Mark house

Arrangement of two linked bourgeois houses in neo-Renaissance and Art Nouveau style, commissioned by Edmond Coppens and the contractor Eduard Van Biesen, after a design by the architect Edmond Lauwens dating from 1911 (inscription). Both houses have identical floor plans that conform to the classic typology of the bourgeois house, consisting of a front extension and a narrow rear extension in entresol. According to the building plans, the enfilade of lounge, dining room and porch with overhead light, is flanked on the ground floor by the vestibule, stairwell and kitchen. Both upper floors include two rooms of equal size and a ‘cabinet de toilette’ in the front building, supplemented by a third small room in the rear building. Manor rooms and the attic occupy the roof level.

We set to work rethinking the ground floor; the kitchen, dining area and garden.

Afterwards, we also merged the rear first-floor extension into the ground-floor proposal.

For us, living around the patio garden was essential, and we also wanted to maximise natural sunlight from both the front and rear façades. In the new design, we also strove for a fusion and dialogue between the existing and new architecture. Furthermore, our project took into account accessibility, use of sustainable materials and maximum greening.