Urban garden

Garden houses and an office by Collectief Noord, Antwerp

In the city centre of Antwerp, architecture firm Collectief Noord designed three garden houses and an office on the site of a former printing company. They purchased the land from the city, developed the entire project, and then sold the three houses separately. They reserved one of the buildings as their office, but it could be easily converted into a residence with a studio space.

Situated in the heart of a building block, this project was constructed around a shared central garden. The residents can access the area via an underpass that runs under one of the houses or via a gated alley. The rear of the buildings is windowless as they were erected against the southern barrier wall. On the northern side, residents can enjoy views of the shared landscape. Given that the ground-floor rooms are 70 cm lower than the garden, residents can only exit their homes via the front door and cannot make private use of the garden. All of the living areas are located on the first floor and each house and office has its own private roof terrace. Ten years after the project was completed, the residents now also share their cars, a freezer, a BBQ and tools.