Residence FSD offers harmony between the manmade and the natural, modernity and a site-specific approach, brutalist concrete and a leafy context. Created by Bruges based architecture studio Govaert & Vanhoutte, the private villa is the primary residence for a family living outside Brussels, and wishing to balance a contemporary home with being close to a more natural environment.
Engulfed in its woodland setting, sat just on the edge of a forest, the house feels distinctly modern and minimalist, but it was designed to take its cues from the landscape around it. Nestled in a steep slope, it was shaped by its inclined terrain, with an entrance on the plot's highest point and the main living areas orientated towards the drop and the green views beyond.
Spanning two levels, the brutalist home features a generous, dual aspect piano nobile, where all the main living spaces are located. The master bedroom, a walk-in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom are also on this floor, on the east of the building, flooded in light through a secluded patio that punctures the house's monolithic volume. The lower level contains a garage and facility spaces, such as storage, utility room and a wet room, but also includes a multipurpose room and a further three bedrooms.
RELATED STORY
Openings were planned carefully by the architecture team, working with the sun's path, they explain, in order to help naturally cool down and heat the interior: ‘In the summer the sunlight is partially blocked by the trees. In the winter, the bare trees allow a maximum of sunlight to enter the house.'
Special attention was paid to the areas where the brutalist build space meets nature, so surrounding the house is an abundance of outdoors spaces, such as a long decked terrace, concrete canopies and a striking swimming pool with long forest vistas. As a gesture that shows the architecture's respect towards the existing landscape, the pool's depth was adjusted to accommodate the roots of an old tree on site.
INFORMATION
-
The Barbican is undergoing a huge revamp. Here’s what we knowThe Barbican Centre is set to close in June 2028 for a year as part of a huge restoration plan to future-proof the brutalist Grade II-listed site
-
A former agricultural building is transformed into a minimal rural home by Bindloss DawesZero-carbon design meets adaptive re-use in the Tractor Shed, a stripped-back house in a country village by Somerset architects Bindloss Dawes
-
The Stuff That Surrounds You: Inside the home of designer Michael AnastassiadesIn The Stuff That Surrounds You, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. In this episode, we step inside one of the most considered homes we've ever seen, where Anastassiades test drives his own creations
-
How a former women’s community in Belgium became a model for adaptive reuseA Hasselt beguinage, transformed to the 21st century through smart adaptive reuse by London-based architect David Kohn and Antwerp's Dirk Somers, makes for a fitting home for the city's Interior Architecture university programme
-
Woodstock House reinterprets modernist legacy through 21st-century sustainabilityLocally sourced materials and high design ambition merge in the newest residential work by Belgium’s BC Architects & Studies & Materials
-
A beautifully crafted concrete family house in a Mexican suburb is a contemplative oasisHW Studio have shaped a private house from raw concrete, eschewing Brutalist forms in favour of soft light, enclosed spaces and delicate geometries
-
‘Landscape architecture is the queen of science’: Emanuele Coccia in conversation with Bas SmetsItalian philosopher Emanuele Coccia meets Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets to discuss nature, cities and ‘biospheric thinking’
-
Explore the landscape of the future with Bas SmetsLandscape architect Bas Smets on the art, philosophy and science of his pioneering approach: ‘a site is not in a state of “being”, but in a constant state of “becoming”’
-
A contemporary concrete and glass Belgian house is intertwined with its forested siteA new Belgian house, Govaert-Vanhoutte Architecten’s Residence SAB, brings refined modernist design into a sylvan setting, cleverly threading a multilayered new home between existing trees
-
‘Close to solitude, but with a neighbour’: Furu’s cabins in the woods are a tranquil escapeTaking its name from the Swedish word for ‘pine tree’, creative project management studio Furu is growing against the grain
-
Tour Marche Arboretum, a new 'museum' of plants in BelgiumMarche Arboretum is a joyful new green space in Belgium, dedicated to nature and science – and a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025 winner
