Three squares: this 1960s home hid an interesting element. Stripped down to its bare essentials, the bungalow's floor plan revealed the shape of a square and a half. Mirroring this shape resulted in three squares with a fireplace in the center. Suddenly, Graux & Baeyens architecten discovered an exciting element to work with
C-VL House: from inconspicuous bungalow to home with original building elements and spontaneous living spaces
A living space that could be doubled at most, a deep and narrow lot, and an uninspiring original construction - these were the ingredients for the renovation of this bungalow
A center to every room: to support the ceilings of the new large square spaces Graux & Baeyens architecten introduce in each room a white structural truss, asymmetrical cross, where the center of the cross is in each space at a different point and is supported by a single pillar that becomes the fulcrum around which the environment unfolds
Out of love and respect for the typical Flemish building context with its expansions and additions, the architects decided to reserve the services space for the volume of the original annex without affecting the three new large "squares".
Great creativity was expressed in dealing with the new opening of the living room to the outside very close to the adjacent house. A new patio was created by setting back the perimeter wall almost completely glazed and re-proposing the geometry of the old openings on a new wall delimiting the new patio. A private outdoor space that also acts as a filter with the neighbors
The architects wanted to give the inhabitants great freedom in using the architecture they created. The spaces with undefined functions but induced by inviting shapes dot the house: from the fireplace with playful concrete elements on which children can sit with a book, to the corners created by the positioning of structural crosses. Architecture for spontaneity, where everything is possible
Gallery
