The client wishes to build a dental practice with an apartment above. The plot opens up along two sides and has a magnificent view to a new marina to be developed along the channel of Ingelmunster at the back of the plot. Stringent building codes dictate a maximum building envelope of 3 storeys (STEP 1).
The dental practice should focus on the marina, the apartment on the Waterstraat (STEP 2). A two-sided exposure for the dental practice on the one hand, and optimal daylight entering the apartment on the other hand, result in a program stack instead of separation (STEP 3). The maximum building envelope is manipulated so to provide two south facing terraces for the apartment above (STEP 4). The building reads as a combination of three geometric volumes, stacked gradually on top of each other (STEP 5).