On the location of a typical old Flemish farmstead, in the middle of the beautiful rural area of Flanders, where fields are lined with willow and poplar trees, the client wanted to create a new home for himself and his family. The particularity of the site was its traditional location, with its concealed driveway off a rural road running behind the old orchard and directly connected to the fields behind. The new private houses built around the site had resulted in an enclosed feeling, with hardly any view to the beautiful landscape behind. The danger was that unconsidered urban planning would demand that a new building should follow the same building zones close to the road. However, this standard solution would have ignored the essential character of the old farmhouse, so it would not relate to the typical urban grain of settlements in predominantly rural areas. Furthermore this solution would create more visual obstruction in the rural landscape for the people passing by, and allow the project to be dictated by the neighbouring houses, rather than the surrounding fields and views. The solution combined respect for the existing rural fabric while also reaching an understanding with the urban planners, retaining the essential qualities of the site and allowing the project to blend into its surroundings.
在一个典型的老佛兰芒农场的位置，在佛兰德美丽的农村地区中部，田野里有柳树和杨树，客户希望为自己和他的家人创造一个新的家园。场地的特殊性是它的传统位置，它隐藏的车道偏离了一条在旧果园后面行驶的乡村道路，直接连接到后面的田地。在现场建造的新的私人住宅带来了一种封闭的感觉，几乎看不到后面美丽的风景。危险是，未被认为的城市规划将要求新建筑应遵循靠近道路的相同建筑区域。但是，这一标准的解决办法将忽略旧农舍的基本性质，因此它不涉及主要农村地区的典型的定居点城市粮食。此外，这种解决方案将在农村景观中产生更多的视觉障碍，供人们通过，并允许项目由邻近的房屋来决定，而不是周围的田地和景观。该解决方案结合了现有的农村结构，同时也与城市规划者达成了谅解，保留了该地点的基本性质，并允许该项目融入其环境。

Considering the farmhouse typology and rural tradition, the internal spaces are never open plan yet are directly connected with doors and hallways. They are always functional and never aesthetic in conception, not featuring such modern concepts as large fully glazed facades, for example. In consultation with the client was decided to respect these traditional aspects, and to create an organizational concept in which spaces are connected and related with regard to their function and their orientation on the site. This defined the plan, governing the volumetric and the circulation concept both internally and in in relation to the exterior. Maximizing the views across the stunning landscape led to a defined positioning of the windows, which were relatively small, and in keeping with the size of the door openings. The result is a fragmented volumetrical approach – referring to the functional extensions typical of farms, where over the years volumes are added as needed. This was given a contemporary treatment with a modernist roof rather than the gable roof typical of rural buildings in the area. The material is ‘kalei’ brickwork, with rough bricks typical of the area, and this defined the look and feel of the house and worked in harmony with the interior materiality of the project. On the inside the materials are of a utilitarian nature, sober and contemporary at the same time. Use of wood and concrete flooring create a tranquil atmosphere, together with the warm white plastered finish of the walls, as in a typical farmstead. The relatively brutalist and functional interior has the effect of retaining the focus on the green outside.
考虑到农舍类型和乡村传统，内部空间从来都不是开放的，而是与门厅直接相连的。它们始终是功能性的，在概念上从来都不是美学的，例如，它们不具有像大的全玻璃正面这样的现代概念。经与客户协商，决定尊重这些传统方面，并创建一种组织概念，在这种概念中，空间与其功能及其在网站上的定位有关。这就定义了计划，在内部和与外部相关的范围内管理容量和循环概念。通过整个令人叹为观止的景观的最大限度的看法，导致了一个明确的定位窗口，这是相对较小的，并与大小的门开口。其结果是一种零碎的体积化方法-指典型的农场功能扩展，在这些年中，数量是根据需要增加的。这是一个现代处理与现代屋顶，而不是山墙屋顶典型的农村建筑在该地区。材料是‘Kalei’砖，与粗糙的砖块典型的地区，这就定义了房屋的外观和感觉，并与工程的内部实质协调工作。在内部，材料具有功利性、清醒性和时代性。使用木材和混凝土地板创造了一种宁静的气氛，以及温暖的白色抹灰的墙壁，如在一个典型的农田。相对的野蛮和功能内部有保留的作用，重点是绿色的外部。

Photography:

Koen Van Damme
科恩·范达梅