XAVEER DE GEYTER ARCHITECTS

The site is located in a luxurious outer district of Antwerp, with oversized detached houses on plots cut out of the woods. A leftover inland dune separates the plot from the street. It has been transformed from a natural barrier into a threshold for the house that stands just behind it so as to maintain intimacy and a certain discretion with respect to the street. A drive – complete with red and white striped barrier – leads from the dune onto the roof. Only two outlines are visible above the dune – a translucent square garage and a triangular metal volume shielding the main entrance. A slope, half inside and half outside, cuts the square volume of the house into two sections with differing programs. The children’s apartment, which opens onto one of the two small patios, is on one side, while the parents’ section on the other is organized around a central patio and has a maximized view of the garden.

The interior is further divided into several layers parallel with the street. The transition from one zone to another is articulated by a series of shifts in the materials used for the floor and walls – carpet, vinyl, concrete, tiles and wood – while the garden, which was designed by Yves Brunier, is steadily revealed.

source: Xaveer De Geyter Architects