bruno vanbesien architects

A classic town house in Halle with several faces, as well on architecture level as trough the use. The grandeur of the facade of the main building is extremely contrasting compared to the extension at the back and its condition. The house will be used by several different users. A living part on the upper floors of the main building, an office at street level and a waiting- and reception-room for clients. The biggest encounter shall be the eclectic decoration in the interior and the enormous differences in finishing of several parts of the building. In short, a lack of coherence.

The choice to renovate the back part in a very thorough way is evident. The offices shall receive a very profound make-over and other parts of the building will be finished in a proper way. Aiming for more coherence for the whole of the building.

The eclectic interior of the waiting- and reception-room got a fresh but still classical make-over. The architect took the daring choice to paint the walls in gold, perfectly in line with the existing atmosphere in these rooms. Furniture in walnut correspond to the previous wooden furniture, new light grey fabric panels give these rooms a warm feeling and acoustic comfort.

The existing windows will remain in the front part of the office, new large window will flood the back part of the office with light and make them more spacious with an opening on the inner garden. Since these windows are away from direct sunlight, an extra skylight is added at the back of the office to let direct sunlight enter offices.

The main building will rather receive a proper make-over with warm materials similar to those used in the waiting- and reception room. The classical interior of the main building will be respected but threaten more sober. The attic will be renovated properly resulting in accommodation for people to stay over.

The back extension will be fully renovated and become the spinning wheel of the living part. All other rooms lead to this extension, on the first floor there’s the kitchen and access to both roof garden and garden, on the second floor dressing and bathroom. While the main-building has its own character, the extension had no real architectural value. Therefor ideal for bigger interventions to obtain more light in the house. Large sliding windows on each floor opening to the garden and skylights in the roof to emphasise the feeling of space and time. The extension will be finished with a rough white brick. The architect chose two different brick sizes to accentuate relief thus introducing a more vivid facade.