2023-11-24 11:20:00
And this does not fail to influence the choices of individuals (making up the office’s clientele in the same way as professionals) who call on the Goffart Polomé team for construction or renovation. “The watchword is compactness,” continues the architect. “This is the starting point of our missions: how to give shape to a space that is as compact and efficient as possible, without losing the quality of use. Because, reducing costs means above all acting on architecture and programming.”
Intergenerational projects
In this regard, Brice Polomé notes the new place given to the community in the projects entrusted to his office. “We are increasingly involved in intergenerational projects, such as this large farm located in the north of the Charleroi region, in which a mother, her son and his own mother will live. Enough to prevent the latter from going into a retirement home and ensuring access to housing for the youngest.” Others, members of the same family or friends, buy land together and build several homes there. “These are forms of grouped housing.”
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In the same vein, project owners are once again considering their housing over many years and are taking care to ensure that it can evolve according to their needs. “It’s a bit contradictory with the high number of separations and, therefore, forced resales of the house,” argues Brice Polomé, “but, aware of the lifelong investment that they are making, our clients think about adapting their home to a loss of mobility in their old age.” On the ground floor, an office, a space for professionals, a large laundry room, a TV lounge or a garage are designed to eventually be transformed into a bedroom and its adjoining bathroom (water inlets, etc.). “It’s really the common denominator of all our projects.”
Hidden offices
For the rest, hitherto under-exploited areas are given a new destination. “This is the case for corridors. If they have a bay, they will be widened to accommodate an office or a small secretary fitted in a custom-made piece of furniture. This is a tip for saving space because that the desk can be stored away and hidden when not in use”, points out Brice Polomé.
Other spaces tend to disappear or blend together. “This is the case of the dining room whose status is evolving towards an in-between space. It has less and less its own dedicated room but extends the kitchen or is integrated into a common living space also including the living room”, observes the architect, who evokes the “sacrifice” of a room which was once considered in its own right.
But the most surprising thing is the aesthetic evolution linked to the techniques, which are more left visible. “Architecture is more and more readable. We could talk about ‘frugality’, but I prefer the term ‘honesty’, describes Brice Polomé. Where, until recently, we hid the techniques in false ceilings, we packaged the construction system and materials (blocks, wood, etc.) in plaster or ceiling, we masked the water downspouts, etc., now, it is very common for them to be visible. This is, of course, due to “an economic imperative, but also a new aesthetic.” A brick wall will be next to a concrete one, the wooden frame of a house will be visible, a beam or column will not be hidden. “What we considered less fortunate yesterday in architecture is accepted today.”
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