090 House B Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek

The old house in the Pajottenland is just too small and the contact with the large garden could be better. The sun shines over the fences on the street side during the day and in the evening from under the crown of a large red beech. A little further on is the church.

In the side garden against the west wall and close to the beech tree, we are extending the house with a kitchen and a dining room. We do not want the new rooms to feel like an extension but rather that they are part of the classical construction of rooms. This is not self-evident, the house has a stately and compact form and the ground floor is raised.

The new volume nestles under a carpet of shingles that screens off the west façade before turning into a sloping surface – as if the house and the extension shared the same roof. With the same flowing movement, the wooden trusses of the roof connect the ceiling of the living rooms in the house with the new façade and the garden.
The use of natural materials, loam and wood, emphasises the transition from the formal character of the house to the informality of the landscape.