The apartment of W. was rather compact and partitioned, with a layout that did not allow for the openings on either side to be fully used.
The first step was to tear down as many non-load-bearing walls as possible in order to reopen perspectives and create a feeling of a large, bright living space.

The kitchen now opens onto the dining room, and a lounge area has been created in the corner, visually separated by the remaining archways. We turned the bathroom into a buffer zone, taking advantage of the desire to separate the bedroom and living room, and the large size of the existing bedroom.

The addition of a curve allows for both access from the entrance area and the addition of a generous shower. Much of the furniture is custom-made to make the most of every potentially wasted space.

H and S wished for an addition to the beloved dog food shop on chaussée d'Alsemberg, a well-known address for Brussels' four-legged residents.

A curtain made of chains and tennis balls dresses the shopfront, giving it a domestic scale while drawing on the familiar vocabulary of the dog universe. Hung on hooks, this curtain is above all interactive: it allows the composition to evolve over time, while inviting our (pet)companions to brush against it and play. In this way, everyone — human or animal — can easily make it their own.

These elements are then carried through to the interior: the stainless steel of the chains becomes the primary material for the furniture, while the roundness and playfulness of the tennis balls inform the shapes of the shelving and fittings.

This renovation of a groundfloor apartment reorganized the traditional enfilade of 3 big to a fluid and open space.

To create this fluidity, the bathroom is centrally located, acting as a functional core that organizes both the entrance and the night areas. This central element not only separates the sleeping and living zones but also serves as an efficient logistical space, integrating storage and organising circulation.

The living areas are oriented towards the garden, benefiting from wide openings that maximize the cast of natural sunlight and establish a strong visual connection with the outdoor space.

Winning proposal !

This project, initiated by the Foyer Schaerbeekois and BMA, builds upon a thorough analysis of the existing building and its spatial logic. By preserving the existing structure wherever possible and introducing a series of precise architectural interventions, the project enhances the spatial quality of two social housing buildings in Schaerbeek. A new external staircase offer a new connexion for every unit directly to the collective garden, activating it as a shared, and safe, space for everyday encounters.

Inside, a compact service core, rotated by 45 degrees, structures each apartment into distinct day and night zones without compromising the fluidity and openness of the living spaces.

The energetic renovation relies on bio-based materials, including hemp-lime insulation and geothermal heating, to improve the building's environmental performance while working with the existing fabric.

This renovation of a complete row house includes two playful additions that optimize the general organization.

T and AJ wanted to preserve the character of their house while gaining additional space. The project introduces one addition at the rear, detached from the original volume, and a second one as a continuation of the house in the form of a rooftop extension.

Both added volumes have distinct characters and potential uses, yet they are constructed using the same principle of timber frame construction.

A layer of hempcrete blocks is added to the existing brick volume. This non-structural brick layer provides thermal insulation and helps regulate moisture within the existing structure.

The garden design by BIOS Atelier preserves the wild character of the existing garden while introducing a series of terraces. These terraces form a sequence of spatial variations, each differentiated according to its use.

A brand new polyvalent antichambre was created in J and PM's appartment...by knocking down some walls!

The open-plan living area is organized around a central kitchen unit that serves multiple daily functions. Around it, three main uses are distinguished into different atmospheres thanks to soft divisions.
By preserving the existing flooring materials — herringbone parquet, terrazzo with checkered mosaics, and straight-slat parquet — the space is divided into an entryway, living room, and kitchen.
This is accentuated by the presence of loadbearing elements and thresholds marked on the floor by the traces of old partition walls.

Behind the only door of this space, the antichambre hallway leads to the various nighttime activities, household tasks, and personal hygiene areas.
The dimensions of this night hall, its materialities and the positions of its openings are chosen to provide usable space, by placing cozy furniture or turning it into a playroom for their kid.

Koben and Sander wanted to create a new location for their music school in the city center of Brussels. Now, when walking past the former Vanderspek institutions, the windows will reveal views on practice rooms and a new central multifunctional hall.

This hall will be the beating heart of the music school, serving as a venue for all kinds of gatherings as well as daily life improvisations. From the classrooms, doors made of reclaimed acoustic glass will provide a view on other rooms and students, creating a sense of openness and community within this confined space.

A limited budget, restricted space, and strict acoustic and fire safety requirements leave little room for refined details and high-end materials, that is why spatial and aesthetic solutions must be shaped by these very constraints.

This manifests itself in three ways:

- preserving the heritage and structural identity of the existing building

- highlight the identity that emerges on site through technical and structural requirements

- creating a new, evolving community identity through artists’ works and opportunities for on-site experimentation

Furnishing of the new Social Wing at the campus for ROSAS, P.A.R.T.S., and the Ictus ensemble. The project, a winning entry by +friends and Vormen, focuses on reintegrating the old dance floor into newly designed chairs, tables, and fixed furniture.

The furniture is designed to be easily movable throughout the space, allowing a new daily scenography of elements. The fixed kitchen features a horizontal separation, with a 5 m-long accordion door above and a rhythm of functional cupboards underneath. Materials are combined and applied in various ways, creating a harmonious patchwork that dialogues with the existing finishes, giving the space a distinct identity and visual balance.

This renovation of a house with a protected front facade opens up the existing volume instead of adding new ones.

