HOUSE BURST DE SMET VERMEULEN ARCHITECTEN

THE HOUSE IS BUILT ALONG A COUNTRY ROAD BETWEEN TWO VILLAGE CHURCHES. THE LOT IS WIDE AND DEEP, SLOPING TO THE STREET. THE QUESTION OF HOW A RURAL HOUSE SHOULD LOOK LIKE TODAY WAS INEVITABLE. WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT HERE IS A SMALL FARM , PARALLEL TO THE STREET , AND A BARN BEHIND . WE WANTED TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT STRANGER THAN THAT . WE CONTRACTED THE VOLUMES INTO A COMPACT ENVELOPE, WHICH LEFT TRACES IN THE FACADES . A SPLIT-LEVEL EXPLOITS THE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STREET AND LOT , SO THAT EVEN WITHOUT DEFENSIVE PLANTINGS THE HOUSE RECEIVES ITS PRIVACY . THE SMALLER ROOMS ARE STACKED ALONG THE FRONT , WHILE THE LIVING ROOMS ARE FULLY DEVELOPING UNDER THE INCORPORATED BARN ROOF . SPATIAL SEPARATIONS - BETWEEN KITCHEN, DINING ROOM AND TERRACE , BETWEEN DINING ROOM AND LIVING ROOM, SITTING ROOM AND STUDY ROOM, BETWEEN STUDY AND BEDROOMS – ARE BRINGING DIFFERENT SPHERES IN THE ‘RAUMPLAN’, BUT PUT THEM INTO PERSPECTIVE , SO THAT THE CONSISTENCY OF OTHER ANGLES REMAIN LIVEABLE . ABSTRACTION IS TEMPERED, RUSTIC AND CIVIL REMINISCENCES MAKE THE INTERIOR TOLERANT. AIRTIGHT, LOW ENERGY, ROBUST AND RENEWABLE MATERIALS, THE HOUSE CONSERVE VALUABLE RESOURCES AND INTENDED TO LAST LONG.