In 1933 Maxime Brunfaut was given the assignment to design a sanitarium for 150 male tbc patients by La Prévoyance Sociale. For this purpose a part of the Tombeek heath near Overijse had been bought. 13 Months after the first stone-laying – a record building time – the sanitarium Joseph Lemaire was opened on the 30th of September 1937 under international interest. The name Joseph Lemaire was given as a tribute to the director of La Prévoyance Sociale of that time.