— Project intent
A precise answer to the site and programme.
This extension to a single-family house in Waterloo, in the Walloon Brabant province of Belgium, demonstrates how a clear architectural strategy can unify a home's existing volumes into a single, coherent ensemble. The project, designed by architecture firm STARC, adopts a simple double-pitched roof form that aligns with the ridge of the existing building, ensuring seamless visual continuity.
The extension unfolds over two levels. At ground floor, a storage room clad in black composite panels runs beneath a cantilevered section that doubles as a semi-covered parking space, extending the language of the existing garage. On the upper floor, the main volume is finished in white render and accommodates a master bedroom, dressing room, and bathroom. The interplay of offset volumes allows the extension to anchor itself to both the front and rear facades of the original house, restoring balance and coherence to the overall composition.
The material palette is deliberately binary: white render on the upper level contrasts with black composite panels and black PVC joinery at ground level, visually reducing the perceived mass of the new structure. The north and east corners of the master bedroom are glazed to admit soft, neutral natural light and frame a direct view of the garden, while avoiding any overlooking of the street. A full re-insulation of the existing facades and replacement of all windows rounds out the project, significantly improving the home's energy performance.
The outcome is a residential architecture project in which the extension reads not as an addition, but as an integral part of a carefully recomposed whole, fully integrated into its urban context in Waterloo.
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