Grey matter: Atelier Kempe Thill’s Antwerp housing draws on the city’s modernist legacy

Antwerp’s Zuid neighbourhood is a thriving part of the city right next to Richard Rogers’ famous Law Courts, featuring new housing and commercial buildings to cover the demand for an expanded city centre. This growth is matched on the other side of town by the Eilandje district, with its new condos and soon-to-open-its-doors new Port Authority building by Zaha Hadid Architects.
Zuid’s latest addition is a housing development by Dutch architecture firm Atelier Kempe Thill, for local developer Triple Living. The structure comprises 32 apartments, which come complete with their own winter garden, and a string of commercial spaces on the ground floor to cater to the flourishing area’s growing needs.
The residential element is offered in a variety of shapes and sizes, with spaces ranging from 40 sq m to a whopping 160 sq m. The structure’s clean, minimalist form references the city’s strong roots to 20th century modernism and rationalism, explain the architects. The grey concrete came in largely prefabricated parts, which were put together on-site. Large glass openings allow views out to the city and the River Scheldt nearby; white wooden details add texture to the façade.
This approach is complemented inside by interiors in simple white render and cabinetry, and light coloured timber floors. Every unit features outside space that can be closed off on the cold and windy Antwerp winter days, without taking away from the sense of space and openness the winter gardens offer.
Not that this project is all about looks; the building was designed according to passive house standards, making the scheme a particularly low energy one.
The structure comprises 32 apartments, with spaces ranging from 40 sq m to 160 sq m, while a string of commercial spaces will sit on the ground floor
The grey concrete came in largely prefabricated parts, which were put together on-site
A minimalist exterior is followed by interiors in simple white render and cabinetry, and light coloured timber floors
As an added bonus, the building was designed according to passive house standards, making the scheme a particularly low energy one
Each apartment includes an outdoor space that becomes a winter garden during Antwerp's cold seasons
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Atelier Kempe Thill website
Photography: Ulrich Schwarz, Berlin / Germany
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
In memoriam: Paolo Portoghesi (1931 - 2023)
Postmodernist Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi has died; writer David Plaisant celebrates his life and legacy, recalling his visit to Calcata for a feature in the Wallpaper* April 2021 issue
By David Plaisant • Published
-
Cindy Sherman’s freaky new portrait collages dissect the divided self
We preview Cindy Sherman’s new portraits, on view at Hauser & Wirth Zurich during Zurich Art Weekend – which will see digitally manipulated collages explore the many facets of society
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Sotheby's to buy the Breuer Building in New York
The Breuer Building in New York is to be acquired by famed auction house Sotheby's, it's been announced
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Kunlé Adeyemi’s water cities and visions of future living at Het Nieuwe Instituut
‘Water Cities Rotterdam. By Kunlé Adeyemi’ opens at Het Nieuwe Instituut in The Netherlands, offering visions of future living
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
The finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Rotterdam house is a sustainable home with a defining timber roof
Terphouse is a green Rotterdam house by Studio AAAN, featuring a distinctive low-slung, timber roof
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Pa.te.os hotel in Portugal is a concrete love affair with Alentejo
Pa.te.os hotel by Aires Mateus is set in the Alentejo landscape in Portugal and celebrates the blend of concrete and nature
By Jessica Rose • Last updated
-
Luna House is a concrete Chilean live/work haven by Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Pezo von Ellrichshausen invites us inside Luna, the studio's base, a geometric concrete masterpiece in the Chilean countryside
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Canberra’s concrete column cluster pavilion by Molonglo and Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Developer Molonglo and architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen are behind the Less pavilion at Dairy Road, Canberra
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
View from the top: Rotterdam Rooftop Walk rises 30m above the city
The temporary installation, a collaboration with architects MVRDV, offers visitors a new perspective of Rotterdam
By Hannah Silver • Last updated
-
An OMA/AMO show at Het Hem explores our balance with nature
We tour Het Hem's latest exhibition, ‘Chapter 5IVE’, a collaboration with OMA's Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal, director of AMO
By Yoko Choy • Last updated