The project is a renovation of an archetypal Brussels house, including a roof extension and the remodeling of the rear facade with the creation of 2 terraces and a balcony. The original street facade is preserved, unitary, and coherent. The project tends to establish a direct relationship between the living rooms and the garden. This implies placing a terrace at the exit of the living room and a staircase giving direct access to the garden. The design and the realization of the custom-made furniture take a notable place in the house, giving each space a particular identity.

Renovation and transformation of an annex (animal day care centre) of the former veterinary school of Cureghem into 2 housing units (one bedroom) and a winter garden.

This small building, very long and low, is located on the edge of this listed site, typical of eclectic institutional architecture from the beginning of the 20th century (1909). It is set against the boundary wall and is quite close to other new housing. The building is composed of 2 sub-parts, built several decades apart but in a rather similar expression.
The listed building has an average architectural interest; however, the transformation is carried out under the cover of the urbanistic regulations applicable to listed buildings, which are, it must be said, harsh.
It is of a fairly ordinary construction - except for the foundations on metal rails for the oldest part - and of an expression that matches the other elements of the site but in a lesser version because it is a secondary/technical building: red bricks, frames and base in blue stone. On the other hand, it is very singular in this site of large roofs and stepped gables, since it is covered with a flat roof.

In order to make the most of this very long and narrow aedicula, the project provides for two flats that mirror each other around the winter garden. They are similar in their layout and "opposite" in the choice of colours and certain finishes. They are formed as large continuums (in order to accentuate the spatial qualities of the existing) in which boxes/islands are placed; which, disassociated from the walls and the ceiling, acquire an autonomy reinforced by their shape. These objects contain the most technical parts such as bathrooms, laundry rooms and dressing rooms.
These blocks are made even more abstract by the interaction between the architecture and the furniture; they therefore open up the views and enlarge the interior perspectives.

The exterior windows are linked (matt texture and black colour) with the roof covering.
All these new elements form a delicate layer, like a phantom of transformations by addition and subtraction, which is inserted into the existing envelope. Some openings have been partially closed to offer more privacy to the future inhabitants, others have been enlarged ... The closing of the window bays is done by black sheets in the same register as the frames and roof.
This device, which tends to standardize the new parts, contributes to a clear understanding of what existed and what has been modified.
The volume of the roof is slightly modified to accommodate a glass roof in the centre of the building and to create this in-between space (interior/exterior) which makes it possible to make the best use of the difficulty of an extremely long and narrow building.

Ce projet consiste en la transformation d’un ancien immeuble de commerce et bureaux en quatre logements d’une part (tout en conservant en fonction le commerce du rez-de-chaussée) ainsi que la rénovation d’une maison mitoyenne en plein coeur historique (zone Unesco) de Bruxelles.
Cette reconversion s’avère relativement complexe, à la fois en raison de son caractère patrimonial mais aussi en raison de la densité du bâti et de l’étroitesse des rues environnantes, piétonne pour la plupart. La parcelle en forme de L est entièrement imbriquée dans l’îlot et est constituée de deux entités:
un immeuble assez large, dont la structure béton neutre est cachée derrière une expression typique de la reconstruction « à l’ancienne » de l’après seconde guerre mondiale
une maison unifamiliale typiquement bruxelloise, à 2 travées principales, étroite et de structure composite (bois/maçonnerie)
Ces deux unités en étaient venu à ne former qu’un ensemble quasi continu, hybride, sur-dense et désordonné qui engorgeait terriblement l’intérieur de cet îlot. Le projet a consisté à identifier les structures (spatiales et constructives) essentielles, d’y mettre de l’ordre, de dé densifier afin de permettre aux différentes parties de respirer, d’apporter de la lumière et de constituer des espaces extérieurs de qualité ; ces démolitions, ces soustractions redonnent aux deux entités une forme de quasi indépendance globale, même si l’on passe par la maison pour distribuer le « grand immeuble » afin de ne pas impacter le commerce qui s’y trouve au rez-de-chaussée

Une fois tous les volumes « polluants » et inutiles » enlevés, nous avons rapporté le volume (prisme) de l’ascenseur et celui (cylindre) de l’escalier de secours.

Ces nouvelles distributions des habitations en façade arrière permettent de créer de généreuses terrasses.
L’accès à l’immeuble se fait d’abord par un escalier hélicoïdal en béton qui vient percer vers la lumière du premier étage. S’en suit un jeu de courbes épousant des espaces privatifs menant à l’ascenseur, masse légère en polycarbonate venant se greffer à la façade. Ce dernier est contrebalancé par une cage d’escalier en métal déployée qui se télescope jusqu’au 4ème étage et distribue chaque logements via son jardin d’hiver.

Ce qui était autrefois un imbroglio ingrat de volumes disparates reliant deux bâtiments aux typologies radicalement différentes est aujourd'hui devenu un coeur d’îlot fonctionnel à la géométrie simple et travaillée.

The project is located in the centre of Brussels, very close to the Unesco perimeter and the historical - heritage heart of the city. It is composed of 5 very disparate houses, both in terms of levels and spatial composition. Each house had its own logic, creating a multiplication of staircases, a fragmentation of surfaces to the point that they were radically incompatible with the urbanistic rules and more broadly with current housing expectations. On the exterior of the building, the aim is to retain as much of the historic character of the 5 terraced houses as possible.

While the exterior shows little evidence of the transformation, it is the interior that the plan has changed profoundly. Wide horizontal planes have replaced the original verticality of these narrow houses. The spaces have been worked out in such a way as to optimise every nook in this tangle of houses. The project is really "in tune" with these houses while allowing to meet the sociological and urbanistic needs of this geographical area: mixed function (7 units + offices + shops); quality surfaces and layouts, a variety of flat types (from studios to 3-bedroom flats...).

The street frontages are left almost intact and extensions are created in the rear parts of the building to develop comfortably proportioned accommodation. The extensions are treated in a contemporary vocabulary in natural aluminium. This clarifies the legibility of the existing building and the intervention carried out. One of the particularities of the project is the complex interplay with the existing building to improve habitability and create interesting spaces. The rear facades have been opened up for maximum light in the bedrooms, which are usually the least exposed rooms in this type of configuration.

The layout of the flats also allows for a source of natural light in almost every room despite the complicated interweaving of these houses in this city centre block. This interweaving gives rise to special types of flats spread over several houses. Living between three houses is not common and reinforces the unique and surprising character of this project.

This curved hexagon offers a space to change in complete privacy after a bath in a Brussels swimming pool. Its interior walls gently envelop the swimmer, its volume is as if excavated to have curves as close as possible to the body's movements, thus creating an elementary and organic space. This geometry tends to make the object less massive from the outside, the concave walls and the position of the poolhouse have been determined to refine the volume.
The abstract sculpture is placed at the end of the garden and changes its appearance throughout the day. The sculpture has high plasticity and is redesigned according to the sun's rays thanks to its own shadows and cast shadows.
The monolith is distinguished from the surrounding vegetation by its minerality. It refers in some way to the technical cabins prefabricated in roughcast, it is in fact concrete, sanded on one side and smooth on the other. It seems simple but hides a complexity of execution. The object plays on this double image, at once very technical-basic and sculptural-sophisticated.
A metal beam has been delicately placed on the block whose balance seems to play with a small swing. Once again, this poolhouse combines several antinomic notions; its beam, a load-bearing element, is just placed there. Giant and disproportionate to the swing it supports, balanced and delicate compared to the concrete block below.