We are south of Brussels. In this opulent district, Claisse Architectures was asked for the renovation of an impressive master hotel around 800 square meters. Built at the beginning of the 20th century in the emblematic style of the time, the building rises in height in the heart of a green garden. “Our client wanted to recreate a family house, reception, as well as a workplacespecifies the Brussels cabinet. This very beautiful property was arranged as in the past, with large ceremonial pieces and service spaces, but no longer corresponded to contemporary expectations ”. The architects therefore worked to sublimate the existing while drawing a gentle and family universe.
The entrance is paved with mosaic soil. The staircase revolves around a sculpture by Quentin Smolders (Galerie Didier Devillez).
Eline Willaert
The spiral staircase, designed to preserve the privacy of the inhabitants between the floors, in soft materials.
Eline Willaert
Upon arrival in the project, Claisse finds large reception rooms, bright and equipped with moldings, but degraded by successive transformations. “We have worked on the conservation of these beautiful sets, while bringing the necessary comfort there”comments the agency. First issue: to recreate a link between the floors of this vertical house, as the Brussels bourgeois tradition wants. For this, a very special staircase is imagined: “It starts from the ground floor and develops on all floors of the house, with a special shape that shrinks as it rises”. The objective, to respect the owner’s desire for intimacy, who plans to exercise her professional activity on the ground floor and to devote the floors to her family life. “The staircase shrinks to mark intimacy as you go up, fluid, with soft materials and colors”explain the architects.
The rear facade of the house opens fully on the garden. Behind the large picture window on the ground floor, the yoga room.
Eline Willaert
The garden was redesigned with the help of a landscaper, who reconfigured him in mirror with the house.
Eline Willaert
-Second issue, strengthen the link between the interior and outside of the house. For this, Claisse surrounds himself, first of all, a landscaper who leads an important work of reconfiguring the garden. Then, the agency creates a vertical glass annex, coming to spin along the facade. “Before, we had a massive volume that did not open much to the garden. This annex comes to enter the light. »» On the ground floor, opposite the garden, the large bay window hides a yoga and meditation room completely open to nature. “This very pure volume, below, is reflected on a volume of grass, which is the duplicate of the lower volume”explains the agency, which, by creating this mirror, confused interior and external – the ideal for the holistic practice of yoga.
The dining room and its marble fireplace on the left. Table and chairs in walnut dk3 (Ten Table and Pia Flesh) overlooked by a white porcelain light (Bocci 21) and a candlestick from Jan Ernst (Galerie Objects With Narratives). On the right, the kitchen. Basically, the Bow-Window opens onto the terrace and the garden.
Eline Willaert
In the kitchen, two -story high, float with blown glass (Eloa). The furniture was produced by Claisse Architectures.
Eline Willaert
The kitchen opens onto the dining room with a speckled maple furniture and pink granito drawn by Claisse Architectures.
Eline Willaert
On the first floor, a galling terrace and a Window bow offer the desired immersion in the garden. Also, the architects recreate a passageway between the large molded reception parts, betting on the new glass annex. “We did not want to work horizontally so as not to touch the old volumes and keep the link with greenery. We preferred to direct the eye to the sky, by creating a two -story space in this glass roof. »» In the kitchen, the canopy is dressed in handcrafted luminaires, floating like weightless bubbles.
