The restricting practical requirements of daily family life – coupled with planning and often, budgetary, limitations – make undulating, free-flowing forms a rare occurrence in residential design. Belgian based Office O Architects aim to break the status quo with their most recent residential offering; Villa MQ.
The spacious villa was completed earlier in the year for a local family and is situated in Belgium's Tremelo. The architects wanted to create ‘something special’ that is at the same time, functional.
‘Taking building regulations into account, we started sculpting the house around the desired programs, thereby playing with the fundamental architectural elements and principles’, says Magalie Munters, lead architect on the project. As a result, the house's somewhat complex inner layout is cleverly concealed behind a simple ‘wave-like’ concrete facade.
The property is accessible via a large external ramp - designed to frame the surrounding nature - that leads up to the front door and through to the house's five ‘half’ levels.
A ramp-like staircase 'at the very heart’ of the design efficiently connects all floors, allowing seamless transition between spaces. Its grid of parabolic support cables creates a striking visual effect. The villa’s simple, clean white walls further accentuate its organic forms.
The ground floor, which acts as the property's entry point, leads upwards to the first floor which holds the garage, guest bedroom and bathroom, with the master bedroom situated at the back. Moving up half a level to the second floor, the kitchen and dining area leads out onto the outdoor terrace and pool.
Again, half a level higher, the living room is bathed in daylight from a large full-height glazed opening and a linear skylight. The final level is home to the children’s bedrooms, complemented by a balcony, which overlooks the surrounding pines.Office O Architects
The spacious villa reached completion this year. The team was aiming for ‘something special’ yet functional for its clients.
The property, which can be accessed via a large ramp, features five ‘half levels', staggered behind the home’s wavy facade.
The living areas are located on the third floor. They are flooded with natural light through the full-height glazed opening and a skylight.
Villa MQ’s concrete form was the result of the combination of the area's planning restrictions and the interior program.
The house's second level hosts the kitchen and dining areas that look out on to the property's terrace and pool
A feature staircase at the heart of the property is the building's main circulation point. It sits suspended from parabolic cables.
INFORMATION
For more information on Villa MQ, please visit Office O’s website
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede's album coversBrett Anderson talks cover art, photography and iconic imagery
-
Step through Rubenshuis’ new architectural gateway to the world of the Flemish painterArchitects Robbrecht en Daem’s new building at Rubenshuis, Antwerp, frames Rubens’ private universe, weaving a modern library and offices into the master’s historic axis of art and nature
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Green Ark, a new garden pavilion from modified softwood, is conceived for plant conservationThe Green Ark, set in the heart of Belgium's Meise Botanic Garden, is an ultra-sustainable visitor pavilion by NU Architectuur Atelier
-
Residence Norah is a modernist Belgian villa transformed to its owner’s needsResidence 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
-
All hail the power of concrete architecture‘Concrete Architecture’ surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the material, from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Bruges Triennial 2024 takes over the city with contemporary art and architectureBruges Triennial 2024, themed 'Spaces of Possibility', considers sustainability and liveability within cities, looking towards a greener future
-
‘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
