A team of architects from Atelier Starzak Strebicki, in cooperation with designers from Belgium's Lauren Dierickx Sander Rutgers Architects, took part in a closed competition for the conceptual design of a residential building in Antwerp. The architects were tasked with designing a building with functional social housing on a narrow and long plot of land.
The shape of the plot played a key role in arranging the functional layout of the building. As the authors emphasize, the main idea that guided the project was to design a compact block that would properly fit into the surrounding context.
Thanks to the carefully designed functional layout, a courtyard with green elements was set aside on the plot, and each unit has access to a private mini-garden with a pacer for essential tools. The part of the building on the first floor facing the street includes an alcove with bicycle parking spaces , the project's authors write.
axonometry
© Atelier Starzak Strebicki
On a narrow plot, the architects designed a three-story townhouse housing three apartments, one on each floor. Each of them is designed to minimize communication space and separate the day zone from the night zone by obscuring part of the corridor. The smallest of the apartments located on the first floor has direct access to the garden. The apartments on the first and second floors, on the other hand, have loggias on the south side, which allow adequate light in the living room and kitchen, and also provide views of Van Hemeldonck Street.
axonometry, body and plans of the building
© Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Thecontemporary architecture using brick, with character-giving plinths, cornices and architectural details in the central massing, fits naturally with the aesthetic of the neighborhood in the city of Hove. The white glazed brick laid alternately with dark blue refers to the ornamentation exposed in the neighboring building. As a result, the building does not stand out excessively from the neighboring terraced houses , the authors of the competition concept add.
