The client occupies one of the best preserved workers' houses in a garden city district in Anderlecht. However, the house had to deal with a lack of space and needed a better relationship with the garden. The concrete outbuilding houses a dining room and living room. At the same time it is a storage space. The space opens up to the garden with large windows - and a back door for friends. The new volume decreases for the neighbor.
The compact extension is inspired by concrete fences and gazebos common to the district. The thin metal windows follow the colour pattern of the windows of the existing house: the opening parts are white and the fixed parts are black. The furniture and frames were accented inside by the use of a warmer material. Referring to the environment in a contemporary way, the intervention remains subtle, but with great spatial added value for the inhabitants.
Photographs © Stijn Bollaert