After three major transformations, the Belgian residence has become an ongoing experiment in sustainable family living as it evolves with its owners.
A modernist stilt house in Zoersel has provided architect Arjaan De Feyter and his wife, Liesbet Verstraeten, with a home that grows alongside them. Originally built in 1969 and acquired in a state of near-total ruin in 2005, the Belgian home offered the pair an opportunity to rework the original framework and embrace long-term adaptability. Rather than moving as their family evolved, De Feyter and Verstraeten chose to remain and transform the house through multiple renovations, resulting in what De Feyter calls his “personal laboratory”.
Over time, these renovations have embraced the original steel structure, improving both structural integrity and energy performance. For De Feyter, this means the project’s sustainability is inseparable from the home’s architectural framework.
Organised on a strict grid of nine equal squares and two storeys high, the house unfolds as a completely open, modular plan that extends into the garden. This clarity reinforces a strong relationship with nature, creating, as De Feyter notes, “a strong sense of space.” Upstairs, extensive glazing keeps the garden in view and forms what he describes as “an almost seamless connection to the garden from every room,” making it “a very pleasant place to live, work and spend time.”
