The original building was conceived for an architect office in Kortrijk and is a part of a housing complex build in the 70s.The patio-houses of this neighbourhood have flat roofs and white painted brick walls. The gardens of the houses are closed to the street and neighbours to guarantee privacy (and have also the white painted walls). The building we had to ‘renovate or restore’ is on the edge of this neighbourhood but has the same beautiful and typical sphere.
The original office had 3 volumes around a garden. The main office was placed 1.40 m above the ground to ensure a panoramic view over the fields. The typical sloping glass façade and the lifted volume makes the building unique.
15 years ago the office was sold and transformed into a house. A few years ago the owners asked me to renovate their house and to make it even more interesting than the existing building.
The first thing we had to do was to isolated the house, replacing the windows and to change all the technics to make the place comfortable. Without changing the facades we finally obtained to make an energy self-sufficient. A renovation of this kind of architecture is more like carefully restoring a piece of history and emotions.
The very original colors (yellow and green) were chosen by artist Raoul De Keyser.We looked for the same specific colors of the floor (yellow) and doors (green). The strange idea of the yellow color gives the interior and the owners a sunny feeling. The wood (acacia) for the new furniture was carefully selected to match with these floor.
All the new details are well designed : most of the furniture have a top layer of : thick leather in the living space and sleeping room and brushed stainless steel in the kitchen. The handles of the closets are made of messing, rubber and black glass is used in the shower. In the private office and the large sleeping room, with a fire place and freestanding bathtub, the walls are completely cladded with wood. In this way these spaces are very intimate while the other rooms, with white painted brick walls, are very airy and open.
The program was supplemented with a small and long concrete swimming pool, sauna and a kind of hotel suite. We opened the rooms to improve the circulation and sightlines. New large concrete terraces were put in the evening corner and the inner garden. The swimming pools is bordered with the real Kolumba Peterson stone. The garden fence is like an abstract work of art and also designed by the Steven Vandenborre.The new garden, designed by landscape architects : Studio Basta, is a masterpiece and a perfect answer to the environment and the renovated home.
Material Used :
1. facade and interior walls : white painted bricks
2. yellow painted floors
3. wood (larch)
4. felt
5. rubber
6. leather
6. polished inox
