Listed heritage
Windows in Le Logis and Floréal
Both of Watermael-Boitsfort’s garden cities are listed. For windows, that does not mean everything is frozen: a management plan describes what can be done without authorisation. You still need to know how to read it.
A palette for each neighbourhood
Green for two neighbourhoods of Le Logis, yellow for Floréal, each time combined with black and white. The colours of the joinery are part of what ties the two garden cities together.
The framework
Listed, with instructions for use
Le Logis and Floréal are on the Region’s inventory of protected heritage, with several listing orders issued between 1999 and 2007. So that owners do not have to ask for authorisation for every lick of paint, a heritage management plan came into force on 1 September 2014.
Its principle is simple. The works it describes, and external joinery is among them, are exempt from authorisation. Anything that departs from it becomes a permit application again, with all the scrutiny that implies for a listed building.
What follows from it
The right question to ask
In Le Logis and Floréal, then, the question is not “do I need a permit?” but “is my project described in the plan?” If it is, you go ahead without formalities. If not, you enter a longer procedure, in which the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites (CRMS) has a say.
The plan contains neither the word PVC nor the word aluminium. It describes painted wooden joinery. A project in another material is not “banned” by any particular sentence: it simply falls outside the plan, and therefore outside the exemption.
External joinery
What the management plan describes
Three points to bear in mind before asking for a quote for a house in either garden city.
Painted wood
The plan deals with painting external wooden joinery. That is the basis of any project that wants to stay within the exemption.
The neighbourhood colours
Green for two neighbourhoods of Le Logis, yellow for Floréal, combined with black and white. Any other shade falls outside the framework.
Two kinds of thin glazing
Insulating laminated panes, known as type A, with a U-value of about 3.4, or thin double glazing, known as type B, at around 1.9.
A framework that moves
Sash windows, a recent opinion
In December 2024, the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites gave an opinion on sash windows in the two garden cities. In it, the Commission recommends giving priority to the woods in the management plan, and notes that the rules set in 2014 need revising.
In other words, the plan remains the reference, but it is not set in stone. Before starting work, check which version is in force.
The budget side
Heritage has its own grants
A listed building can qualify for grants for conservation work. For a private owner, they cover 40% or 50% of the work on the outer envelope, for the listed parts only and within the limits of the available budget.
They come with obligations, including inspection visits and a final report. The minor heritage grant (aide au petit patrimoine), for its part, is aimed at buildings that are not listed: it does not apply to the two garden cities.
Frequently asked questions
Le Logis, Floréal and windows
Can I fit PVC windows in Le Logis or Floréal?
The management plan does not mention PVC: it describes painted wooden joinery. A PVC project therefore falls outside the plan and needs a permit for a listed building. In its opinion of December 2024, the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites recommended giving priority to the woods in the plan.
Is double glazing possible in these houses?
The plan allows two kinds of thin glazing: insulating laminated panes, type A, with a U-value of about 3.4, and thin double glazing, type B, at around 1.9.
Do I need authorisation to repaint my windows?
If the paintwork follows what the management plan describes, including the neighbourhood colour, it is among the works exempt from authorisation. A shade the plan does not provide for falls outside it.
Is there financial help for a listed house?
Yes. Conservation work on a listed building can be subsidised at 40% or 50% for a private owner, on the listed parts of the outer envelope and within the limits of the budget. It comes with obligations, such as inspection visits and a final report.
Who can I ask about my house?
The commune’s planning department for the procedure, and Homegrade, whose advice is free and also covers old buildings and heritage.
Sources consulted on 15 September 2026: urban.brussels, heritage inventory, Le Logis and Floréal and heritage management plans; CRMS opinion of 19 December 2024 (in French); grants for a listed building; Homegrade.
A house in one of the two garden cities?
Tell us which street it is in and what you want to change. Together we look at what the management plan allows before we talk about price.
Did a rule change at the commune, or do you see a mistake on this page? Let us know and we will fix it.