A client wants to build a livelong home for his mentally challenged granddaughter. They set up an alliance with vzw Emmaus and looked for a plot close to their premises. The site is a beautiful stretch of woodland which we sought to preserve as much as possible. Therefore we conceived the house as a singular and compact volume: a hexagon. It holds eight studios, six on the first floor and two on the ground floor, plus auxiliary functions and communal living spaces. Each studio is located on a corner giving them a double orientation and views on the surrounding forest. Next to the home we create a small clearing in the forest allowing the sun to reach to living spaces.











Location: BE, Zoersel
Client: Private
Surface: 500 sqm
Status: design

Team: Jasper Stevens, Karel Verstraeten, Adrian Verhoijsen, Michiel Hutsebaut, Marie Lafosse
Images: FELT

To convert it into a care home for mental health patients an existing villa is stripped to its bare structure, taking away the roof. From there, using the existing structural logic of parallel walls, a new plan is developed consisting of a generous hallway linking a series of independent studios. The same concept is repeated in the extension that houses a second commune.
The rhythm in the plan translates into a specific façade that consist of a repetitive series of gables unifying old and new. The concept shows the individual units within the compound - as if little houses, while at the same time expressing the collectivity of the residence as a hole. Living under one roof… or not really?











Location: BE, Merksplas
Client: vzw Emmaus
Surface: 850 sqm
Result: competition 1st place

Team: Jasper Stevens, Karel Verstraeten, Judith de Pau, Marie Lafosse, Michiel Hutsebaut
Consultants: Robuust
Images: FELT