A former steam brewery in Gentbrugge has been converted into five homes and a joinery workshop. Inside the warehouse, Atelier Janda Vanderghote designed one of the homes for a young family with two children. It became an exercise in gradations – between new and old, but also between public and private.

Initially, architects Indra Janda and Menno Vanderghote proposed clearing the warehouse completely and removing the structure as well. But it soon became clear that this would be a shame, as it would cause the site’s rather unique industrial character to disappear. Ultimately, they removed only the old sawtooth roof, retaining the existing concrete structure. But not as a load-bearing element, merely for aesthetic purposes. Within the concrete skeleton, they inserted a new steel supporting structure. The old concrete columns and beams set the outline and determine its clean rhythm.