1902_Loft | POESENVANHIEL architects

The loft consisted of a large but badly organized open space, so we were put to the task of finding a way to create a sensible partition between day and night. To this end, we placed a glass curtain wall with sliding door panels following the course of the existing steel columns, with an offset of a typical corridor. As a result, the resident who moves around in the middle of the loft no longer has to crisscross all over the place.
 
Where the resident requires more privacy, textured glass was used. The moving elements are made from a different material than the fixed parts, so that the sliding doors are highly intuitive to use. By leaving the panels open, the feeling of a loft is kept alive, but if need be, the resident can also retreat in peace and quiet behind closed panels, which separate her from the other residents but with still a lot of natural light to enjoy.
 
A lot of attention was put in to the details, not only for aesthetics. For instance, we designed the light switches to be stand-alone beautiful objects, positioned in a way that made sense. The approach reinforced the concept where we wanted to subtly guide the resident along the different functional spaces fostering an intuitive flow. Similarly, we employed different floor finishes around the fixed furniture in the kitchen and bathroom. This also establishes implicit boundaries without a real physical presence, instead relying on suggestive intentions.

Architecture Firm: POESENVANHIEL architects
Lead Architects: Jasper Poesen & Lucas Van Hiel

Photography: Tim Van de Velde Photography, https://tvdv.be/