POKER FACE
This freestanding dwelling is located in a stunning setting at the edge of the Forêt de Soignes, nestled between wooded areas and elegant mansions. Unlike its neighbors, the owners had a rather modest budget, making the challenge clear: achieving maximum impact with minimal intervention. To meet this goal, the project began by identifying and enhancing the site's intrinsic qualities. By recognizing the existing potential, the design could be reduced to essential gestures, intervening only where the potential lies. The project is a direct response to these initial conditions, employing the fundamental tools of architecture: spatiality, materiality, and composition.
One of the defining characteristics of the site is the significant height difference between the street and the plot, which played a decisive role in shaping the house. This topographical contrast generated the duality that defines the project; a duality expressed in the house's appearance, spatial organization, material choices, and its varying degrees of openness to the exterior.
From the street, the house is only partially visible. A solid, enigmatic volume hovers above a void carved into the slope, creating a passage to the garage and main entrance. Access is through a recessed concrete structure that offers no clue as to what lies beyond. The staircase, acting as a transitional element between two contrasting realms, leads from the cold, dark basement space to the bright, open, and warm CLT-structured interior of the ground floor.
This transition culminates in the heart of the home, the living room. Seamlessly connected to the other living spaces, it opens onto the bucolic landscape of the garden, framed by expansive windows. When these windows slide into the thickness of the façade, the boundary between inside and outside dissolves, allowing nature to become an integral part of the living space.