Housing project J.Verlooyplein

As in many Flemish villages, the area surrounding the project is characterized by a rather messy mix of closed and open buildings with one or two storeys, here and there semi-open. However, the experience of a village center benefits from a number of strong figures, such as a town hall, market square or church. The center of Houtvenne could use another such figure in addition to the Sint-Antoniuskerk. The three apartment buildings take on this role and thus support the experience of the village center.
We will divide the program (39 residential units) over three detached buildings with three storeys, with a slight slope on the roof. The northernmost building and the middle building contain a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments, intended for sale. The most southern building is more focused on independent living for the elderly and contains smaller one-bedroom apartments. Here an active effort is made to collectively organize communal functions such as cooking, relaxing, washing and ironing, so that the apartments can be furnished very compactly. On the ground floor, a shared living room with kitchen and a communal laundry room will be set up. All living units have private outdoor space in the form of loggias.
The open space between the three residential buildings will be made publicly accessible on either side of the triangular project area with a few steps and a wheelchair-accessible ramp on the west side.
The facades of the residential buildings will have a simple structure with a pronounced high plinth, a central part and a pronounced cornice. The cut-outs of the loggias and the large corner windows make the overall picture more airy. The sturdy columns at the corners of the loggias ensure the readability of the three volumes at the same time. In the materialization we look for a connection with the environment: for the middle part we start from brick slips in a nuanced pink-red hue, such as the Sint-Antoniuskerk. The frames are formed in aluminum.