Felt completes house for life for retired couple in Belgium

Belgian architecture studio Felt has completed Heifort, an accessible home for a retired couple in Ghent that is topped by a large copper-clad roof.

The 130-square-metre home in Ghent's suburbs was designed for a couple with the goal of "ageing-in-place", which informed its accessible, level-access and single-storey design.

Housed within a barn-like volume, Heifort has tall, open living spaces divided by exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) walls.

"The starting point was the idea of a house for life, a home that is calm, readable, and generous, yet able to adapt as its inhabitants age," Felt told Dezeen.

"Living rooms and bedrooms are interwoven with more compact, supportive zones," the studio added. "This rhythm gives the house a natural logic that is easy to understand and comfortable to use, now and in the future."

"The project is about precision rather than excess. Every decision was tested against daily use, long-term comfort, and spatial calm," it continued.

Large portals without doors connect the home's kitchen, dining and living areas, with white-painted ceilings above revealing the full roof ridge.

Above, the timber partition walls have been punctured by circular openings that align with porthole-like windows in the home's gable ends, which pull natural light into the interiors in tandem with areas of glass brickwork.

The interior of Heifort's reveal the CLT structure, which Felt described as giving the home a "self-evident construction logic".

"The repeated CLT portal frames are the backbone of the project. Although nearly identical, they create a surprising longitudinal view through a series of rounded openings," said the studio.

"The transverse CLT walls remain visible in their natural spruce texture, while ceilings and exterior walls are finished in white. A polished concrete floor grounds the house, complemented by carefully chosen colours in the built-in joinery," Felt added.

While the street-facing facade of Heifort has been kept purposefully understated and blank, at the rear, large sliding glass doors open the living area out into the garden, where a small patio with seating leads onto a lawn and planters around a tree.

At the front of the home, an attic guest room for visitors and grandchildren has been tucked beneath the large roof, accessed via a powder blue-coloured spiral staircase that winds around an internal lamppost.

Above, the roof of Heifort has been clad in untreated copper panels that will naturally weather over time, which were also used to clad large dormers that bring evening and morning light into the living space.

Based in Ghent, Felt was founded in 2014 by Jasper Stevens and Karel Verstraeten.

The studio recently completed another residential project in Ghent, updating a midcentury bungalow with an entrance "tower" clad in blue ceramic tiles and rust-coloured window frames.

The photography is by Stijn Bollaert.

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