Be-MINE in full development: new steps on mine site
Be-MINE gets coffee bar, ice cream shop and new offices on former mine unloading floor
Next year, you will be able to taste a coffee or lick an ice cream at a height of eight metres at be-MINE. Work started this week on renovating the first floor of the mine’s unloading floor. There will be a coffee roastery, an ice cream salon and offices.
The unloading floor is one of the largest parts of Beringen’s former coal mine, but for now it is somewhat hidden behind the newly restored shaft trestle and the double retrieval building below. From the parking lot of the shopping complex, you first walk past the climbing centre and bike shop. “The unloading floor is actually a huge building and we sometimes compare it to baggage handling at an airport,’”explains director of be-MINE Karolien Sas. “The coal came up from the shaft barge, which also goes through the unloading floor. Then they landed on the conveyors and were distributed between the different coal washing plants.”
Most of the unloading floor is occupied by the Mineset mining experience museum, which will open at the end of next year. Since this week, work has also started on the first floor of the unloading floor, which is about eight metres above the ground. An area of 900 square metres will house new offices, a coffee roastery and an ice cream salon.
Het Koude Genot (The Cold Delight)
The office spaces will go to United Experts Group, which already occupies two locations at be-MINE with the former main building and the passerelle. “We are a knowledge network of different companies and with our expertise we advise and guide other companies,” says Silvio Giovanelli of United Experts Group. “In Beringen, we already have 90 employees. The new offices will serve to accommodate our own growth, but in Beringen we also offer space to other companies. We focus on start-ups there, because we can help them grow with our expertise.”
In the future, cyclists or shoppers at be-MINE will be able to take a break on the first floor, as the Charbonnages de Beeringen coffee roastery is also moving to the unloading floor. The coffee roastery is a project of entrepreneur Peter Claes, who already runs communications agency Vestal at be-MINE. Jan Larosse, owner of Velotril, is opening an artisanal ice cream salon there: Het Koude Genot.
Terrace and park
Below the unloading floor, the new cycle path under the coal washes is already in place, which currently still ends in a site zone full of fences. A large yellow construction crane still stands in the middle of the square between the double collection building and the restored coal washery 4. That square is being transformed into a park, where the cycle path continues. One of the coffee bar’s assets will be its eight-metre-high terrace overlooking the park. “You get a fantastic view of the site there, with both sun and shade spots. It will be an ideal place to relax and admire the surroundings,” Peter Claes explains.
Those who prefer not to conquer those eight metres on foot can go up by a special lift. “There is still an old goods lift that was used in the mine,’”Karolien Sas explains. “We keep the original steel exterior of the lift as a tribute to the industrial past, but in it we put a modern lift shaft that provides contemporary comfort and accessibility to new offices. This will be a perfect blend of heritage and innovation.”
We always look for a tailor-made solution that respects the heritage but also makes it usable. In this way, our listed buildings are not only preserved but also given a meaningful reuse.
If the works go according to plan, the new unloading floor will open in a good year’s time. “Together with Jan Larosse and Silvio Giovanelli, we are making sure that the site becomes a place where people like to come. It will be an investment of more than a million euros, but the result will definitely be worth it,” said Peter Claes.
Read more in the article by Het Belang van Limburg below.
Pictures© Mine Dalemans en © zb
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