KOTO
Stijn Bollaert

KOTO - Housing and office - Brussels

NOTAN OFFICE as Architects

Situated on the thoroughfare of Côteaux Street within Schaerbeek's urban fabric, this venture unfolds amidst a densely woven metropolitan tapestry. The undertaking stakes its claim upon a parcel previously housing a street-fronting garages.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert
photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

The endeavor encompasses the construction of four distinct abodes, alongside an adjunct workspace. Côteaux Street, a thoroughfare characterized by its diverse socioeconomic strata and architectural eclecticism, entwines a multitude of styles and volumetric configurations.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert
photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

Our intervention aligns with the axial trajectory of Philomène Street, thusly reaping the benefits of an unobstructed vista and optimal solar orientation. Hence, a panoramic vista extends forth, inviting contemplation of the site's potential and forging a compelling urban interplay between the project's essence and its ambient surroundings.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert
photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

With the aspiration to both foreground this latent potential and grant the denizens dominion over the courtyard and garden milieu, the street-facing edifice ascends, engaging in direct dialogue with the thoroughfare. Simultaneously, a secondary volume nestled within the internal enclave cleaves the garden expanse, demarcating two distinct realms: a private rear patio and a communal central garden.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert
photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

Within the anterior edifice, a duet of two-bedroom apartments and a four-bedroom duplex find their abode, while the nucleus accommodates a three-bedroom duplex in conjunction with a workspace. Thus, the project is distinguished by its heterogeneity of functions and typologies, entwined with an unwavering allegiance to the public realm and the plot's intrinsic disposition.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

URBAN ASSIMILATION 
A facade wielding such commanding spatial narrative warrants a reciprocal architectural rejoinder. Thus, the edifice stands as both a pivotal juncture and a resolute datum, orchestrating the perspective. Engaging in a dialectical exchange with its angular counterparts across the way, the facade derives its aesthetic trajectory directly from the built environment. Distinctly lighter in its materiality than its environs, it imparts a subtler aesthetic cadence, thereby affording the neighboring structures the liberty to maintain their preeminent architectural vernacular.

photo_credit Stijn Bollaert
Stijn Bollaert

MULTIFARIOUS TYPOLOGIES, A UNIFIED PANOPLY 
KOTO amalgamates a diverse pantheon of typological constructs into a harmonious whole. Dwellings spanning two, three, and four bedrooms, alongside a professional enclave, are judiciously dispersed across a bifurcated volume, orchestrating an ensemble of succinct coherence. In the crucible of an urban milieu marked by density and constrained by the exigencies of a diminutive parcel, the project's perspicacity is manifest in its capacity to proffer a distinctive microcosm, ingeniously tethered by a collective expanse.

Facilitated by the built volume nestled within the courtyard precinct — a domicile paired with on office — the shared exterior expanse becomes a traversed tapestry of communal habitation. 

photo_credit NOTAN OFFICE
NOTAN OFFICE

VERSATILE, ADAPTIVE 
The plan's inherent rationality and the structural schema's adaptability conspire to engender a spatial paradigm capable of accommodating the evolving needs of its occupants. At its core, a functional nucleus houses the gamut of domestic amenities: circulation nodes, bathing sanctuaries, culinary facilities, and more, emancipating the facades to entertain a kaleidoscope of spatial configurations. Be it a solitary chamber, a dual-chamber suite, a traverse-oriented living milieu, an oblique spatial schema, or an orientation that either courts the garden or the street vista — the project engenders a panorama of habitation prospects.

photo_credit NOTAN OFFICE
NOTAN OFFICE
photo_credit NOTAN OFFICE
NOTAN OFFICE
Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
Archello houses of the month - April 2024
30 Apr 2024 News
Archello houses of the month - April 2024

Archello has selected its houses of the month for April 2024. This list showcases 20 of the mos... More

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre echoes chevron patterns of migratory birds
29 Apr 2024 News
Zaha Hadid Architects’ Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre echoes chevron patterns of migratory birds

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre is defined by the acclaimed ar... More

25 best metal cladding manufacturers
29 Apr 2024 Specification
25 best metal cladding manufacturers

Metal cladding can combine functionality with aesthetics while meeting high sustainability targets,... More

Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos’ restoration of Munich museum finds freedom within limitations
29 Apr 2024 News
Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos’ restoration of Munich museum finds freedom within limitations

Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos has completed the restoration and expansion of the Archaeologische Staats... More

Introducing Partner Lemi Group
29 Apr 2024 Partner News
Introducing Partner Lemi Group

Lemi Group is an international leader in the design and manufacture of treatment tables, chairs, and... More

Archello Awards 2024 – Early Bird submissions ending April 30th
26 Apr 2024 News
Archello Awards 2024 – Early Bird submissions ending April 30th

The Archello Awards is an exhilarating and affordable global awards program celebrating the best arc... More

Introducing the Archello Podcast: the most visual architecture podcast in the world
26 Apr 2024 News
Introducing the Archello Podcast: the most visual architecture podcast in the world

Archello is thrilled to announce the launch of the Archello Podcast, a series of conversations featu... More

Tilburg University inaugurates the Marga Klompé building constructed from wood
26 Apr 2024 News
Tilburg University inaugurates the Marga Klompé building constructed from wood

The Marga Klompé building, designed by Powerhouse Company for Tilburg University in the Nethe... More