Hasta La Ideas

Folded steel staircases lead to elevated rooms atop freestanding metal towers inside this old industrial building in Brussels that adn Architectures has converted into an open-plan apartment (+ slideshow).

Belgian studio adn Architectures added the two-storey structures on opposite sides of the space, loosely dividing a living room at one end from a central dining area and adjoining kitchen.

The architects used a mixture of solid and perforated metal to vary the transparency of the more secluded spaces within the towers, which comprise a bathroom and a utility room on the main level, and a bedroom and study on the upper levels.

Cantilevered staircases made from folded steel lead separately to the top-floor spaces and face one another across the dining area.

Describing their intervention as “two volumes and three pieces of furniture,” the architects explained that they wanted to create a simple interior with a limited palette of materials and colours.

The pieces of built-in furniture mentioned are a kitchen counter, a bookshelf and a double-height wall of storage, which stretch along the two long sides of the apartment.

Concrete ceilings are left exposed and three columns come down to the meet the new flooring, which is made up of a polyurethane screed.

Photography is by Filip Dujardin.

Here’s a project description from adn architecture:

Loft FOR

Let’s get straight to the point: an imposed decorum, four walls and a few windows, functional needs to sleep, eat read and wash. Two internal bodies that embrace the envelope without touching it, opaque, translucent, airy, abstract.

A place: An unfinished surface of 96 square meters: walls made of terracotta blocks, raw concrete ceiling, windows on two of the four walls and two technical ducts.

A program: Designed it for a couple who want a loft conversion type of interior design with efficient use of space.

An answer: Seek purity of form and functional simplicity.

Means: Creation of a minimum of two new volumes and use of a very limited set of materials.

Organisation: Two volumes are built and three pieces of furniture are installed to structure the volume.

The two metallic volumes on the ground floor welcome the two functions that require doors that close: the bathroom and the laundry room. The top floors of the volumes conceal a bedroom and an office.

The position of these volumes alongside technical ducts determines different volumes with different qualities.

The three pieces of furniture then structure and give function to the remaining space: a long kitchen cabinet in a narrow space between the entrance and the laundry room, a wall of storage near the entrance and a library in the more intimate space that leads to the balcony.

The materials are polyurethane screed for the floor; solid or perforated metal for the structuring elements, stratified MDF for the furniture, with a paint finish to exacerbate the texture of the various materials. The ceiling is kept as is to remind of the pre-existing unified volume.

The post Loft apartment with super-thin staircases
by adn Architectures appeared first on Dezeen.

French architect Alain Hinant has converted a former laundry building outside Brussels into a three-storey family house.

The building originally served three houses in the suburban area of Uccle and is positioned as an annex at the back. An access corridor stretches through the ground floor of one of these houses, creating an entrance from the street.

Swathes of black and blue coat the walls, floors and ceilings of the house as part of an artwork by Jean Glibert.

“The relationship between [the colours] is the point, not really the colour itself,” Hinant told Dezeen. “The glossy black is not easily visible when you come into the space. Its reflection works like a mirror and changes all the time. The matte blue, a pure colour, defines a virtual volume linking the three levels.”

A staircase winds up through the converted building, connecting a kitchen and dining room on the ground floor with a large ensuite bedroom on the first floor and a study in the attic.

A skylight added above the staircase helps to increase natural light in the building, while a glazed wall at the back opens the ground floor out to a garden and patio.

“This annex is located in the middle of a small paradise of greenery – well oriented and very quiet,” added Hinant. “The poetry of this project comes from its simplicity and ordinary nature.”

Other recently completed projects in Belgium include an ice rink designed to look like a whale and a performance centre with a camouflaged facade. See more architecture and interiors in Belgium.

Here’s some more information from the architect:

Transforming a laundry in Uccle

The annex, attached to the rear of a group of three identical houses in the centre of the commune of Uccle, in the Brussels region, played host in the last century to a laundry. Its three storeys and the ground floor of the street-facing house are now the owners’ family home.

The renovations tied the three floors together visually, improved the natural lighting and opened up views over the garden. A large open space was created at the centre of the annex, in the middle of which unfurls a staircase lit by skylights in the roof overhead.

Above: colour concept diagram

From the street, the view extends through a large bay window at the far end of the annex into the garden.

