Graafjansdijk

Graafjansdijk
In the 9th century, the Graafjansdijk (dike) protected parts of France and Belgium against the storm tides from the North Sea and the Western part of the river Schelde. Emperor Charles the 5th penetrated the dike during his reign in the 16th century, which caused its loss of any functional purpose in Belgian water management. Only a short strip of this dike remains in the rural surroundings of the seaside village of Knokke, near the border with Holland.

Across the road from the Graafjansdijk lies a narrow plot, enclosed by an adjacent moat on the north side. The terrain overlooks an open meadow. This geographical context has a major impact on how the design of the villa was perceived. The brief was to create a semi-detached single-family residence, with 4 bed rooms, and 4 bath rooms. Important issues: integration into the rural street view, having views both over the dike as well as over the meadow, sunny terrace, clear and light living spaces,…

The ground level of the villa fully occupies the narrow terrain, apart from a small inner garden on the north side. It is completely wrapped in barnwood alongside the road, hiding the garage and creating a private atmosphere for the bedrooms. This materialization produces a solid plinth contrasting with the transparent volume on the upper floor. This subordinate upper volume, containing the living room and kitchen, is made completely out of glass and is a lot smaller than the closed volume underneath. The barnwood walls extends 1 meter above the first level and functions as a railing for the terrace.
The north side opens up completely on both levels, allowing views over the meadow from the living room and kitchen on the upper level , as well as from the bedrooms downstairs. The crops growing on the north side still allow for some privacy in the bedrooms.
The horizontal nature of the solid wooden plinth allows the building to blend in into the rural surrounding. Being at the beginning of the street, the house takes on the same heights applied in the rest of the street.
The same architectural materials from the exterior are applied throughout the interior. The intimate bedrooms combine a cosy black Tadelakt floor and walls with bespoke barnwood furniture. The same flooring continues on the upper level, combined with a bare metal kitchen counter. The free standing barnwood kitchen closets frame the view over the dike, rather than overexposing it. Past the counter lies the terrace, where the risen barnwood plinth creates privacy.