Concrete and arches: a minimalistic house in Belgium

In the project of the Belgian bureau Poot Architectuur, a carefully thought-out concept and functionality are hidden behind the curved facade and external simplicity

Photo

Stein Bollart

This house with a rounded facade is located on a quiet street with red brick buildings from the 1950s and 1960s in the Belgian Mortsel. The architects from the Poot Architectuur bureau were inspired by the smooth curves of the bay windows and the inner space of the townhouse, creating laconic interiors where everything is based on the play of arcs and textures.

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

There are no sharp corners or protrusions inside — they are all smoothed out, creating the feeling that one surface smoothly flows into another. The ceilings are cleaned to bare concrete, the walls are made neutral white, and all the interiors are laconic both in color and in filling with furniture.

Immediately from the threshold, the eye falls on the main character of the space — a spectacular spiral staircase with concrete steps. Behind it is the combined space of the kitchen, dining room and living room. The latter is slightly recessed into the floor

Photo

Stein Bollart

The living room has a minimum of furniture, according to the architects, it should not distract from the main value of this part of the house — the view to the courtyard. The decor is simplified to the most necessary, and thanks to the shape of the curved bay window and the impressive size of the windows, the whole room is flooded with natural light, and the space of the first floor seems larger than it really is. It is these details that create a calm and relaxing atmosphere. 

Photo

Stein Bollart

The architects did not leave the space under the stairs without attention. There they organized a place for storing street clothes and shoes.

Photo

Stein Bollart

The curved shape of the walls with different texture finishes perfectly coped with the task of zoning the space. So the kitchen area begins behind the stairs, partially painted in dark green. The common wall running from the kitchen to the living room is covered with white paint in one layer so that the texture of the relief bricks of the 1950s is noticeable. The living room was additionally allocated, "drowning" it in relation to the total space of the first floor.

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

On the upper floor, where there are bedrooms, an office and a bathroom, the architects emphasized privacy and silence. Smooth, rounded shapes are also found everywhere here — even in the bathroom, where the architects installed a semicircular shower partition painted in a soft vanilla shade.

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

Photo

Stein Bollart

Ksenia Chunosova, Elena Igumnova
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