C.T. Architects BV

Loft MM

Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde

ARCHITECTS
C.T. Architects

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Nick Ceulemans

DIRECTS
Liesbet Thewissen

CONSULTANTS
GeWoon Interior Architects (interiors), Alelek (lighting)

INTERIORS
Ward Bergen

PHOTOGRAPHS
Tim Van de Velde

AREA
80 m²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Bilzen, Belgium

CATEGORY
Loft

A home without boundaries: The project includes the conversion of a ground floor apartment, previously used for storage, into an accessible and wheelchair friendly living space for an accident victim.

Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde

The result is an apartment that does not look at all like a dwelling for a physically challenged person.

In fact, while many of the design solutions were inspired by necessity, they would all be welcome in any urban small loft.

To create an accessible residence, C.T. Architects changed the main entrance of the building block to create a ramp to the client's front door and a new communal entrance for the upstairs neighbours.

Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde

The apartment itself was transformed completely.

By clustering the wet areas and storage space into two compact volumes, the architect was able to bring natural light into the long and narrow canyon- like layout that is organised into a conventional succession of increasingly private spaces:

living room and dining area near the main entrance, a central corridor – at a comfortable width for wheelchair passage - and with an efficient kitchen on one side and the bathroom on the other side, and then the bedroom/study in the rear.

Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde

Sliding glass doors lead from the bedroom/study onto a small back terrace.
 A sense of unity and calm is created by using white walls and ceilings combined with rough-sawn oak floors and sliding doors hiding the storage space, bathroom and toilet.

He designed the dining table with built-in shelves at both ends and a flexible swing-arm wall lamp above this table (also presented at this year's Salone del Mobile in Milan).

In the bedroom, Nick Ceulemans designed the double-duty bed with a desk at its head, an adjacent wall of bookshelves and a hybrid light fixture/electrical hub that swivels to illuminate both bed and work surface and to provide outlets at a convenient height for the user.

Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde
Loft MM
© Tim Van de Velde


Loft MM
Floor plan
Loft MM
Isometric
Loft MM
Isometric

C.T. Architects BV
T +32 89 794548
C.T. Architects BV
Hoogbrugstraat 9, 3740 Bilzen, Belgium