For the construction of a house with practice, Dr. Helsen was given access to the large garden at his father’s house in the center of Rijkevorsel. The plot borders a small back street to the west and is filled with beautiful trees. Jansen and Schiltz preserved almost all of them and placed a spacious residence between them with all functions on the ground floor.
The plan has a U-shape with units comprising the doctor’s practice in the west, the living area in the south, and the bedrooms in the east. The patios near the practice and the parents’ bedroom were implemented, but the planned patios within the U-shape and at the children’s bedrooms were not executed. In the living area, a long cabinet wall separates the kitchen and breakfast nook, which are situated to the north, from the dining and sitting area, which are located to the south. Large windows are positioned opposite this wall. The kitchen area acquires an enclosed character due to the surrounding practice and bedroom blocks. An old beech tree stands on the adjoining terrace. The sitting area opens to the garden through three glass walls and an overhanging canopy on three sides. The terrace extends from it to the east. The strong unity between interior and exterior is achieved not only through the canopies and floor-to-ceiling windows but also through the consistent finishing of all walls: white-painted bricks. Inside, these walls alternate with the surfaces of the cabinet walls and doors, which also extend to the ceiling.
‘Architecture in the Golden Sixties – The Turnhout School, Lannoo Campus, 2012’.
