Description

Located in Forest commune, this social-housing complex features two apartment buildings on either side of the Rue Rodenbach. On the odd-numbered side, two houses are arranged on either side of the blocks of flats. The street is characterised by the detached volumes of the stairwells, three on the odd-numbered side, five on the other side. These five-level-high volumes are aligned with the pavement and were originally topped with peaked roofs, which were destroyed in 1929. The buildings accommodating the dwellings themselves are set back 4 m and separated from the street by a small garden enclosed by an iron gate.

The stairwells lead to two apartments per floor on four levels. Each apartment has a loggia lined with wrought-iron railings facing the street. Back-to-back external toilets separate two successive loggias. They are located in semi-circular turrets with loopholes. The apartments have a kitchen and three similarly sized rooms organised around a square hall. The hall is angled 45 degrees. The basement accommodates individual cellars and a common laundry room opening onto a courtyard at garden level. The four-level-high façades are made of yellow bricks, enhanced by blue-limestone and redbrick elements. The whole building is covered with a red-tiled roof.

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Originally published in: Gérald Ledent, Alessandro Porotto, Brussels Housing. Atlas of Residential Building Types, Birkhäuser, 2023.