FAZANTENLAAN
The original bungalow was built by a social housing organization called "la propriété terrienne" in the mid-fifties. These constructions were designed for state officials with smaller revenues, in a social context trying to prevent the "rural exodus".
Each house has a large garden which was intended for small crops and raising rabbits and chickens, following the "cités jardin anglaise" trend from the thirties.
The different typologies of this houses, their colourful-retro design, set in this beautiful green environment, pushed the architect to use a subtle language.
Simplicity, modernity and sustainable were the guidelines of this project. Therefore, the design started from the footprint of the original construction and wasn't planning to enlarge the surface of it.
Intsead of building an extension, installing expensive ecological isolation, solar panels, etc. the architect designed with economic (but)sustainable materials to reach a small(but)comfortable house. Favoring shared living spaces by creating a double height, and reducing the bedrooms' surface to the strict minimum, generated an airy balanced sense of space between the "night" and "day" areas.
The original foundations and external walls have been preserved, as they were made with robust and quality materials. The roof has been completely replaced and slightly raised to allow storage, extra bedroom, showerroom and office space, in the future.
The intervention tends to be contrasted in terms of materials and architectural details to provide delicate and sustainable articulations between the new and existing parts.
The house is ment to evolve according to the needs of the owners.
The phasing of the construction makes it possible to predict a final/evolutive architectural program but to break it down in budget.