Above: site plan

By painting sections of the walls, floors and ceilings, the artist Jean Gilbert has created a mass of colour that transcends the various levels and engages with the building through reflections in the glossy black paintwork.

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

The works, which were simple and inexpensive, were largely carried out by the owners themselves. They also provided an opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of the building, which will give rise to substantial savings in future.

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

Architect: Alain Hinant
Artist: Jean Glibert
Structural engineer: René Troisfontaines

Above: long section – click above for larger image

Sanitary, heating, thermal insulation: Bruno Hendrichs (Neologik)
Metal works: Philippe Gerstmans
Kitchen furniture: Alain Grousse (Menuiserie Marcel Adelaire)

Above: cross section

Location: Uccle, Belgium
Area: 120 sqm

The post Transforming a laundry building
by Alain Hinant appeared first on Dezeen.

Belgian practice MDW Architecture has completed a residential complex in Brussels using industrial materials that reference the site’s former use as a scrap metal dealership (photos by Julien Lanoo).

An apartment building and terrace containing three maisonettes are clad in galvanised steel sheeting normally found in factories and warehouses.

The original street front has been maintained and a layer of steel mesh added for protection and for climbing plants to grow on.

The homes are arranged around a central courtyard with meeting and play areas for the residents.

Wood is used for the terraces, benches and window frames to soften the industrial aesthetic.

Apartments at the front of the site are raised to improve light quality, with parking incorporated underneath.

More photography by Julien Lanoo on Dezeen »

The following text is from the architects:

Residential complex Le Lorrain, Brussels – Belgium

Renovation of the former Brumétal dealer of old iron into a social housing complex composed of a 4-flat building connected by a large common open space to 3 maisonettes at the rear of the site.

Urban scale

This residential beacon project for the district contract « Maritime » consists in clearing and opening up the interior of the plot that was entirely built and making this portion of the street “breathe” thanks to a wide opening. It aims at giving the neighbourhood a new spring through a both strong and suitable contemporary architectural and urban intervention that benefits the community while keeping a trace of the industrial past of the neighbourhood.

Architectural design

The general design reflects a contemporary approach based on the genius loci and on the requirements from the program. It includes different typologies of accommodations: simplex, duplex and triplex from 2 to 4 bedrooms and organised in one apartment building and 3 terrace houses at the rear of the site. Architectural and environmental quality is privileged.

Click above for larger image

Because the site was tightly enclosed by high party walls it was decided to clear the interior of the plot and to raise the maisonettes in order to maximise the amount of light captured and to take advantage of the best sunlight. This also allowed to accommodate a garage at street level and to avoid a total depollution of the site.

Click above for larger image

On the street front, the apartments have been raised and pushed back to create a first visual sequence between the road and the complex. By lowering the eastern party wall the oppressing feeling of the interior of the plot is reduced and more light penetrates into the interior of the plot.

A large circulation area is carved within the site and creates a wide meeting and playing area for residents. Each house also features a private garden and a recessed entrance to put some distance between the front door and the public space.

Materials

The existing street front has been kept and it dialogues with the apartments through the volumes and the bridges/terraces. Hot dip galvanised steel fencing fixed to the old façade creates a vandal-proof filter between the street and the internal space and serves as support for creeping plants.

The buildings are clad with grey metallic sheets whose aspect reminds of the industrial character of the plot. A light alternation of their shade and treatment reinforces the volumes: In particular, hot dip galvanised steel sheets identify the distribution and circulation functions.

The choice of internal and external materials is induced by the necessity of robustness and durability, but warm wooden elements are used for contrast in more tactile areas like doors, windows, railings, terraces or benches.

Another important element of the architectural composition is the vegetation: creeping plants along the street font and the party walls, planted common space that includes a tree, private gardens and green roofs.

Project information:

Client : Commune de Molenbeek-St-Jean (public)

Team : MDW ARCHITECTURE, Waterman TCA (Structural Engineer), MK Engineering (M&E Engineer)

Dates : 2009-2011 Surface : 835 m2

Budget : 1.5M €

Brussels studio Label Architecture have transformed the interior of a family house in Brussels, Belgium, by covering some walls in rough, black-stained oriented strand board and painting others white. (more…)