R and M wanted to reimagine how to live in a farmhouse without losing its rural character. The project proposes to stay within the existing gabarit. It put’s the focus on the back facade where large windows open the house towards the generous garden. At the street side the small windows are kept, preserving the privacy and the protected facade.

Between the two volumes, a polyvalent entrance space separates the day and night areas. A big rooflight brings light into this central part of the building and transfers it to some serving spaces next to it. The left volume, or barn, is converted into an open living space with a double height. A central hearth organizes cooking, receiving guests and watching TV without blocking the continuity of the space. The mezzanine creates different heights in the spaces below and benefits from the south-oriented veluxes.

A passerelle connects the barn to the night areas in the right volume, or farmhouse. Upstairs, the playroom serves as an antichambre to the children’s bedrooms, while the ground floor groups the dressing, bathroom and bedroom of the parents in one continuous sequence.

This renovation of a family house in Tournai has no general strategy other than finding a cheap and self-made solution for every single problem or wish.

The project brings together not only our inventiveness, but also that of the whole family. We mainly try to use what is already there to improve the quality of the house: an old broom becomes a handrail, a former door frame covers a wooden pilaster, etc. In this way, old and new write a new story together.

The new kitchen is made of iroko wood and Curver boxes used in horeca to store cutlery, plates, and glasses. The former parents’ bedroom is dismantled to become an open library on the first floor, just as Yves dreamed of for his hundred comic strips. It also enhances what Fabienne loved about this house: the transparency from one side to the other.

There is no timeline for this project, only the availability of the people working on it — us and the family.

The middle rooms deserved special attention in this family home renovation in Jette.
Throughout the house, we removed some walls so that all the bedrooms would have the same floor area and face the facades, thereby benefiting from direct sunlight.

On the ground floor, a new kitchen with large windows allows the outdoor garden to flow into the dining and living room with a continuous floor materiality.
On the first floor, we used the middle room to create the heart of the home: situated between two glass doors, it serves as a walkway to the staircase, a shower area for the two upstairs bedrooms, and a relaxation corner for the whole family.
On the top floor, we’ve reopened a long-closed terrace to bring light into an office space and an semi-exterior bathroom. M and T can now literally discover the meaning of the expression ‘sunbathing’.

The extension of a semi-detached house opens up the back facade towards the outside.

K & D their semi detached house is located on a strongly inclined plot what separates the living areas and the higher located garden. The goal of this renovation was to bring the garden as mutch as possible in the interior. We opened up the back facade and designed a new fully glazed kitchen extension. The garden walls are replaced by 4 terraces in different heights that bring the higher positioned garden closer to the level of the house.

This competition, initiated by RenovaS, involved renovating Brussels-style buildings into social housing. Originally, the property included two main buildings facing the street and smaller structures at the rear of the plot.

The two buildings side by side would be joined together to save the space of a stairwell, and the rear structures demolished, providing something that did not previously exist on this plot: a shared outdoor space.

The latter, divided in a courtyard and a 25m² covered activity area, would be a place where children can play with less supervision and where neighbors can meet at all ages around outdoor activities : DIY, barbecuing, repairing or cleaning a bike, hanging out laundry, etc.

An annex facade is attached to the rear of the main building, providing thermal efficiency and housing generous bright living areas.
The bathrooms, storage rooms, and technical passages are centralized in the existing part of the building. This location is strategic, as it optimizes the efficiency of the piping while avoiding corridors and freeing up the windows for living areas.

Our proposal for the extension of the town hall and a park in Retie for the Open Oproep 4907.

The current town hall is the result of several buildings added over time. By preserving most of the existing structures and introducing a new compact volume to the family, the project seeks to establish a clearer, more open identity at the scale of both the civic compound and the park.

For the renovation of this duplex, we sought to optimize vertical circulation.
By relocating access to the mezzanine with a compact staircase leading to the central space, the living room gained a few precious square meters of floor space.
The staircase leading to the basement, meanwhile, is more than just a staircase; it has become a place to sit and read, work, and other daily commodities.
The load-bearing walls have been removed to maximize the open space on the ground floor and visually connect the different areas.

This kitchen on-roof extension offers an opportunity to activate a whole new exterior space in a dense plot that didn’t have any.
The extension also frees up space in the current –very cramped– kitchen, thereby opening the living space to the outside and creating a two-sided apartment.

Since Boyd’s goal of growing his own food aligns perfectly with the need to reduce the neighborhood’s impermeability, the rest of the roof will be covered with an intensive green roof system.
Under this new inside room, a large workshop on the ground floor connects two separate living areas, located in a main building and a single-story rear house, which will soon be self-sufficient in terms of basic utilities.

This renovation of a bel-étage was not only an opportunity to improve the interaction of the family members but also to make it everyday-proof for Milan, a lovely teenager that is in a polyhandicap situation.

G and P wanted to adapt their house to better respond to the needs of their son. The house presents a significant height difference between the front and the back. The main front room is transformed into an open-plan space entirely dedicated to M. At the same level, the extension accommodates the living spaces for the whole family, oriented towards the garden.

The plan is organised to allow circulation with a wheelchair in a continuous loop through the house. The geometry of the extension takes shape by completing the volume of the existing roof with a glazed canopy and adding a flat volume with a green roof, maximising daylight in the existing spaces, and views on greenery.