House K at Z

A detached house for a couple living apart together, built into prefabricated half-cylindrical iron hangar.

The clients wanted a house where they could live both together and apart. In order to realize the consequent large house within a modest budget we opted for a semi-prefab method, whereby the volume would be delivered and assembled in prefabricated sections: a half-cylindrical iron hangar. A wall devides the building lengthwise, with the separate studio apartments in the narrower section and the common parts in the broader. Building took place in difficult circumstances, but the lack of perfection in the finish is compensated by a certain lived-in look.
The house is on an estate alongside a sunken road. The whole area of the plot on which it was permitted to build has been used. The afternoon sun is at the front, and at the back there is a view over the fields. Light enters in the middle through two pairs of flat roof windows and a domed skylight. One finds this type of hangar, painted green or brown, along any road in Flanders. By virtue of its connotations of industriousness and security, a barn has been elevated to a home. However, in contrast with most imitation farmhouses, the origins of this house are not disguised.

Integration into landscape: One finds this type of hangar, painted green or brown, along any road in Flanders. By virtue of its connotations of industriousness and security, a barn has been elevated to a home.
Sustainable aspects: The half-cylindrical form provides for a most compact, if detached house.