— Project intent
A precise answer to the site and programme.
A newly built four-façade single-family house in Bierges, Walloon Brabant, this project by architecture firm STARC delivers a restrained contemporary design that responds precisely to the challenges of a sloping, wooded plot.
The clean rectangular volume, topped by a green roof, engages the natural gradient of the land, ranging from 6 to 18 percent, by embedding the basement into the slope to create a grounded base that minimises the building's visual impact from the street. The upper storey is clad in vertical open-jointed timber boarding, establishing a deliberate dialogue with the tall pine trees at the rear of the site. The base and ground floor are finished in cream-white brick slips with no visible pointing, while anthracite PVC window frames provide a precise, contemporary rhythm across the elevations.
The building's longitudinal North-South orientation is a direct response to the funnel-shaped topography and the plot's irregular boundaries. Expansive glazed openings on the south and west façades draw in natural light and forge a strong visual connection between the living areas and the garden. On the upper floor, bedroom windows are set within projecting surrounds that frame views of the landscape as considered compositions, while a timber-slatted screen on the east side safeguards the occupants' privacy from the neighbouring property. The vegetated roof accommodates solar panels, and a gravel driveway preserves the soil's permeability to manage surface water runoff on this sensitive site.
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