Commissioned by the urban development company AG Vespa in Antwerp, Burobill designed 4 urban housing units. A housing complex with a single-family house and 3 flats is to be incorporated into the urban fabric and provides access to the inner area of the urban building block.
The emphasis is on the activation of the alley to the green and public inner area. Both the entrance of the ground-level house and the apartment building are accessible from the alley. Windows open out onto the inner alley to encourage relationships. This implantation promotes social contact between different residents. On a small scale, this project wants to refer to the typical 19th-century pipe heads in the Antwerp neighbourhood. A communal bicycle shed in front contributes to the activation of the alley.
For the design of the single-family house, maximum consideration has been given to sunlight and, in function of this, the volumes have not been planned too high or too densely. This house has its living functions with garden on the ground floor, while the bedrooms and bathroom are located on the first floor. Both the dwelling and the garden relate to the public interior street. The house is opened up and given a full third façade, transforming it into a semi-open building where the alley, the city and its users serve as side gardens.
On the other side of the alley, a communal entrance with stairs provides access to 3 flats with the lower being the smallest and the upper the largest. The flats enjoy a terrace on the south side with views into a street and to a church further along. The residential units were delivered casco and will be further decorated by the new owners. The area in the corner building has been maximised.
they are spacious and bright through-zone flats with views of their surroundings.
The project is built in a traditional manner with cavity walls and facade brickwork. The brickwork combined with the precast concrete elements creates playful facades. The play of the twisted bricks creates a special shadow effect and is continued in the bronze-coloured balustrades of the terraces and stairs. The bronze is echoed in details, handles, light fittings and others. The project includes green roofs and solar panels.
