This home is nestled on an expansive woodsy property in the Flanders region of Belgium, providing SAOTA Architects with a unique opportunity to design a distinctive contemporary architectural object in the landscape. This would simultaneously serve as a warm, outward-looking living environment and engage meaningfully with its surroundings.  

This house on a large, wooded lot in the Flanders region of Belgium offered SAOTA an opportunity to design a distinctive contemporary architectural object in the landscape that would simultaneously serve as a warm, outward-looking living environment and engage meaningfully with its surroundings. 

DESIGN DETAILS: LEAD DESIGNERS SAOTA ARCHITECT OF RECORD Apart Architects PROJECT MANAGER Hadewijch Geuskens INTERIOR DESIGNER Pieter Laureys FURNISHED BY TKI Interiors CONTRACTOR Van Mourik Bouw ELECTRICAL ENGINEER High End Electro LANDSCAPING Wirtz International LIGHTING DESIGN Cone Lighting

The principal components of the master plan include a main house above a basement parking garage and a separate pool pavilion with a home office. The house and pavilion are linked via landscaped courtyards, a structured system of koi ponds , and a swimming pool.

The exterior design is composed of solid cubes and interconnecting glazed voids, which are unified with a slender canopy that wraps around three sides to form outdoor terraces.

Clustered vertical columns double as sculptural screens. The facade design is an expression of the interior layout.

The client’s preference for traditional, defined rooms rather than an open-plan arrangement led to cellular interior spaces that open outwards onto the terraces and inwards towards a double-volume central atrium with skylights.

The house responds to the local climate by fostering an indoor-outdoor lifestyle in summer, and an introverted, cozy environment centering on the atrium in winter.

How the cellular character of the rooms fragments or erodes as they open to the terraces and atrium makes for fluid transitions and invites glimpses of the garden deep into the interiors. 

The exterior façades feature a restrained palette of materials – slabs of Giallo D’Istria marble cladding on the walls, sandstone floors, and paneled Alucabond aluminum sheets along the fireplace broken up by large glass panels.

The contrast between the precision of the architectural detailing and the organic textures of the materials amplifies their inherent beauty. 

The simplicity and formal clarity of this home’s design, both as an architectural object and as a tranquil living environment, aim to facilitate an authentic, connected relationship with its natural setting. The use of reflective surfaces and materials – glass and water – emphasize this relationship by both framing and mirroring the surrounding trees and foliage.

What We Love: This contemporary home in Belgium features luxurious living spaces and a fabulous indoor-outdoor flow. We love all of the glazing in this house, capturing the serene beauty surrounding this dwelling, Overall, the project team did a fantastic job of integrating modern design elements with the natural landscape. The seamless transition between indoor and outdoor areas creates a harmonious atmosphere, perfect for relaxation and entertaining. The attention to detail, from the sleek finishes to the carefully curated furnishings, enhances the overall aesthetic appeal of the home.

Tell Us: What details in the design of this home do you find most appealing? Let us know in the Comments below!

Note: Be sure to check out a couple of other amazing home tours that we have highlighted here on One Kindesign by the architects of this project, SAOTA: Step inside this absolutely stunning Saint Tropez summer getaway and Luxurious hillside home boasts jaw-dropping views over the LA Skyline.

PHOTOGRAPHER Adam Letch

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