The city of Ghent is facing the challenge of developing a new vision for a new city district, the area today known as 'The Loop'.

There is a need for a lively and mixed urban district that connects to the transport hub Gent-Sint-Pieters station and meets the large-scale need for student housing.

The City of Ghent and the Ghent City Architect, together with Upgrade Estate, owner of a lot of land around The Loop, installed a compact think tank around the above challenges.

B-City, Endeavour and 360architecten were invited to the table as independent experts. During 3 workshops, they considered the desirability, feasibility and quality conditions for a possible realisation of large-scale student housing in this area.

It is hoped that these ideas can help guide the further development of the spatial plan for the new district from the outset.