La Cambre is named after the eponymous abbey where the school was founded in 1927. It is located in Brussels, in the Avenue Louise district and the Etangs d'Ixelles. It occupies a number of buildings housing the school's workshops, classrooms, auditoriums and services: buildings on the site of the former Abbey of La Cambre and a more recent building (1971) on Avenue Louise.

The Abbey site is a historic and architectural jewel in the heart of the city.

The abbey was founded in 1201 on the edge of the Forêt de Soignes by a noble lady from Brussels called Gisèle, and entrusted to the nuns of the Cîteaux order. The buildings, badly damaged during the Wars of Religion, were rebuilt in the 17th century and remodelled in the 18th century.

Buildings 14 and 21

21’ was the first building occupied by the order when it was founded in 1927. The building comprises 5 wings arranged around several courtyards and small gardens. This is where the central services, library, cafeteria and restaurant are located, as well as a number of workshops (typography, bookbinding, visual communications, ceramics, texts, screen printing), the printing works and the digital workroom. On the first floor is the lecture theatre and auditorium: the ‘Auditoire Léon Stynen’, named after the architect and former director of the school, who designed the current layout of the auditorium.

14’ is organised around a vast covered courtyard, the Patio, which was converted in the 1980s. It houses the scenography, printmaking, sculpture, drawing and industrial design workshops, as well as the Fablab. It regularly hosts formal and informal events and gatherings: exhibitions, installations, conferences and meetings, receptions, etc.

In 2021, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles will acquire the buildings occupied by the Institut Géographique National with a view to an ambitious project to bring together all the school's activities on a single site to create a genuine arts campus.

Building 13

This is where the school's management and administration are located.

Building 15

Cinema, classrooms, auditoriums
Opposite are the technical workshops.

The other buildings
Temporary occupancy, workshops, exhibitions, events, workshops for Masters 2 students, etc.

The site is shared with Bruxelles environnement for park management, and the Fabrique d'Église.

Les jardins

Situés à deux pas de la place Flagey, en contrebas des avenues Louise et De Mot, les jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre épousent le vallonnement du terrain. Une partie est aménagée en parc arboré, l’autre en terrasses de style classique.

Deux types de jardins distincts créent le décor de l’Abbaye de la Cambre. Au Sud et à l’Est (le long de l’avenue Duray), un parc en cuvette arboré et une pièce d’eau, le «vivier», alimentée par la source du Maelbeek. A l’Ouest, un jardin en terrasses à la française du début du 18e siècle qui rachète la déclivité du terrain et auquel on accède par un escalier monumental.

Ces jardins contribuent à la qualité exceptionnelle du site de l’école.

427 avenue Louise

This 13-storey building overlooks the gardens of La Cambre abbey. Arranged in vast superimposed floors, it houses several workshops, the Joseph Noiret and Herman Teirlinck auditoriums, classrooms and a small cafeteria. A film studio is located on the ground floor of the building, with direct access to the car park.

Since 2011, La Cambre has also had a large showcase space (425, avenue Louise) where workshops, juries, installations, exhibitions, etc. can be held.

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