History

Het Eilandje was developed around 1550 by urbanist avant la lettre Gilbert van Schoonbeke. The area was part of a large-scale urban development under the name Nieuwstad. But it was Napoleon Bonaparte who was unwittingly responsible for the final naming of 't Eilandje. Because when the now disappeared lock of his Bonaparte dock was open, the small area was completely surrounded by water.

The district, like the warehouses, was named Montevideo, after the capital of Uruguay, which was then an important trading partner of the port of Antwerp. Place names such as Mexicostraat or Limaplein still refer to trade with South and Central America, of which 't Eilandje was a hub for a long time. As the port grew, the need for storage spaces also increased. And so in 1897 the city ordered the construction of twelve warehouses. The buildings, designed by city engineer Frans De Winter, were completed in just twelve months and at a cost of 331,000 Belgian francs.

The warehouses were initially used to store skins, but were occupied by the English army from the 1950s onwards. They stored, among other things, butter, cheese, cigarettes, ham, tea and coffee.

The shed roofs (after the English 'shed' or 'barn') were invented in the seventeenth century, but were first used on a large scale by the English in the nineteenth century. The sawtooth roof consists of a series of parallel gable roofs, the ridges of which are oriented East-West. The North-facing shield is much steeper and has a window. The South-facing shield does not have this. The result? Maximum light, minimum heating.

The redevelopment of the Montevideo site was done with the utmost respect for the monumental character of the historic site. For example, DCA Woonprojecten, in collaboration with M2 Architects, reused the original clinkers for the construction of the courtyard and the walls and old ceilings of the warehouses also returned to their original state. The original wooden gates were given a major makeover.

Source: montevideo-residence.be – Antwerp city guide Gerda Gimbrère