2101 / garden roof

In contrast to the prestigious art-deco style facade towards the street, the existing building showed little quality towards its rear garden. In addition, with much smaller volume seemingly added on, there seemed to be a lack of unity within this facade.

When asked for the renovation of the lower-floor duplex apartment, we took it as an opportunity to update this rear facade. The roof of the smaller volume which housed the kitchen and a bathroom below was already deteriorating. Instead of simply restoring this existing roof, we proposed to replace it with an entirely new roof that spans the entire width of the building. While the extended roof provides shelter to the balcony in rainy days, the carefully designed arched cut-out guarantees natural light into the living space. Seen further through the enfilade of rooms, the arch seems as if to suggest an extra room with an art-deco style door opening. while its metallic finish subtly introduces the colors of the garden into the interior life. Towards the exterior, the new horizontal line introduced with its reflective materiality presents an elegant contrast to the existing. As a result, the roof strangely seems to reunify the rear facade, allowing the small protruding volume to be truly a part of the existing building in a reverse psychology-like manner.

In collaboration with Henri de Chassey

Location

Brussels, Belgium

Surface

185m² (interior surface 110m²)

Client

Private