The remark about installing a climbing wall in their living room was meant as a joke: “One of the friends my husband goes caving with came to help with the house renovation. When he saw the ceiling height he said: ‘You could have a climbing wall in there,’” explains Sigrid Princen. “Thomas and I said: ‘Yes. Let’s do it!’”
When the couple bought their home 16 years ago, they knew once they finished the renovation it wouldn’t remain a typical Flanders property. Built in the late 1920s, the house had a series of rooms that ran on from each other at the rear – common to Belgian properties constructed in that period. “We knocked those down and opened the space up with the timber extension,” says Sigrid. What’s peculiar to their home is that the extension has two floors with the mezzanine level housing a bedroom and a small library with a central area that is open and allows light to flow down.
This space is so bright they hardly need to turn on their Emery et Cie lamps during the day. “It was important to have a larger than average living area to spend time together, so we have invested in a bright, big common room and kept the bedrooms and bathroom small,” she says. Their guests have dubbed the new living area, which is part of the extension, the “ballroom” because of its size. “We’re really impressed by the light that we have in this space.”
Having just graduated when they bought the property, Sigrid and Thomas knew they’d be doing a lot of the work themselves. “Thomas built the extension himself, using a timber frame kit,” explains Sigrid. “He took a course so that he could fit the plumbing and electrics, too.” The couple worked together on adding personal touches to the walls and door openings. “We love to make things wavy and organic. My husband said: ‘Why should everything be straight if we can also make it curvy?’”
The house now has been updated using as many natural materials as possible to make it more breathable. Sigrid replaced all the plaster in the existing property herself, using clay. “When it came to the extension we did that in collaboration with The Leemniscaat,” a company Sigrid would later come to work for because she enjoyed the process so much.
The existing roof has been insulated using sustainable Pavatex wood fibre boards and the floors filled with paper pulp. The timber-frame rear extension roof was topped with straw bales sourced from a field a few kilometres away.
For the wall and floor surfaces, lime hemp was applied as a natural shield against rising damp. They installed 30cm of shells under the lime hemp and opted for central mechanical ventilation to keep fresh air circulating.
Solar thermal panels provide hot water and pair with a Piazzetta pellet stove that takes care of the heating. “Due to a technical problem with our underfloor heating, we spent an entire winter using only the pellet stove, yet we didn’t miss our underfloor warmth.”
The older part of the house now houses the WC and the kitchen on the ground floor, while upstairs there’s a bathroom featuring tiles from Huis van Haaz , a guest room and an attic bedroom for the children.
“We completed the Ikea kitchen during lockdown,” says Sigrid. “The old kitchen is now the laundry and storage area.”
The finished design is a result of the working relationship between the couple and their architect, Peter Vos of Architectengroep Barchi. “He’d make a joke and we’d be, like, ‘Let’s do that!’ We’d feed off each other,” says Sigrid.
In the end, the climbing wall was installed as a big birthday present for the children, and when their friends come over to play they go straight to the wall. “We also have a trapeze in the living room and a circus aerial silk, made from the material I used as a baby carrier when they were small,” Sigrid explains. “I always wanted to try aerial circus so I used it and started to do tricks, later enrolling for classes. Now my daughter is going to do it as well.
“We think that a bio-ecological renovation is not just for the lucky few, but can also help keep budgets under control,” she adds.
“I have a lot of plants on the first floor, when we sit at the dining table we have these plants above looking down on us.
“Maybe we’re restless people and try to discover everything. I used to play the piano and the accordion and my husband used to be a drummer. The musical instruments are all around the house, though we don’t play much any more… but having them there means that the children can slowly discover them from time to time.”
