OFFICE 125

A former garage, which occupied the entire surface of a deep, narrow lot behind a row house in Ixelles, has been transformed into an artist’s studio and residence. As the new owner also acquired the neighbouring house, it was possible to demolish the dividing brick wall between the two lots, leaving its exposed concrete columns and opening the studio into the garden in the back. The glazed façade which replaces this wall organises the whole building as it sidesteps the colonnade and defines a sequence of three spaces of roughly equal length but varying width. The façade is precisely composed of two rows of glass and untreated aluminium panels, which accommodate normal size doors and full height sliding gates. Inside, two glass boxes organise the loft-like studio. Placed at the corners of the façade, these rooms – an office or workshop and a bedroom with en-suite bathroom – serve as partitions between the three bigger spaces that can be closed off by high doors concealed in the opposite wall. Only a few fixed elements, such as a kitchen counter and a sink, imply the usage of this continuous space, sections of which can be screened with curtains. The existing rough concrete structure contrasts the glass boxes, inserted just below the beams, enhancing the autonomy of the façade.