood in the south of Antwerp.

Year: 2013 – 2028
Client: Triple Living nv
Landscape Architect: Bureau Bas Smets
Architects: Robbrecht en Daem, Vincent Van Duysen, Office KGDVS, David Chipperfield Architects, Shigeru Ban, Max Dudler, Stefano Boeri,  Nordlander, etc.
In collaboration with: Secchi-Viganò
Photographs: Michiel De Cleene