House in the Outskirts of Brussels / SAMYN and PARTNERS


© Marie-Françoise Plissart

© Marie-Françoise Plissart
  • Associates: Gh. André, S. Bessalah, B. Darras, Ph. Gaube, I. Hankart, P. Hendrix, Th. Henrard, A.S. Petit
  • Structural Engineering: SAMYN and PARTNERS sprl
  • Building Services: SAMYN and PARTNERS sprl, (in collaboration with FTI sa) Ph. Samyn, J . Michiels
  • Civil Works: RECUBO
  • Construction Coordinator: JC Consulting
  • Cost Control: FORUM
  • Management: A. Charon
  • Model: A.M.A., F. Van Hoye
  • Botanical Artist: Patrick Blanc
  • Carpentry: POTTEAU-Labo
  • Glass Roofs: L’ATELIER DU VERRE
  • Watertightness: MEULEMAN J-P
  • Automatic Watering: AUTOMATIC SPRAYING SYSTEMS
  • Installation Of Vegetal Wall: John Jacob sprl

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

From the architect. This house for an artist includes the street level of an existing small house. It now houses the entry hall, a family room and a kitchen; the living-room and the stairway are in the extension to the building.


© Marie-Françoise Plissart

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

Longitudinal Section

Longitudinal Section

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

The second floor includes the master bedroom with its bathroom, as well as ve children’s rooms and sanitary installations. They are equipped with a mezzanine protected by textile netting that will lead to the glassed-wall facade.


Cross Section

Cross Section

The house presents curved and vegetalised facades that are very private and closed to the neighbours to the north, the east and the south. In contrast, the west facade is entirely glass-walled as if it were one huge partitioned window.


© Vincent Everarts

© Vincent Everarts

It is planned that Immense translucid white polyester curtains in widths of 1.6 m suspended from the top of the structure to the ground floor would run along this great « window » to ensure shade in the summer months.


© Marie-Françoise Plissart

© Marie-Françoise Plissart

Initially conceived as a wall of ivy with a patinated cop- per roof, the vegetalised facade is finally composed of a selection of exotic plants chosen by the botanical artist Patrick Blanc, and extends to cover the roof.


© Andres Fernandez Marcos

© Andres Fernandez Marcos

We had to design the structure, the insulation, and the water-tightness of the envelope and resolve the building physics issues in order to receive the necessary support systems, irrigation and fertilisation systems for the plants that are set into a felt support stapled to rigid PVC panels.