Town House Neptunus
- Category
- Town House Renovation
- Location
- Antwerp | Belgium
We remodelled a typical interbellum middle class house that needed an update and upgrade to fit the modern lives of a growing young family in an urban context. On the ground level we removed the organically added, bad quality extensions and replaced them with two more spacious rooms. Walking from the front facade to the backyard you first pass the two original rooms, divided by the typical arc shape. Then you enter the two modern spaces, that we also divided with a modern interpretation of the arc by showing the support structure of the upper stories. The beam defines two rooms with a dedicated function, a cooking area and a dining area. A large folding window allows the residents to open up the back facade completely. From the boundary between the old and new spaces to the backside of the house a linear glass dome stretches out.
On the first floor we rebuilt the bathroom, dividing it in a wet and dry zone by narrowing the passage between the two rooms, lifting the floor with terrazzo stone. The wetroom offers a shower and bath and is entirely waterproof. To allow the residents some flexibility and margin we added an extra floor with a sleeping area on top of the old structure, connected by a modern wooden stairway with round piles. To match the house more with the residents’ needs of today and tomorrow we added both space and light, playing with a modern repetition of classical elements, expanding but not breaking with tradition.
