The frite, or frieten, as they say in the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium, is a national institution. But given the skinny chip’s veneration, whether enjoyed with a dab of mayonnaise or taken au naturel, the ramshackle appearance of many of the frietkots from which they are dispensed around Brussels has been a source of shame for the city council.

The embarrassment has prompted officials in the capital to commission a prize-winning architect to rebuild 10 of the chip shacks, creating shiny, ecologically friendly, shrines to frites. The aim is not only to attract tourists but serve and satisfy the city’s residents.

But it is not proving an easy task. While some people are pained by the existing frietkots many have expressed their deep unease at this leap into the future.

Thomas Hick, the architect behind the new-look frietkots, said: “It was a contentious issue at the start and we hesitated in taking part in the competition to design them. The frietkots are old and ramshackle and it’s something we like about Brussels. No fuss. As opposed to the French way – the Belgians are more raw in the way they eat frites.”

Hick said he took the popular discontent as a challenge. “We wanted to find a solution to this contradiction. We asked, what are these frietkots about? Why are they like they way they are? They are not about architecture, but they are about function, and the signage was the most important part, that’s what gives them their identity.”

Belgian passions have been stirred by the frite in the past. A suggestion last year from the European commission that friteries might want to blanche their potatoes before frying to prevent formation of a carcinogenic compound was met by claims from a tourist minister that the EU was committing a crime against the people. Devotees swear by the double frying of bintje potatoes in beef or horse fat to achieve an ideal combination of succulent centre and crispy exterior.

Hick understood the perils of meddling. Inspired by the 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas, (by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour) an architectural bible that urges his trade to dispense with the grand and appeal to local tastes, he kept the standard box shape of the much loved friteries.

The characteristic awning and glass bar have also remained the same. The facades, however, will be mirrored, and the neon signage and colour of the interior tiles will reflect each shack’s local area.

The €50,000-a-shack scheme also makes space for solar panels on the roof to provide energy for the signage (it is more ecological to stick with gas for the fryers), and there will be a rain-harvesting system that collects water in a tank at the back for washing down the frietkot.

A bench may be incorporated in the shack, though this feature has also met some resistance. “The owners are bit concerned that drunk people might be tempted to hang around a bit too long,” Hick said. “But these are important communal places too. Some of them are in places where it might not be safe to walk at night and they offer security.”

The frietkots are owned by the vendors, while the council owns the sites. After the demolition and reconstruction work, the shacks will be owned by the council and let at no extra cost to the former owners. It is hoped all 10 shacks will be complete by 2019.

Officials at Brussels city council have suggested that the new frietkots could, in time, acquire the resonance of London’s red telephone booths. Hick, whose firm, Studio MOTO, is also designing the culinary garden at the National Botanical Garden, in Meise, said: “No, I realise that on one hand it could be something iconic, but the Belgians are a bit sick of being branded as being all about chocolate, beer and frites. There is more to the country than that. We are also a creative country and we are forwarding looking. I’m not taking offence at that, in some ways it is a compliment, but it was certainly not our plan.”