Extraordinary Residential Architecture by Atelier Vens Vanbelle in Belgium | Yellowtrace

 

Established in 2006, Belgian Atelier Vens Vanbelle is a Ghent based studio spawned from Dries Ven’s and Maarten Vanbelle’s fun-enthused love for redefining the everyday. Breathing new life into existing architectures and also establishing harmonies between the practicalities and the potential quirks of daily space, the duo’s impressive use of internal journeys, unusual material pairings and their refined form/void compositions are pretty much spot-on. They are clearly adding a bit of their own awesome-sauce to daily Flemish life.

Relying on the physical modeling process, their renovations, extensions and new builds intelligently exhibit a refreshing type of quotidian engagement that brings about subtle hints of human character. Gauging light quality, environmental context and intriguing fields of view, their design process has produced an ace line up of built works. Whether it’s a tree house or an alien extension, Vens Vanbelle have come up trumps and are definitely worth some pretty serious design-envy browsing.

 

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Katasan in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Katasan. Ghent, Belgium (2014) // Talk about tree house interiors. This renovation of an artist’s residence is entirely hinged off a central tree element. The journey up speaks to the inner tree-climbing kid in all of us.

Related Post: So Hot Right Now // Trees in Interiors.


 

Piet and Sarah in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Piet and Sarah in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Piet and Sarah in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Piet and Sarah in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Piet and Sarah in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Piet and Sarah. Ghent, Belgium (2014) // Described by the architects as a “cocktail of science fiction and nostalgia” this alien add-on to an existing farmhouse epitomises the eclectic and fun approach Vens Vanbelle brings to the drawing board. As well as providing an extra bedroom and bathroom, Vens Vanbelle have given this growing family a copper space ship with cockpit and all.

Related Post: So Hot Right Now // Playing Dress Ups In Architecture Shoots.


 

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Nico and Hilde in Balegem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Nico and Hilde. Balegem, Belgium (2013) // An example where corridors and thresholds are used to create intriguing vistas and to play with the relationship between exterior and interior. Oh and gotta’ love that dog!


 

Gewad in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Gewad in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Gewad in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Gewad in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Gewad in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Gewad. Ghent, Belgium (2012) // At a first glance you might think this beauty was a realised Escher drawing. Fair enough. Yet you’d probably be selling the project a little short. Consisting of four individual houses, rubrics-cubed together within the historic shell of an old burnt out costume shop, Gewad exemplifies Vens Vanbelle’s sophisticated yet joyful approach to designing residential space. Have a squiz at the varied yet controlled use of materiality, and how it expresses programmatic thresholds. Also, I can’t but love the internal courtyards reflection on the balcony. Brilliant!


 

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle

Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Tijl and Indra in Ghent, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Tijl and Indra. Ghent, Belgium (2011) // Undergoing renovation for almost four and half years, this ‘house within a house’ uses rough timber planks as a semi-external facade to carve out a new kitchen, bedroom and bathroom within the existing space. Again, light is a central theme, and as its passage is controlled delicately through a complex array of thresholds, it reveals every modest yet beautiful detail.

Related Post: So Hot Right Now // A House In A House.


 

Schuurbain in Zedelgem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Schuurbain in Zedelgem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Schuurbain in Zedelgem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Schuurbain in Zedelgem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

Schuurbain in Zedelgem, Belgium by Atelier Vens Vanbelle | Yellowtrace

 

Schuurbain. Zedelgem, Belgium (2010) // Revealing its inner structure and expressing its elemental composition, this barn plays a game between its vernacular heritage and material composition. Supported by concrete foundation walls, the barn’s roof construction is externally expressed through a layer of see-through polycarbonate sheeting. Full of light, transparent and structurally revealing, this project exhibits a whole other, more distinguished face of barnyard architecture.

 


[Images © Tim Van de Velde Photography.]

 



About The Author

Originally from Melbourne, Sam is a design-crazed architect currently living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nuts for all things futurist and technology based, he is super interested in the evolving relationship between design/ architecture and the process of industrialised production - probably derived from childhood ambitions to make his own, personalised R2D2. Totally crazy about concepts like self-assembling architectures, Sam gets an unreal kick out of trying to understand the complexities behind any design. In his limited, non-design time he is currently learning Danish and practicing it shamelessly with the poor coffee barista down the road twice a day, every day.

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