Text description provided by the architects. A family with 3 children gave us an appointment in front of their new purchase «to be renovated»... at least that is what they told us ! When we saw the building, or better, «the remains» of the building, we could not imagine that they were talking of a «renovation».
The «bad» state of the building played an enormous role in the motivation of our architectural choices : 1. demolish de pinion... or better «finish its demolition» 2. maintain a closed structure and organisation in the northern rooms... and still largerly open the southern rooms 3. choose the different materials following the function of the building, and the expectations on the both sides.
While working on the site, we came across a pit in this building... we decided to create at its place a little lounge, more cosy. We also took the decision to preserve a maximum of «finition elements» (stairs, doors, tiles, ...) more for ecological and economical reasons than for architectural reasons.
Nevertheless, all this leads to, both technically and aesthetically consistent results. The clients are private owners; Christophe and Barbara. They have 3 children, 2 daughters and 1 son. The building is situated 40km south of Brussels. You have to cross 5 km of fields and meadows before reaching the building.
