Projects We Love
The Brussels Townhouse
Restored at the front, opened to the garden at the back
The Project
Townhouse DT sits in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a leafy residential district of Brussels. When JUMA architects took it on, the house had already been stripped back inside and an earlier scheme had been set aside. The client wanted the character of the original townhouse back, so JUMA, the Ghent studio of Julie van De Keere and Mathieu Luyens, rebuilt it from the street inward between 2018 and 2020.
At the front, the classic façade was restored and new mouldings were drawn to match the period. The entrance-hall staircase was extended so it reads as one original flight rising through the house. Behind, the story changes. The rear elevation was rebuilt as a calm, modern face, with windows close to four metres tall pouring light into the kitchen and living room. Below ground, a spa runs the length of the house: a 15.5-metre pool lit by four skylights, with a sauna, massage room and gym.
Inside, the palette stays quiet: pale timber floors, classic white doors and an Arclinea kitchen in satin grey, brushed steel and bronze. The hardware follows the same two-sided idea. Formani's ONE by Piet Boon handles in satin black give the joinery a crisp, graphic line, while NOUR levers by Edward van Vliet bring a softer, sculpted shape to the doors. Old and new are never blended; each is allowed to be fully itself.
The Hardware
ONE by Piet Boon, in satin black
Formani’s ONE collection on the joinery and NOUR levers by Edward van Vliet on the doors. Black against pale oak, carried through the bedrooms, dressing room, bathrooms and kitchen.
- BrandFormani
- CabinetONE by Piet Boon T-knob on rose, PBT15V (thin, 15 mm)
- DoorNOUR levers by Edward van Vliet
- FinishSatin Black · Polished Stainless Steel
Why it works
Black hardware on pale oak joinery is the most graphic choice you can make, and in a house this restrained it works like a drawn line. The ONE handles and T-knobs mark every cabinet edge without adding ornament, so the period front and the modern back share one language: clean, deliberate, and finished at the hand.
Project photos
