At first glance it looks like a small garden house of an intense red color placed on a balcony in the middle of the city. It is actually an 11sqm mini-penthouse that expands the spaces of a house. One thing is certain, architecture does not go unnoticed and is the extraordinary result of an ordinary project.
The 11sqm mini-attic was designed by the local Dierendonckblancke studio and is located on a small terrace in Ghent, Belgium. The architectural studio was asked to increase the space of the building and this mini-attic was also included in the extension.
The attic house, the Hofstraat House, is a neo-Rococo building within which there is a single 100 square meter apartment. The owner couple wanted to increase the space, so they asked Dierendonckblancke Architects to design another 60 square meters. Therefore, starting from a simple request, the studio came up with the idea of creating a small but cozy attic, complete with a surrounding terrace.
The result is spectacular: on the outside it is a geometric, elementary pavilion, small in size but which can aspire to be a “mini attic”.
The interior and exterior cladding were made with CLT (Cross-laminated timber) panels, left natural for the internal walls and painted red on the outside. The designer studio has specifically chosen red to cover the mini-attic, in such a way as to make it stand out in the neutrality of the houses in Gent. From the street it is not so immediate to spot a red box on a balcony of the city, but if you look at Gent from above, or in any case from a terrace, the mini attic of the Hofstraat House is one of the first things you see.
The 11 square meters are occupied by a relaxation area, used as a reading area for the university professor who lives in the building. The initial idea was in fact to find a space for the many books of man, it was then transformed into a larger project by creating a space that, if necessary, becomes a guest room. In the end, the extension was 60 square meters, so, in addition to the just over 10 square meters that stand out from the building as a mini attic, on the lower floors there are a bedroom and a bathroom.
ALESSANDRO VIDALI
(Original article by Beatrice Barazzetti)
