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Architects: AST 77 Architecten
- Area: 354 m²
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Steven Massart
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Manufacturers: EQUITONE, Vectorworks, Eternit, Etex Colombia, ISO.finish, Thermowood, Trimble Navigation
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Lead Architects: Arch.- ing. Peter Van Impe
Minimal interventions, maximal metamorphosis
From an average suburban house to a sleek building with a strong identity. That is the transformation this building in Tienen, Belgium. The primary incentive of this renovation was to optimize the orientation without radical demolition to the main volume.
In 2020 the resident bought the house at the other side of the street. Knowing the house, they saw the potential of the building. They had the ambition to give the building a more contemporary look. Furthermore they wanted a functional garage and above al a strong relation with the yard and the fields behind them. The panoramic views over the meadow slopes where the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium meet each other.
In order to realize their ideas, the young couple teamed up with architect Peter Van Impe of the architect and engineers office AST 77. Looking for a perfect fit for his costumers, Peter Van Impe started from a clean sheet, finding answers for their demands together with the complex morphology of the location in mind. His solution was to get rid of all the small annexes build over the years, only keeping the main building. Two new volumes were added, a garage with technical installations and a living space.
A glass corridor connects the new open living space, located at the back of the plot, with the existing building. This approach leads to many advantages: the house was divided in a clear night and day zone. When the kids are asleep the parents can continue their activities in the living space without disrupting the little ones. Thanks to the use of a lot of glass, there is a clear visual connection between both of the entities. Thanks to the use of the glass corridor, two patios were formed between the existing and the new volume. This open space allows the sunlight inside in the morning, as well as in the evening.
Both the new and the existing volume are wrapped in the same materials. Peter Van Impe chose wood and fiber cement cladding because of their fairness and sustainability. Looking from the street, the ground floor is covered with Thermowood. Between the wooden slats lays a spacing of 3 cm. This provides a strong vertical play of lines, but also guaranties a uniform aging of the slats. On the first floor of the main volume the designer chose a grey fibrecement cladding. To keep the proportions of the building and to keep the duality with the ground floor he drew the panels horizontally. The sizes of the panels vary and are stacked in a random bond.
On a technical base the designer chose a budget friendly system, yet with a maximum of options for the future. Today a compensation boiler working on natural gas provides the needed energy for heating and sanitary hot water. Since the whole building works on a low temperature regiment, the owner can easily switch in the future to a heating pump.
