Social housing project with strikingly interesting architecture

Long thin linea facing brick with recessed joint emphasises linearity

The popular neighbourhood of Les Marolles has a long and eventful history. So does the Huidevetters social housing project in Brussels’ oldest quarter.

In 2006, social housing company De Brusselse Haard asked ZAmpone to provide housing that made the most of a small corner plot stuck between typical public housing on one side and a giant concrete apartment building on the other. 2 duplexes, 2 apartments and a clubroom were delivered in 2016.

A solid plinth gives part of the plot back to local residents. A clubroom with walls entirely made of glass beckons invitingly on the corner, promoting social interaction with a certain degree of social control as a bonus. Around the corner, technical rooms for containers and meters are hidden behind grass tiles. Solid concrete would not provide the ventilation required here. The grass tiles serve as a medium for a project where children can each add their own colour to a pixelated pattern.

The building block was split into a high and a low volume, on a more human scale. Putting a garden in the middle has enabled light to penetrate deep into both volumes. A semi-public green terrace is the perfect place for a chat with a fellow resident or passer-by on the street. The low-level apartment was given private access via this garden while the high-level apartments are accessed via an external staircase. This choice enabled fire safety regulations to be interpreted more freely. The typical dark stairwell has been exchanged for a spatial gesture.

The striking black and white strips characterise the future-proof flexibility of the design with black used for the load-bearing sections and white for the changing infill sections. The long flat ‘linea 3007’ facing bricks emphasise the linearity of these strips. The alternating matt and glossy ceramic tiles bring the façade to life for passers-by.

The fixed parts of the windows are concealed while the opening parts are housed in a white block frame, making them stand out. Visible from the inside, while light streams in from outside. The woodwork adds warmth.

Hand-Made linea 3007

“The choice of a design with façade bands guided our search towards a facing brick that suited the horizontality of the façade and fitted in with a colour palette offering subtle shades of red and brown. By using Linea with a wide and recessed joint, we achieved a lined effect in the brick façade bands which really did justice to the idea behind the design”, concludes Jelle Geraerts (ZAmpone).

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Linea 3007 blends in beautifully with wooded surroundings

The house is situated in a green neighbourhood in Kampenhout, Flemish Brabant. The villa is surrounded by indigenous valuable trees and behind the plot runs a brook that can flood several times a year: two challenges for the architect.