Mining colonies: mixed vernacular in the garden suburb of Waterschei

The earliest housing built for workers consisted of Mulhouse Quadrangles that were situated to the side of the colliery site in two long rows. The buildings have a distinct Walloon character in their architecture.

At the centre of the first mining colony at Waterschei a large executive villa (on the right) was built set within a large private park. Next to it on either side of the Parklaan two large villas were erected for the mining engineers in charge of sinking the pits. They are mirror images of each other. Both are built in the same Walloon vernacular as the Mulhouse Quadrangles; brick with the typical bands of natural stone and slated roofs. The white rendered villa  sets itself apart rather deliberately, both in architecture as in placement within the grid.

 

 

The massive building of the mining seat was built to impress with a fortress like tower and large central hall. It housed the several offices, technical department, changing rooms and baths.

The villas that were built along the Onderwijslaan and André Dumontlaan either follow the English vernacular akin to the architecture of Raymond Unwin (on the left), or display an ornate variation on Flemish brick vernacular combined with the projecting eaves of the Walloon vernacular.

In a small section of the garden suburb buildings have been built with a strong English influence. They are typed as cottage style buildings in Belgium, although they are better characterized as arts and crafts inspired.

The so-called cottage type buildings are to be found in the northeastern part of the Cité André Dumont. The belt road (Ceintuurlaan) forms the backbone of the garden suburb and consists of several sections, all planted with large trees in wide green verges.

Another example of the "cotage style" buildings with their partially rendered facades and composite roofs. Most are four family dwellings called Vierwoonst in Belgium. By varying the surfaces executed in either brick or light render corners are emphasized.

Next to the church a villa in the so-called cottage style stands in a lush garden. The Church of Christ the King itself dates from 1934 and stands out with its yellow brick facade. It was meant to stand out. It does so not only by virtue of its colour, but also the style of architecture implemented is rather austere and almost modernist in its plasticity and construction (reinforced concrete modules).

The large school building houses both a primary school, a kindergarten and a crafts school. The building is currently (2013) being refurbished. Its fort like appearance supports the ideal of a sheltered learning environment for children. The building has a large covered gate  and even a tower, making it a castle for learning.

To house the single workers and later the immigrants who came to Waterschei without their family the colliery built several hostels, called Hotel. One is now a mosque, the others are being converted to apartments. They are all built in a similar style. Here the Hotel Continental (completed 1925).

 

The short terraces are all situated along the winding streets along a fixed building-line with the occasional block set back according to Unwinesk garden city principles. This small church sits at the point where three curved streets meet and open up into a large expanse of grass planted with trees. The building is both known as the Josef Slipyj Centre and the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist.

 

At the corners special building types were used to strengthen the spatial composition. These buildings either folded inward (such as this example) to hug a corner, or folded outward to emphasize a curve.

Most houses are short terraces of four family houses, some are detached (right) or semidetached (left). Occasionally there are also terraces of three at Waterschei. These date mainly from after 1928.

These buildings along the Hoevenzavellaan conform to the overall type built in the garden suburb at Waterschei. They are part of a later extension between this central axis of the Zwartberg colliery and the belt road of the Cité André Dumont.

 

The buildings south of the Onderwijslaan vary from large semidetached to large detached properties in the earlier "cottage style" or the later vernacular style (left). These buildings housed middle management of the Waterschei colliery.

The buildings in the 1930s extension south of the Onderwijslaan are of the same type as the buildings in the western extension. The gardens are smaller though.

The buildings in the post-WW2 Tuinwijk-Zuid are similar in style to the neighbouring 1930s neighbourhood, albeit somewhat simplified in the detailing. The electricity building has been built as an ornate miniature stronghold complete with tower. From this tower the cables distributed the electricity throughout the neighbourhood. The mine company provided all the houses with electricity right from the beginning.

One of the iconic roundabouts in the Tuinwijk-Zuid. The whole is very formal in layout only the simplest of means are utilized to provide a little bit of variation such as these roundabouts with houses at an angle and the middle block of a row a terraces being placed further back from the road.