Architects Vyvey & Partners won a design competition for an apartment complex in the Belgian town of Ypres with their striking submission for social housing company, Ons Onderdak. The project uses a restrained palette of three tones of grey brick, together with white, partially curved, Rockpanel boards.
A compact building that fits into the area
Despite the ultra modern look, the building fits well amongst the existing neighbouring houses. According to Jan Vyvey, that was also the starting point for the designers: “We wanted a compact building that fitted in with the mixture of buildings along this arterial road. Our building shape anticipates the surrounding house fronts. To the left it links to a block along the building line, to the right we integrate the more recessed house next-door by setting our building a bit farther back.”
A veil of white facade panels
“The project looks relatively small for the 12 apartments that it contains. The three different colours of grey brick gives each part its own character. It appears to be three large residences. The white panels form a sort of veil that wraps around the building and unifies it. We opted for white, which not only gives the building a bright aura, but also assures a beautiful effect of sun and shadow on the facade.”
