This Beguiling Guesthouse in Belgium Has an Underground Cinema and a Watchtower

Crafted with layered wood and clad in Cor-Ten steel, a film lover’s backyard retreat offers a series of surprises.

When a homeowner in the film industry asked Atelier Vens Vanbelle to build a guesthouse in his backyard, he had only one request—that it be unforgettable. 

Connected to the main residence in Berlare, Belgium, by an underground corridor that leads guests up a spiral staircase, Alex Guesthouse is a three-story retreat encompassing a basement cinema and bar, a main living floor, and a watchtower surveying the Schelde river. Its sculptural, layered form was created off-site with laminated wood, then built on the property and clad in Cor-Ten steel. The undulating interiors give this backyard cabin a whimsical, grotto-like feel.

Photo: Tim Van de Velde

Photo: Tim Van de Velde

Photo: Tim Van de Velde

See the full story on Dwell.com: This Beguiling Guesthouse in Belgium Has an Underground Cinema and a Watchtower

Similar Posts

  • Chilmark House

    Martha’s Vineyard is home to the single largest concentration of our residential work and some of our earliest projects, including the Polly Hill Arboretum. Chilmark House, like many of these commissions, is immersed in the landscape and continually reconnects its inhabitants with the surrounding woods, pools of sunlight and nearby Vineyard Sound. Entire walls and windows are designed to vanish and erase boundaries between indoors and outdoors. We were guided in the earliest phase of the project by the couple’s wish for distinct public and private spaces and the site’s topography. The central public space—the living and dining areas–plus a sitting room in the guest wing, are oriented toward a kind of natural sun-filled well on the house’s south side. Interior load-bearing elliptical columns allow sliding doors and windows to make large openings to the south in the exterior walls. Opposite, on the north side, sliding windows create large gaps in the exterior, connecting the living room and kitchen directly to the woods and waters of the sound. Bedrooms are on the wooded edges, on the east and west sides. A roof deck, terrace and side decks create outdoor living spaces. Shortly after completion of this project, the couple asked us to begin designing a guesthouse nearby as their family continued to grow.

  • The Society Hotel Bingen

    Nestled within the jaw-dropping Columbia River Gorge, The Society Hotel Bingen offers a refined off-the-beaten-trail experience for travelers and getaway-seekers alike. There are surprises around every corner in this converted schoolhouse, beautiful communal spaces for sharing moments with friends and fellow travelers, and blissful relaxation waiting for you in our spa and underground sanctuary.

  • Concrete, Timber and Metal Home Down Under Wows with Inventive Design

    Often it is the landscape that shapes the contours of the house and gives it a unique appeal by forcing it to adapt to both the local weather and the special spatial requirements. The Escarpment House designed by Takt Studio in Thirroul, Australia is another of these brilliant houses that overlooks a lovely stretch of […]

    You’re reading Concrete, Timber and Metal Home Down Under Wows with Inventive Design, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.