North Sea Apartment
Knokke Belgium
July 2009
Knokke lies on the easterly extremity of the Belgian coast, close to the Netherlands border. It is a place of shifting horizons and sweeping vistas, its quiet drama heightened by the extraordinary quality of the light, the blues, greys and ochres of a prospect of vast skies, sea and rolling dunes giving way to the lusher greens of a nature reserve beyond the shore.
The apartment wraps the western end at first floor level of one of two new apartment buildings designed by Marc Corbiau. The apartment incorporates north, south and west aspects, ensuring good natural light throughout the day and a range of views across sea, town and landscape.
A key challenge for the interior architecture was to harmonise the potential for a rare quality of expansiveness with the functional needs of the programme. Generous private quarters incorporate bedroom, dressing, shower and terrace. The remainder of the floor plan is left spatially fluid, preserving internal vistas of 20 metres whilst accommodating the functions of kitchen, dining, living and library, with a choice of places to sit, work or relax, inside and out.