Luxury overlooking the North Sea

A modern, sustainable flat and penthouse complex has been designed on the beachfront in the heart of the Belgian coast in the former Mediacenter in the city of Ostend. Certainly, it is a residential development that aims to revitalize the neighborhood and will change the skyline of the waterfront with its volume of unique towers whose open-air forms defy the imagination.

At a time when the residential value has found new meaning due to the harsh restrictions associated with the pandemic, the O'Sea project offers spaces with huge windows that unveil a unique view of the imposing North Sea in this kind of exclusive oasis of tranquility in which isolation has been a key element.

Aiming to become a new neighborhood in this cosmopolitan Belgian port city, the development is spread over 88,500 square meters of living space next to the KV Ostend football stadium. The urban regeneration project combines assisted housing with varied living solutions, a restaurant, three shops, a kindergarten, parking, extensive landscaped areas, and sports facilities including a water garden.

Sustainability and insulation

The project has been developed by Immobel and has taken into account modern construction solutions to ensure the energy efficiency and sustainability of the homes. For reaching the highest comfort standards, homes are equipped with a heating network and a set of insulation solutions provided by URSA.

The contemporary design and the volumetric structure - based on a design by Conix RDBM Architects - presented the contractor BAM Interbuild with several challenges, including the fire safety requirements for 15-storey towers. The contractor found an answer to this problem in WALLTEC BLACK, a mineral glass wool insulation from the URSA TERRA family. It was Verhelst Bouwmaterialen who put BAM Interbuild on the trail of this new insulation solution. "WALLTEC BLACK is Euroclass A1 insulation. It is therefore non-combustible, produces no smoke or toxic gases and there is no formation of smoldering droplets," explains David Kellner, technical sales manager. Verhelst Bouwmaterialen has so far supplied 12,830 m² of WALLTEC BLACK mineral glass wool for this project.

But Stijn Galle, site manager at BAM Interbuild, was not only convinced by the fire safety but by all the other properties of the material. "Typical for the project is the diverse materialization of the façade, from masonry to ventilated façades. We were looking for an insulating material that was easy to work with and versatile. One advantage of WALLTEC BLACK is that thanks to its water-repellent silicone treatment, it can also be used on facades with open joints. The black fleece on one side of the insulation gives the ventilated facades a flawless appearance. Last but not least, URSA insulation combines these advantages with an economical price and excellent thermal and acoustic performance. This matches the sustainable image of the project".