Woongebouw Ketelvest

The house, which one might almost overlook in passing, is primarily a continuation of the architect’s series of well-crafted exercises in giving shape to a kind of unostentatious domestic life; a form of ‘settling in’ and of allowing a new building to be absorbed by its surroundings. Subtle gestures strike a careful balance between continuity and context, as evidenced by an almost imperceptible tinkering with the existing patterns of cornices and the windows set back behind a frame aligned with the existing street façades.

The highly considered use of materials (wood, stone, plaster, steel) and the restricted colour range (almost white, not quite black and shades of grey and brown) create a sense of visual comfort – one that can only be achieved by an architect who knows her métier and who has invested in her relationship with the craftsmen who help her realise her work. The inclines in the geometry of the plan, slight as they are, create a play of shifting perspectives between the spaces, and also between the interior and the street.

Author: Christoph Grafe. This text has been published in the Architecture Review Flanders N°11. Embedded Architecture.