OFFICE 305

This family house, which sits in the middle of a narrow empty plot, is part of a master plan for a former shoe factory in Merelbeke near Ghent. The old factory, which is to be converted into a craft micro-brewery and an artspace, is defined by a set of parallel walls. The house takes the form of a hypothetical extension of the factory, defined by four massive brick walls. The height of the walls gradually increases from the front, facing the street, to match the height of the factory walls to the rear. The enfilade of rooms and outdoor terraces, interrupted by shifting walls, have doors positioned on a single axis. The sequence of spaces starts with a small aluminium-clad bike storage room and a master bedroom with a gable roof. Further on, the entrance terrace is aligned with the study and a bathroom. The central room is the living area with a kitchen that opens onto an outdoor terrace, and at the rear there are two more children’s bedrooms with a playroom in the mezzanine. The rooms in between walls are covered with mono-pitched roofs, while the house ends with a gable-style greenhouse structure.