Wood Art Pavilion keeps its contents hidden from the world
Labscape’s Wood Art Pavilion is a secluded artist’s retreat in the leafy suburbs of Brussels, blending abstract shapes with natural light
Wood Art Pavilion is a modest, single-storey building set In the lush back garden of the 1934 Villa Nisot in Brussels. Clad in dark timber slats set above an asymmetric plinth, the architectural cabin was designed by dynamic local practice Labscape, and sits discreetly in the grounds of the modernist classic.
Labscape’s Wood Art Pavilion
Villa Nisot was designed by Louis Herman De Koninck (1896-1984) and is located amid greenery, in the small town of Rhode-Saint-Genèse, about 15km due south of central Brussels. It’s an upscale suburban landscape with a long history of architectural experimentation, including the ultra-modern Villa Dirickz by Marcel Leborgne, completed in 1933.
Labscape, which has offices in Brussels, Pisa, and New York, was founded in 2010 by architects Tecla Tangorra and Robert Ivanov. The firm spent two years restoring and enhancing Villa Nisot, and in the process created this bespoke artist’s pavilion behind the main house.
Describing the project as ‘intimate, introvert and hidden architecture’, the architects have set the new building on a layered concrete platform, with the dark bottom layer giving the impression that the studio floats above the lawns. An angled mirrored window juts out of the mysterious black façade, while the entrance is set in a wall of glazing, concealed behind a large folding screen.
This burnt wood panelling is both industrial and agricultural, as well as lending the entire structure a sense of mystery. Two of the façades have no windows at all, giving the structure the appearance of an abstract garden sculpture, a dark object glimpsed through bushes and hedges.
The studio has been designed for a painter, and natural light comes through rooflights set around the edge of the volume. Concealed ceiling-mounted electric lights provide night-time illumination from the same points.
Pared-back materials are juxtaposed with elaborately rich fabrics, most notably on the window seat, while the storage cabinet and clean-up area is built from marine wood and paired with a green marble countertop. Apart from the main studio space, the building houses a small washroom and kitchenette.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Green Ark, a new garden pavilion from modified softwood, is conceived for plant conservation
The Green Ark, set in the heart of Belgium's Meise Botanic Garden, is an ultra-sustainable visitor pavilion by NU Architectuur Atelier
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Residence Norah is a modernist Belgian villa transformed to its owner’s needs
Residence Norah by Glenn Sestig in Belgium’s Deurle transforms an existing gallery space into a flexible private meeting area that perfectly responds to its owner’s requirements
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Bruges Triennial 2024 takes over the city with contemporary art and architecture
Bruges Triennial 2024, themed 'Spaces of Possibility', considers sustainability and liveability within cities, looking towards a greener future
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
‘Interior sculptor’ Christophe Gevers’ oeuvre is celebrated in new book
‘Christophe Gevers’ is a sleek monograph dedicated to the Belgian's life work as an interior architect, designer, sculptor and inventor, with unseen photography by Jean-Pierre Gabriel
By Tianna Williams Published
-
A Belgian house in the fields blends subtle minimalism with family life
House in the Fields by Stef Claes is a family retreat in the green Belgian countryside sprinkled with a US modernist architecture twist
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
House P’s linear, leafy composition aims for a ‘sensory architecture’
House P by Vandenborre Architecten is a family home conceived as a leafy sanctuary of minimalist elegance in suburban Belgium
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This 1970s brutalist house in Belgium has a new life as a designer’s home and studio
1970s brutalist house Villa Stuyven is now home to creative couple Bram Kerkhofs and Lore Baeyens, providing a concrete-lined backdrop to a life of design and collaboration
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Step inside the Pringiers family’s rural retreat in Belgium
Belgian architect Glenn Sestig’s latest project for the Pringiers family is a rural retreat and private gallery featuring an award-winning concrete construction
By Ellie Stathaki Published