— Project intent
A precise answer to the site and programme.
In Saint-Denis-Bovesse, in the province of Namur, Wallonia, this project involves the renovation of a terraced red-brick house embedded in the dense village fabric of the Hesbaye region, with the existing building volume deliberately retained as the architectural anchor of the entire scheme. STARC, the architecture firm leading the project, chose to work within the established two-storey form beneath a pitched roof rather than transform it, finding in this restraint a meaningful response to the surrounding built context.
The street-facing facade, characterised by an uneven brick colouration and an irregular window pattern, is subject to a measured requalification aimed at restoring a coherent reading of the volume without creating an artificial break with the neighbouring buildings. This formal sobriety reflects a considered approach to urban integration over expressive contrast.
The core of the project lies in the reconfiguration of the interior spaces to meet contemporary living standards. Converting the roof space into habitable area is the primary means of intensifying the programme without altering the building's perceived mass from the street, fully exploiting the available height beneath the roof slopes. Natural light, constrained by party walls on both sides, drives the decisions around openings, directing attention to the front and rear elevations. A potential single-storey extension towards the garden is conceived in a logic of compactness and material continuity with the main volume, avoiding formal contrast that would undermine the coherence of the whole.
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