329PDL

Originally built in the 1930s, the building was not intended as a traditional dwelling. It served as a caretaker’s lodge and provided access to the garden of the large property that still occupies the center of the block, which has gradually densified over time.

The project offered the opportunity to strengthen the integration of the building into its surrounding context and to create a harmonious ensemble from the two adjoining three-façade houses.

The front extension takes the form of a large mansard roof with black glazed tiles — the only added element. It accommodates a second floor and an additional level within the attic space.

The roof design draws inspiration from neighboring houses, whose volumes and character stem from the leisure architecture so typical of the villas built in the elegant residential districts of the 1920s and 1930s, particularly in Brussels and Uccle.

This careful articulation between the front and side façades through the roof reinforces the “three-façade house” character that the former caretaker’s pavilion, with its blind party wall, lacked. The sloping roof on the third side offers a gentler elevation and a more respectful relationship with the neighboring house.

At the rear, the extension takes the shape of a parallelepiped volume that, within the perspective of the garden and large trees, creates a beautiful double-height living space and an upper floor of bedrooms.

This is a lightweight timber-frame construction, widely open to the south. On the rear façade, the wooden structure is placed on the exterior and suspended in tension from the edge beam, freeing the large garden-facing window from any structural obstruction.

The rear volume is slightly offset laterally from the existing building to capture views toward the street and allow the afternoon sun to enter both the living room and the parents’ bedroom upstairs.

The project also includes the regrading of the central garden, allowing the living spaces of the house to open generously toward the rear garden.