| Jan De Nul

Diegem 'De Lediaan', A green environment for every Diegem resident.

A former quarry and then landfill was left abandoned for over 40 years and will now be given a new residential destination with a large public park. With the remediation and redevelopment of the former Desmedt site, we present ourselves as a pioneer in upgrading landfills and in their sustainable integration within the environment.

The former Desmedt site used to be a quarry for the typical Lediaan sandstone. This high-quality stone was used for the construction of churches and palaces in Brabant. Today, this site fits within the definition of a brownfield: after the sandstone extraction activities stopped in 1960, the site was used as a landfill for construction rubble until 1977, after which it was abandoned. After acquiring the site, we began its sustainable upgrading to a large publicly accessible park with space for ground-level housing, studios, city apartments, park apartments and penthouses.

6.9

acres of surface area

1.8

acres of collective gardens

4.45

acres of public park

168

residential units

Ambitious upgrade

The former Desmedt site is being completely revalorised, thoroughly remediated and given an ecological reallocation.

The new quarter 'De Lediaan’ will become Diegem’s green lung, where sustainable and peaceful living will go hand in hand with an easy flow of traffic for Diegem residents. De Lediaan will be converted into a great place to play and live, with a large public park of 4.45 acres as central meeting area.

A new breeding ground for growth.

With our ‘De Lediaan’ project, we are pioneering in the sustainable rehabilitation of landfills, both on a national and European level.

The figures published by OVAM indicate that Flanders alone has at least 3,300 landfills. Together, they cover an area comparable to that of two regional cities. The circular economy offers new opportunities to tackle these landfills in a completely different and useful way. In 2015, the Flemish government approved the OVAM concept paper on a sustainable inventory management of landfills. This makes Flanders the first region across the world that manages landfills in view of their best possible integration in the physical environment (Waste to Land) and the potential valorisation of reclaimed content (Waste to Material). The former Desmedt-site is part of two innovative European research projects (COCOON and RAWFILL) for the revalorisation of former landfills, in which we participate as a partner with our project in Diegem, together with OVAM.

“For the former landfill in Diegem, we have examined and assessed the potential of a possible reclamation. The material that has been dumped here over the years mainly consists of construction rubble and should therefore be easy to sieve. Where possible, the sorted rubble will be used as foundation material for roads and buildings. We will not only treat the waste substances found in the soil but we will re-use both the historically dumped construction rubble and the site itself. As such, we fully meet the circular ‘Waste to Land’ and ‘Waste to Materials’ principles.”

Johan Geeroms, Managing Director PSR

Masterplan 'De Lediaan'

'De Lediaan' is an open and easily accessible landscape park full of contrasts.

'De Lediaan' brings the village together, with plenty of space for living, recreation and meeting other people. The design includes both individual dwellings, studios, city apartments, parc apartments and penthouses.

De Lediaan brings the village together.

More space with a large public park

The new quarter ‘De Lediaan’ will become Diegem’s green lung.
Optimum mobility for every Diegem resident

Living in a real village, ideally accessible and very close to Brussels.
A green environment as meeting area

'De Lediaan' brings the village together in a public park of 4.45 acres.
Space for sustainable living

With various housing typologies: from housing, studios, city apartments, parc apartments to penthouses.