Muide Neighborhood House Project: Redefining the Relationship Between Built Form and Green Space
Urban Background of the Site
The site is characterized by tall grasses, two shrubs, and a single oak tree, forming a scene that appears natural at first glance, but in reality, it is the result of previous urban transformations.
In the 1970s, this land hosted a row of dilapidated workers’ houses, which were completely demolished without being replaced by any new development.
Emergence of Unplanned Green Space
With the disappearance of the buildings, the current green area formed incidentally, a direct consequence of the absence of construction rather than any prior planning. As a result, this space was not designed as an actual park and had no defined function within the urban fabric, remaining an open void without a clear identity.
Shift in Urban Vision
Later, with a reassessment of land use, the city decided to divide this area into organized sections, aiming to complete the surrounding building block. This decision represents a transition from unintended emptiness to conscious planning, in an effort to reintegrate the site into the broader urban context.
A Rare Plot Within the Urban Fabric
A buildable plot emerged unexpectedly in the Muide district, near the Ghent Ring Road, representing a rare site within an otherwise relatively complete urban fabric. This unexpected appearance reflects the ongoing transformations in land use within European cities.
Existing Structural Condition
The site currently contains three solid brick structural supports, resting against the wall of the adjacent building. Despite their sturdiness, it was decided to demolish these elements entirely to make way for a new building occupying the same site, as part of the reorganization of the urban block.
Building Constraints and Their Design Impact
Local regulations impose a maximum building width of six meters. On the ground floor, a depth of up to ten meters is allowed, while the depth on the upper floors is limited to six meters only. These constraints result in a highly compact house, which, in terms of scale and mass, recalls the character of the workers’ houses that once stood on the site.
Green Space as a Mandatory Element
Alongside the building, a compulsory garden is required. Existing shrubs will be pruned to organize the landscape, while the main tree will be preserved in its location, balancing the building requirements with the conservation of existing natural elements.
Limited Budget, High Design Ambition
Alongside the garden, a house is being developed on a limited budget but with a clear design vision. The project aims to achieve low construction costs and minimal energy consumption, while investing more in architectural thinking and precise execution, allowing for the optimal use of available resources.
Simplicity as a Conscious Design Choice
This framework necessitates the adoption of a solid and simple architectural language, focused on minimizing unnecessary elements. However, this does not imply a lack of spatial quality; carefully considered interventions are introduced to compensate for the small scale and to give the space a sense of expansiveness.
Spatial Interventions to Enhance the Sense of Place
One such intervention involves the kitchen ceiling curving upward along a slanted beam, creating a visual and spatial connection between the kitchen on the lower floor and the living area on the upper floor.
Interaction with Natural Light
From the mezzanine floor, residents can welcome those returning home, while the kitchen is filled with southern sunlight during the spring and autumn seasons. These rays penetrate to the rear of the plot through a large seating window on the façade, in addition to a small one-person-wide opening, enhancing the sense of warmth and spaciousness within the narrow spaces.
Structural Ceiling Design
The main block’s roof is equipped with two gabled façades, one at the front and another on the side. This configuration adds a balanced architectural character while providing effective structural support for the compact house.
Internal Balcony as a Means of Ventilation and Lighting
At the corner between the two façades, part of the block has been carved out to create an internal balcony. This space provides additional natural light and views from the upper office floor, while promoting a calculated interaction between the interior space and the external air.
Simplicity of Interior and Exterior Design
The house is characterized by simplicity both inside and out. Exposed wooden beams are visible in the kitchen, while some remaining concrete elements remain exposed on the other floors. Thick insulating stones, measuring 50 cm, form the massive outer walls, imparting a sense of solidity and stability.
Material Reuse and Traditional Spirit
The design reflects an appreciation for old objects and sustainable materials. Stones from demolished buttresses were repurposed for the building’s plinth, while corrugated metal sheets from surplus stock were used for the upper sections.
Doors from various sources, hand-painted tiles, and a pink sink were selected to create modest color accents within a strictly shaped architecture, preserving the authenticity of the materials and their traditional character.
Relationship with the Surrounding Garden
The garden existed before the house was built, and the house has now become part of it as well. The building, with its pitched roof, spontaneous windows, and red bricks, stands alongside a large green tree, forming a composition that appears simple and childlike in its harmony, as if it were an innocent drawing reflecting the interaction between architecture and nature.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
It is noticeable that the project preserves certain elements of sustainability and connection with the surrounding environment, such as the use of recycled materials and attention to the existing green space, offering a resource-limited model within a comprehensive architectural design context.
However, the project also presents several challenges that warrant attention from a broader architectural perspective. The house’s spaces are highly compact, and dealing with strict building constraints results in relatively limited spatial solutions, which may reduce the long-term flexibility of space usage. Moreover, the simple design interventions, although clever, remain limited in their impact on enhancing the daily user experience, particularly on the upper floors and in the interconnection between spaces.
Additionally, the project highlights the difficulty of balancing design ambitions with a low budget, making it challenging to generalize this experience to other projects. Nonetheless, the project can serve as a valuable case study for understanding how to navigate extreme constraints in urban spaces, reuse materials, and provide a minimum level of spatial quality within available resources, a lesson of significant value for engineers and architects interested in compact and sustainable projects.
✅ Official ArchUp Technical Review completed for this article.