Paap House / Architecten De Bruyn

+ 25

Description submitted by the project team. The Paap house, located on the edge of the beautiful Kluisbos in Huizingen (Belgium), deals with the necessary total renovation and extension of a detached detached house with an open atmosphere from the sixties.

The architect has chosen, as the client required, to introduce two well-chosen extensions to expand the interior space and divide the exterior space. The extensions are designed as lightweight half-timbered constructions. The exterior materialization of the facades and roof of these volumes is the result of extensive design research. Clad with heat-treated and black-dyed fraké slats, these extensions contrast and combine with the existing materialization of the façade. Additionally, the wood cladding refers to the construction material and the wooded environment of the project.

The first extension, on the front façade, contains a kitchen area on the ground floor and a master bedroom just above. This volume was specifically designed with a slightly sloped roof to adapt to the existing volumetry. The extended kitchen area on the ground floor is directly connected to the nearby terrace area. The difference in level with the dining area gives autonomy to the kitchen. The master bedroom, on the first floor, contains both a dressing area and a bathroom. Both are part of the open master bedroom.

The second extension, to the rear façade, provides a subtle, small-scale extension to the dining area to allow more light to penetrate the house without being directly seen by the neighbours. A steel bookcase was designed against the new exterior façade. The two new annexes form, together with the existing living areas and their differences in height, an interesting flow of spaces. Divided spaces remain without being physically separated from each other.

The client and the architects have chosen to preserve the existing environment throughout the entire project, so the interior was renovated to its original materialization as far as possible: the existing staircase, the trellis work on the interior ceiling inclined, the existing parquet flooring, were renovated to their original glory. The materials of the new added interior spaces are subtle and simple to seek connection with the existing ones.