Eksterhuis

The Eksterhuis, located near the Boekenberg Park in Deurne, is a town house that had been transformed over the years into a dark bel-étage home, where contact with the garden had been lost. Gestalt restored the spatial organization and homeliness of the house by bringing in light, sight and a renewed contact with the garden.

The home’s original footprint was retained. Each intervention was carefully considered and worked out to the finest detail, both in architecture and custom interior design.

Upon entering, the authentic entrance hall offers a new inviting line of sight to the green garden. The dining room and kitchen moved to the ground floor, where they connect to a spacious terrace in flag stone finish. A double height above the dining table creates a physical connection to the living room on the second floor. An excess of dark storage space was thus transformed into an efficient home with a balanced and functional layout.

The new rear facade, inspired by the formal language of Marie-José Van Hee, was realized in decorative plaster, with fine aluminum joinery in two colors and a painted wooden plinth. Gestalt’s particular attention to detailing made it possible to integrate the windows in a refined way strongly set back, or just into the façade plane without allowing weathering.

The custom interior was designed with the same refined detailing as the architecture. The whole exudes a timeless and generous design. A tall cabinetry with cooking niche emphasizes a vertical line through the subtle cabinet handle detailing, while the low kitchen cabinetry follows a horizontal line. The terrazzo countertop connects sharply to a continuous window bay that folds sightly around the countertop, creating a strong connection to the outdoors. The visible structural columns are designed in a cross shape to appear as slender as possible.

Walls and ceilings are painted in a warm, ultra-matte gray-white, bringing tranquility and unity to the interior. Lighting consists mainly of a combination of indirect wall and pendant fixtures, providing subtle and atmospheric light.