Project name De Tesch Project description New development inside a park zone Client DMI nv Design submission date November 2006 Start of construction 2008 Delivery date April 2011 Surface area 3.870 m² Structural Engineer Stubeco Services Engineer Democo Safety coordinator MBC bvba Main contractor Democo EPB coordinator MBC bvba
Project description:
The project concerns 5 clusters of various habitations for a park housing project area, part of a new development inside a park zone.
Concept:
Diversity was strived for both in the scale of the terrain and of the individual housing clusters. The street view needed to display a certain amount of variation within its use of similar forms. Fluctuations in the width and position of the complex's interior street create a vertical rhythm.
For each cluster, 4 types of habitation were designed, each offering a different internal layout with a variety of habitable surfaces and selling prices. Each type is thus suited for a diverse blend of occupants, a social mix necessary to ensure the entire community's quality of life.
Facilities including green partitions, semi-paved squares and access roads and communal parking spaces for visitors have been provided to help sustain the diversity.
Living individually was the focal point of the project, with a mix of houses and apartments, every typology boasting its own language of forms and specific features.
With a view to spending one's whole life in the same place a flexible layout was opted for. A one bedroom flat on the ground floor can act perfectly as a so-called kangaroo house when combined with the one-family dwelling situated on the floors above. Per block, two apartments can be adapted to the principle of lifelong housing or, alternatively, could be combined.
The design of the façade combines sobriety and diversity. Large brick surfaces alternate with elongated window openings. Some windows are grouped together by covering the surrounding façade in wood. Most of the larger windows look out onto the interior terraces.
