On January 25th, the Fonds du Logement organized a meeting with the Kiem building tenants. Along with the Fonds du Logement (FdL), Coeba Architects presented the project in detail. Neobuild was also present in order to tackle technical questions. Tenants were previously informed about this renovation but the meeting allowed going into more details and answering all questions and concerns.
Many aspects were discussed, allowing the FdL to better understand tenants’ concerns and priorities during refurbishment works. For instance questions were raised about noise, respiratory issues and possible pollution due to dust particles.
Another aspect was the concern about air ducts: not only the aesthetic aspects, but also the aspects related to dust cleaning, e. g. dust that could settle on the top of the air ducts.
Cellars were a major concern for some tenants as one cellar will have to be moved in order to accommodate a space for wooden pellets. Solar panels brought a lot of interest as many people were truly motivated by environmental concerns and energy consumption.
Who will open the door?
Other concerns were on the necessary presence or not during refurbishment works: who will open the door to workers? A precise schedule of works will be provided to tenants allowing them to know exactly when their apartment is going to be refurbished. They were also informed that the total length of refurbishment in their apartment will not exceed 2 days.
The FdL will also examine the possibility to offer a buffer apartment to those that will stay in their units during refurbishment in order to avoid any nuisances.
Movements and protection of furniture will be done by specialized companies. If damages occur, their insurance will cover expenses.
Overall, many tenants used this meeting as an opportunity to expose existing problems: the obsolescence of radiators, mold appearing in certain parts of the building, broken door handles, gutter noise during heavy rain…
Case-by-case
The FdL will consider on a case-by-case basis where to fix, paint or even replace some items by new ones. In general, the meeting clearly underlined that tenants were looking for small improvements on the building.
Taking advantage of the general refurbishment, the FdL will address most of these issues to provide a complete service to tenants, enhancing their positive feeling about life-quality in the building.
