Food markets have been all the rage in Europe for a few years now. In Belgium, things took a little longer to take off, but now we’re totally hooked. Only a couple of months ago, Europe’s biggest food market opened its doors in the Gare Maritime in Brussels, making sure Wolf wasn’t the only food market in the Belgian capital any longer. And now, another very exciting culinary project has been announced. Not in Brussels this time, yet in the Walloon city Charleroi.
It’s Télésambre who had the pleasure to announce the opening of the very latest addition to the Belgian food market scene. An addition fathered by co-living company Ikoab and one that will see the light of day in two years’ time. At the moment, works haven’t even started yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get enthusiastic already, does it?
First, let’s talk location. With its mining history, Charleroi certainly has its very own atmosphere you won’t find anywhere else in Belgium. Therefore, it’s without a doubt worthy of a city trip, which will at some point take you to the borders of the river Sambre. There, in the hôtel des Chemins de fer, the new food market will set sail. The building, designed by Paul Nouille and Henry Van de Velde, dates back to the 1930’s and was once used to house the local SNCB-offices.
Food and living
But in the future, things will change dramatically. On the ground floor, visitors will be able to enjoy a 3000 square meter terrace and alongside that, a 1500 square meter food market. As a small country, we definitely like to see things big. No matter what kind of cuisine you’re looking for, you’ll no doubt be able to find it here. Eight permanent food stands will be open to the public and on special locations, there will be room for temporary food trucks too. At the moment, the specific restaurants which will have their permanent stand here haven’t been revealed yet, so you better exercise some patience.
Being a co-living company, Ikoab of course couldn’t develop a project without providing co-living space, so those will be integrated in the building as well. No less than 63 rooms will be available in this co-living project, but we foresee they will go very quickly. That being said, if the project turns out to be a success, Ikoab is planning to take the concept to other Belgian cities as well.
