KWIK | House De Belder | JOE Design Studio

House De Belder is located in the residential villa district Elsdonk in Wilrijk (Antwerp). The start of the allotment of these grounds was given shortly before the First World War, when the nv Garden City du Nouveau Parc d'Anvers obtained the licence to lay out streets and build civilian houses with gardens. The allotment took place in various waves, and at the end of the 1970s it was Extensa NV that put the land on Kwikstaartlaan on the market. In the post-war part of the neighbourhood, typical villa architecture can be found, including designs by Jules De Roover at Blauwmeeslaan number 3 (1969) and Eekhoornlaan number 11 (1964).
Architect Renaat Braem designed this house for Alfons De Belder, the regular photographer with whom he worked for photos of his work. The house therefore houses a spacious photographer's/painter's studio and a darkroom. The high and asymmetrically designed roof typifies the street scene and looks a bit like a small church. Yet the general atmosphere of the design leans more towards that of a bungalow. The characteristic triangular window in the right-hand section of the façade eventually reappears in several variants: the location and design of the studio have been found. Braem writes on the sketch: "Very large studio from front to back for all kinds of purposes: photography, painting, and so on. This beautiful open space, flooded with daylight, will be the new informal TV and living room. The large window looks out to the east, which means that you do not suffer from overheating by the sun here.
In April 1977, the definitive plans were drawn up and, in June 1977, the first contractors were contacted with a request for a quotation. This proved to be no easy matter, but work finally started in December of that year.
The house has a compact two-storey brick volume under an asymmetrical saddleback roof, covered with roof tiles. Windows and doors are made of wood. A striking feature is the staggered gable on both the right-hand side wall and the front wall. The sloping line recurs throughout the design: in the alignment of the façade, in the sloping rear terrace wall, in the crowning of the fireplace and in the form of the wooden fences and their brick fence pillars. In contrast, in a further phase of the design (1978) Braem adds an elliptical window in the side wall behind which the living space is located. A nice detail is the large letterbox in the street facade, in a design that is reminiscent of Braem's own letterbox, which the client had specifically requested to be able to contain large postal items.
The ground floor includes a spacious garage on the right, behind which the kitchen is located on the garden side. The windows of the garage are filled in with glass panes. The entrance with stairwell is located at the front, centrally in the volume. To the left of it, on the street side, are an office and a reception area for customers. The stairwell is the central hub of the house. It divides the circulation to the private and professional areas and is lit by a round skylight. The side walls of the hall are covered with profiled planks.
The left-hand section of the ground floor is occupied by a very spacious living room. For this, Braem designed an impressive, free-standing fireplace in brick. The living room's door windows give onto the garden and it also has a remarkable stained-glass window. Braem designed this at the client's request. It has an elliptical shape and the filling shows a rope or a vine, which starts from a yellow sphere and develops from there in a logarithmic spiral.
On the first floor, the right-hand section of the house is entirely taken up by the studio, which has been worked out as a duplex. Two bedrooms and a bathroom are situated on the left.
The left part of the house has a cellar and a large storage room, technical storage, wine cellar and a darkroom.
Our client, a well-known fixture in the parquet and carpet industry (Brabo Flooring), bought this property in 2021 and contacted us for the renovation of the house. The new program for the house was challenging but not impossible. There were 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms but the client's programme included 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a swimming pool.
It was a fascinating task to blend contemporary architecture with the typical 70's style, and of course the client wanted to install as much of his own parquet in the house as possible. In the entrance hall, we took out the old floor and finished it with natural stone. The white painted brick was too contrasting with the parquet, so we finished it with chalk/clay to soften it. The staircase, which is an icon in the interweaving of the floors, was kept in its original state and extended with a new landing that was copied one on one from the existing staircase to give access to the new bathroom. The wenge veneered doors are original and have new door fittings.
On the left side of the ground floor, the office will be retained. To the right, there is a large garage/utility room/laundry room. Continuing to the rear, you first enter the formal living space, here we have installed new herringbone parquet. The wooden ceilings, fireplace and elliptical stained glass window are original pieces that have been retained as well as the stucco on the walls. We integrated a custom-made woven carpet in combination with a sofa and a coffee table from the Japanese furniture manufacturer Karimoku.
The dining area opens onto the raised terrace, which we finished in natural stone. A large custom-designed round table brings back the natural stone and also the wenge veneer of the interior doors. The very small kitchen was broken out completely and custom-made to enlarge it. We kept the existing Douglas cupboard and finished the kitchen with stainless steel and natural stone. This stainless steel, which was a popular material in the 70s, is also used in the pendant above the dining table and in all the faucets, switches, accessories, etc.
The large studio space on the first floor is now an informal living and TV room. Vintage furniture (2x single seat and coffee table) by Tobia scarpa in combination with a new armchair from the German brand COR in ribbed velvet fill the room. The hand-tufted carpet delimits the TV/sitting area in the large room. Ceilings and plastered walls together with the spiral staircase are original elements.
The master bedroom is entirely original, only the bed was custom designed in the same veneer as the doors. Floors were renovated. The bathroom used to be a storage room, the large washbasin cabinet in natural stone looks out onto the garden, the natural stone returns on the floor.
The 2 new children's rooms on the first floor used to be a bathroom and a bedroom. The existing small herringbone parquet was continued in these rooms. New custom-made work was provided.
The new children's bathroom is accessible via a landing that has been copied 1:1 from the existing landing of the staircase. The staircase on the first floor still has the original skylight that sends light from the attic floor into the night hall. The bathroom is finished in natural stone with stainless steel accents.
On the 2nd floor (attic) you can experience the high saddle roof. On this floor, we created two new children's rooms with their own bathroom, as well as a separate toilet and a multifunctional space for the children. The materiality here refers back to the materials already used: wenge veneer, natural stone and the existing elements.