Brick apartment building in Perwez

In Perwez, in the province of Walloon Brabant, STARC designed a new-build residential building comprising two apartments, inserted into an infill plot within the dense historic fabric of a small town. The volume, two storeys under a gabled roof, responds to the vertical rhythm of the neighbouring party-wall buildings and restores the continuity of the street frontage without resorting to pastiche.

Red brick, laid in a traditional bond, provides the material thread running through the project. The quality of craftsmanship and the precision of the pointing assert a contemporary architectural language within a heterogeneous built context. The fenestration, arranged in regular bays across the street facade, introduces a measured rhythm into this restrained envelope, while anthracite joinery, slender steel balustrades and roof lights punctuate the composition with discretion.

A lateral access passage, set back from the main volume, creates a transition between the public realm and the rear of the plot, giving each apartment a distinct relationship with outdoor space. The two-pitch roof, clad in slate-coloured tiles, incorporates favourably oriented roof windows that bring zenithal daylight into the upper levels.

This project reflects the approach of this Belgian architecture firm to working with precision within a constrained urban context, affirming a legible contemporary identity while respecting the existing streetscape.

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