The housing development converted from the former Heyman’s soap factory complex is located in an underprivileged area to the west of Brussels city centre. It serves as a pilot project for the policies of gentle urban redevelopment without gentrification, practised by the communities of the Brussels region since the 1990s. Back in 2004, the municipal social welfare authorities acquired the property which had stood derelict for over a decade, and held an architectural competition to build 42 new apartments. Together with the competition winners, MDW Architectes, a maximum heating demand of 48 kWh/m²a was defined for the buildings. This limit also applied to three of the original buildings on site which were to be refurbished: a postal station facing the street (which dates back to the 18th century), the old administration building of the soap factory, and a five-storey warehouse with an iron structural frame which dates back to the19th century.