Survey on Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse practice

Project description
Project Id 3614
Project Name C Mine, Belgium
Description In 1900, Genk was a quiet village with around 2,000 residents. At that time, Genk was known for its beautiful nature, popular among artists and painters who used Genk as a setting for their pieces. In 1901, coal was discovered in Genk and three mining sites were developed: Zwartberg, Waterschei and Winterslag (C-mine today). As a result, the population grew exponentially: today Genk has about 65,000 inhabitants with 107 different ethnic backgrounds. The mines had some good years, but in 1966 the Zwartberg mine closed, followed by Winterslag (C-mine today) in 1986 and Waterschei in 1987.
Description of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the project The city went looking for new opportunities for the enormous mine sites on its territory, including the Winterslag site. In 2000, the idea began to grow to accommodate a creative hub in the buildings of the old coal mine of Winterslag. In 2001, the city of Genk bought the site from LRM (Limburgse Reconversie Maatschappij) and the name "C-mine" was born in 2005. As regards content, the creative hub works on four cornerstones: education, creative economy, creative recreation and artistic creation and presentation. With a university college specialised in various artistic graduation subjects, an incubator for young entrepreneurs, a cultural centre, a design centre, a cinema, C-mine expedition, etc. the C-mine mission has succeeded. It has created 330 jobs in 42 companies and organisations, including around 200 jobs in the creative sector in 33 creative companies.
Web links http://www.c-mine.be/
Country Belgium
City size Intermediate cities (between 50.000-1 million people)
Characteristics of the cultural heritage building/site/landscapes
Construction period 5-Modern architecture
Adaptive reuse period 2000-2005
State of conservation Medium conservation
Vacancy before Vacant
Vacancy after Permanently used
Cultural significance National heritage|
Typologies Productive (industrial)|
Governance, management and financing
Ownership before Private
Ownership after Public
Management structure Other: Ownership and management of the buildings 1 owned by the municipality 2 owned by the Luca School 3 owned by the cinema 4 owned by the company Painting with Light 5 owned by the municipality and rented by studio Pieter Stockmans 6 owned by C-Mine Crib (creative industries) 7 owned by the company Deusjevoo & co 8 Barenzaal owned by the municipality (Energy building) 9 owned by the company Whitelight |
Managing body Public|Private for profit|
Funding full answer Public funding (EU)|Public funding (National)|Other: PPP|
Barriers and bottlenecks None|
total investment > 10.000.000 €
Uses / functions
Residential no
Cohousing no
Hotel accommodation no
BnbHostel accommodation no
Commercial units yes
Wellness centres no
Restaurant yes
Cafe yes
Public library no
Gardens yes
Education yes
Museum exhibition yes
Research yes
Cultural events yes
Theatre yes
Conferences yes
Social uses yes
Community Hubs yes
Incubator yes
Cultural and Creative Industries hub yes
Innovative startups hub yes
Circular economy enterprises hub no
Coworking spaces yes
Workshop spaces yes
Living Lab no
Fab Lab no
Creative Hub no
Artist residencies no
Materials bank no
Repair Cafe no
Bike sharing place no
Sports facilities no
Other uses no