Technical sheet

Snoeien

Renovation and reorganisation of a rowhouse in which spaciousness is achieved by getting rid of obstacles

As usual one finds the corridor, a front room, a back room and a small patio on the ground floor of the house. The rooms function, but they somehow lack some spatial quality, they seem to be rather unwanted neighbours. The patio is snipped sharply by the turn of the building block. Due to the lack of space, the Belgian ‘extension-rage’ has solemnized vertically, against the back facade. It houses a whole series of underused functions like a toilet, stokehole, terrace, storage room and multiple canopies. The design will consist mainly of purging the house of things, a rather pseudo-archaeological endeavour.

No sooner said than done. What was added, is taken away, and then some more. The back facade is being purged of its extensions, straight up and the light can enter deep into the house again. Transversal walls are maximally opened. Cutting and propping till the borders between spaces blur. Traditionally one would do this propping with concrete and brick, but that’s too massive here. Steel porticos are slimmer: one small portico and one big, with a Vierendeel girder as spacious skylight. The columns are detached from the walls, so the wall just continues in one movement and the span gets smaller. The space opens up in width, length and height. The three rooms –the patio as third outdoor room- become one continuous space with zones, from street to garden wall. The kitchen is moved to the street side, so you can wave to your neighbours while the fish is frying. The living space is in the back, near the room-large window, near the patio with the plants. The kitchen furniture continues and becomes a library, then a television cabinet, and eventually a bench and a garden storage. Somewhere along the cupboard-trail a child is playing. The sky has cleared up outside and someone is opening the folding window.

Werk - 032

Let’s Prune

In a compact terraced house in Jette, many vertical extensions have been added to the rear façade over the years: a storage shed, a concrete balcony, several corrugated metal canopies. On the ground floor, hardly any daylight enters through the back.

The straitjacket of this compact house, on an even more compact plot, is removed. Breathe. The entire rear façade at ground level disappears, not a single brick is retained. In its place: a Vierendeel beam and a folding wall. Where there was once mostly masonry, there is now steel, aluminium, and above all, glass.

032 FLC gif2 compressed — A Vierendeel beam allows the steel structure at ceiling level to remain relatively slender. This lets light enter from the highest point, which in turn allows it to penetrate deep into the interior. By deliberately pulling the columns away from the party walls, the space and the view are kept as wide and open as possible.

032 FLC gif1b compressed — Depending on the need, one panel, half the façade, or the entire rear wall can be opened. This way, the courtyard becomes part of the compact living area, when the weather allows.

Cut, Don’t Paste

The house is pruned where necessary to let it breathe. New elements are only added when truly needed. What was once a doorway to a concrete balcony suddenly becomes a French window overlooking the courtyard, thanks to a slender balustrade.

Cascade

Three new pieces of built-in furniture give purpose to the open space. On the street side, a kitchen cabinet is constructed, cascading step by step towards the light at the front façade. All furniture is designed with the same vocabulary: white fronts, clean lines with concealed handles, a tiled back in white, and a worktop in the same material as the floor.