Renovation

The more than 300 modular student dormitories on the VUB campus, designed by modernist architect Willy Van Der Meeren in 1972, were once at risk of demolition. Today, the twelve modules included in this project not only act as a catalyst for preservation but also guide the transition of the remaining buildings towards a circular renovation model.

The more than 300 modular student dormitories on the VUB campus, designed by modernist architect Willy Van Der Meeren in 1972, were once at risk of demolition. Today, the twelve modules included in this project not only act as a catalyst for preservation but also guide the transition of the remaining buildings towards a circular renovation model.

The purpose of the renovation is to revive an urban apartment into a space as a second house. Responding to the client’s request of ‘living an extraordinary life in a versatile space’, I put focus on the design of the opening in the beginning.

At the entrance to the Po Valley, in the province of Cuneo, a house with a simple, compact profile reveals itself gradually. The construction does not appear to flaunt striking gestures, but rather blends discreetly among its neighbors — tall apartment blocks, clumsy detached houses, a constellation of buildings without particular quality. Yet appearances are deceiving. A radical transformation, partly concealed within its own volume, lies at the origin of ErranteArchitetture’s project for Casa BM: an intervention that dismantles the existing structure to generate new spatial configurations and distinct atmospheres. It is an apparently paradoxical operation, conducted in the spirit of artistic research and self-construction practices.

On the banks of the river in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, Mise à Jour Studio undertook the
comprehensive transformation of a heritage home. Formerly divided between a residence and a medical office occupying nearly half of the ground floor, the intervention opens up the spaces and enhances visual connections to the river, while bringing new light into the heart of the house.

The project transforms a 19th-century farmhouse typical of the region, which brings together dwelling and agricultural functions beneath a single roof. Deprived of its farming use and located outside the building zone, this exceptionally large volume has become difficult to maintain given the limited habitable floor area permitted. In this context, the client’s mixed housing/permaculture program represents a rare opportunity for a coherent requalification of the whole.

London-based architecture and interiors practice ConForm has transformed a typical terraced house in Dulwich, South London into a layered light-filled family home.

This project was commissioned by a young anthropologist. The desire was to create a living space that met his intimate needs, a space that would allow him to reconstruct himself.