Belgian architecture studio Felt has renovated a mid-century home in Ghent, adding an entrance space and staircase within a “compact tower” clad in blue ceramic tiles.
The renovation, named Daniël, required Felt to rework the 315-square-metre bungalow to better cater to family life, while still maintaining the mid-century character of its rectilinear, white-painted brick structure.
Felt has renovated a mid-century bungalow in Ghent
Felt focused its efforts on an awkward “circulation knot” at the centre of the home’s T-shaped plan, where its single-storey living wing abuts a split-level bedroom volume in what was formerly a cramped entrance area.
To open up this space, the studio created a “compact tower” at the home’s centre clad in blue ceramic tiles, which contains an ochre-coloured staircase and high-level windows.
A tower clad in blue ceramic tiles was added to the home
“Both spatially and visually, the project culminates in the central entrance space,” the studio told Dezeen.
“We transformed the existing split-level condition into a clearly articulated vertical node – a compact tower that anchors circulation, draws zenithal light deep into the plan, and gives spatial presence to what was previously a rather hidden transition,” it added.
“By marking this location with the new blue-tiled volume, the entrance gains presence, both within the house and towards the street.”
Its T-shaped plan was rearranged for improved circulation
The lower volume of Daniël takes advantage of its position between two gardens. Glass doors framed in rust-coloured aluminium open onto two patios on either side of a single large living, dining and kitchen area.
Internally, a pale-toned cement floor creates a sense of continuity with these patios and helps to maximise the feeling of light in the relatively low-lying space, accompanied by ceilings lined in cedar planks.
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Within the adjacent split-level volume, a lower level contains storage and facility spaces and can be accessed directly from the street via a section of the former driveway, which was reduced, unpaved and updated with bicycle storage.
On the upper level, Daniël’s bedrooms are finished with timber-lined walls and green linoleum floors, to create an atmosphere that the studio describes as “calm and tactile”.
There is an ochre-coloured staircase
“Interior material choices are informed by a contemporary reinterpretation of a classic mid-century palette,” explained the studio.
“Externally, the façades were renovated and the original timber windows replaced by rust-coloured aluminium frames, echoing the original materiality while offering contemporary performance,” it added.
The bedrooms are finished with timber-lined walls
Based in Ghent, Felt was founded in 2014 by Jasper Stevens and Karel Verstraeten.
Other residential projects in Ghent recently featured on Dezeen include an extension by Atelier Avondzon and Macadam Atelier that incorporated a sawtooth roof and an infill home by Delmulle Delmulle Architecten with a glass-brick facade.
The photography is by Stijn Bollaert.