-002 Studio House F Ostend

The house is the independent extension of an existing house, adjacent to the rear of the plot. The house will initially be used as a studio for graphics and as a guesthouse. At a later date, the building should be able to function as a fully-fledged, independent dwelling.

The limited programme allows all functions to be organised on a single floor that takes up the entire permitted building area. The depth of the house thus obtained, the urban planning requirement of predominantly sloping roofs and the orientation of the house towards the northeast led to the design of the house with three shed roofs.
The slope of the roofs decreases from the street side to the garden side: the height of the garden facade remains limited and more light can penetrate through the shed windows.
The height of the front façade corresponds to the neighbouring houses and ensures that the house, despite its unusual shape, can acquire an inconspicuous character in the street.

The classical auxiliary functions of living (storage room, boiler room, toilet) are accommodated in a number of geometrically simple brick volumes.
The meandering, continuous inner space is formed by the placement of these function volumes and evolves from narrow on the street to expansive on the garden side. The successive space narrowing from street to garden makes the thickness of the brickwork visible and emphasises the zoning.

Inner and outer walls are constructed of bricks of the same size. The masonry remains visible, rough grouting reinforces the shadow effect and the whole is rendered in related colours to emphasise the solidity.