Project: BTR House
Architects: DeDal architects
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Area: 2,260 sf
Year: 2021
Photographs by: Stijn Bollaert
BTR House by DeDal architects
BTR House, crafted by DeDal architects in Brussels, Belgium, presents a unique integration with the existing townhouses on a street characterized by shifts in alignments. The new construction cleverly folds its front facade to compensate for alignment and depth differences, creating a visually dynamic structure. Internally, the house follows a sequence of half and quarter levels, promoting an open and interconnected living space. Integrated furniture elements contribute to the openness, and the facade mirrors the wooden frame structure, with Red Cedar cladding evolving in color over time.
Located in a street made up of townhouses, the new construction stands precisely at a significant shift in the alignments of the fronts of the buildings between the upper and lower parts of the street.
Looking for integration with the existing buildings, the new volumetry plays with this misalignment difference and creates a fold in the front facade which compensates for both the depth offsets and the alignments of cornice levels.
Inside, the spaces follow one another in a work of sequence in half-levels, or rather in quarter-levels. Articulated by integrated furniture elements, the differences in floor heights make it possible to organize the living spaces in a very open way. There are very few partitions and the gradual intimacy is created by the gradual ascent of the platforms.
This set of levels and openings of spaces is also perceptible on the facade and the materials have been chosen to take up the expression of the structure of the wood frame construction.
At the level of the wooden structure of the construction, the rear facade and most of the front facade are composed of curtain facades and cladding in wood Red Cedar. The color of the material is intended to evolve over time in shade variations that will integrate with the colors of the existing facades of the other houses on the street.
Finally, at street level, the masonry and concrete structural base calls for a different treatment of the facade. To express this mineral base, the choice fell on a light tiling.
