Atelierwoning Apostelhuizen
In their new office in an old neighbourhood of Ghent, the architects Henk De Smet and Paul Vermeulen reintroduced the supporting structure back into the street frontage. Nine-inch walls, concrete beams in plank shuttering and steel columns together make up the rough and visible skeleton of this facade. The building is in fact designed as a studio house; currently used as an office, it is in every aspect already prepared for a new life as a town house.
The front façade is very welcoming. Its large windows show a room on the ground floor, stairs passing in front of the glass on the completely transparent first floor, and a hint of a room on the top floor. This open façade was conceived as a selfsupporting skin in front of the building and composed in a highly tectonic manner. Two wide concrete beams with visible plank shuttering mark the different storeys. They are supported by expressive brickwork and steel profiles. Voids behind the façade emphasize the structure and draw light deep into the house.
Composite Presence at Biennale Architettura 2021
This project is part of the exhibition Composite Presence in the Belgian pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
De Smet Vermeulen architecten: "The studio in Ghent where the façade theme is the exposure of structural material shows the façade as a construction in its own right, as very few buildings in the street still do. Like our other project Kioskplaats Police Station, shown in Venice Biennale 2021, the studio is nine-meters wide and three-storeys high. They both treat their height as an entity, avoiding trabeation or any sort of subdivision, in order to stand out in their streets as outspoken individuals, responding to their neighbors, but not imitating them. They are quite open to the street, frankly addressing it while retaining their individuality."
