House in a Respectable District of Brussels

House in a Respectable District of Brussels

© Nicolas Schimp

Renovation of a house built in the 1960s, located in a prestigious green district of Brussels, Belgium, was carried out by the architectural firm K2A.

Strict construction codes and regulations required that the geometry of the old building be preserved, including its gabled roof, height, and original materials.

Thus, the architects' intervention focused on renovating and extending the existing house, resulting in a comfortable modern villa named Villa Black with a total area of 560 square meters.

The newly created basement emphasized the building’s geometry and gave it an impression of being set on a pedestal. This basement also included a new external staircase connecting two levels of the garden and creating a passage along the southern facade.

By reimagining the interior of the house, the architects lowered the new entrance to ground level, offering inhabitants direct and wide access to internal spaces. The first floor was completely freed up. The new sculptural staircase elegantly winds its way along the walls. The living room, after renovation, has a double-height ceiling.

To create the impression of a monolithic structure, a dark color palette was used for the façade, roof, and window frames. Inside, the walls of the house, which can be seen as a 'camera obscura', are painted mostly white, creating an ideal contrast with the outside world. Instead of placing window frames within the opening, the architects positioned them on the exterior side of the windows. In some cases, when viewed from inside, this creates the impression that there are no frames at all, making the landscape framed by the window opening a part of the interior.

Photos: Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp

© Nicolas Schimp