Belgian photographer Thomas De Bruyne captures a meeting of the minds between two of the country’s pre-eminent architects: one who first designed the 1970s concrete pavilion, and the other who now calls it home.
Ghent-based architect Glenn Sestig recalls the moment when architect Ivan Van Mossevelde first visited his home in Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium. “He had tears in his eyes,” Sestig says, entrusted with restoring the concrete pavilion—one of Van Mossevelde’s earliest projects—alongside his partner Bernard Tournemenne, artist and creative director of Glenn Sestig Architects.
Sestig first came across the brutalist villa by accident as a young architect while walking through the forest. Asking the owner to explore the house from the outside, to which they declined, he took a few photographs of the nameplate and street, and promised himself he would write a letter if it were ever to be sold.
“I kept those pictures for years, but eventually I threw them away,” Sestig says, before a local journalist called him to let him know the home was quietly for sale. “I couldn’t believe it—20 years later someone was calling me about the house I had fallen in love with.”
Writing to the owners’ grandson with the intention of preserving and “bringing art back into the home” led Sestig to secure it in just under 48 hours—aided by the architect’s internationally recognised oeuvre, which includes collaborations with the likes of Belgian fashion designers Raf Simons and Ann Demeulemeester.
Sestig acknowledges it’s incredibly rare to find a house of this size—1,000 square metres on 4,600 square metres of land. The home’s size also wasn’t typical for the area in 1972, when the then- owners had to request permission from 40 neighbours for the flat-roofted, modern design. The brief was to create a living gallery for the art-collecting owners, who, upon seeing the first drawings, had only one concern: that the home would be too small for their collection. This prompted the request to double its size.
Glenn Sestig and partner Bernard Tournemenne spent two years restoring the pavilion, careful not to change the visual architecture. One structural change made was the addition of a floating staircase in the internal courtyard, which appears as though it has always been there, without altering the original concrete. A vintage concrete Sphere chair by an unknown designer is featured in the foreground.
Sestig’s renovations took place over two years, but the architect was steadfast on not altering any of the concrete openings or the visual architecture. “Inside, we stripped everything—plasterwork, flooring, ceilings, plumbing, electricity—and rebuilt with today’s technical standards while always following the original design,” he says.
One of the few structural changes was the addition of a floating staircase in the patio, which deliberately avoids touching the original concrete, so “it can be removed without leaving any marks”. Resonating with the intuitive plan, Sestig reconfigured the three bedrooms into a primary suite and two private office spaces, but “designed it to be flexible, so it could easily be reverted”.
The 50-year-old windows, made of dark glass to protect artwork from sunlight, were replaced, “opening up the house to nature, so the views feel like artworks themselves,” Sestig adds. Together, Sestig and Tournemenne designed the Japanese- influenced garden, raising the previously flat lawn and adding a small pool to cool off in summer. “It now has a floating quality, and by creating movement in the garden, we made the house feel even more connected to its surroundings.”
A Zaha Hadid Moraine sofa and works by Sol LeWitt, Thomas Houseago and Bosco Sodi.
A hallmark of its 70s era, the house was lined with carpet, which Sestig replaced with grey travertine to accentuate the architectural forms, combined with new carpet inlays. The new kitchen is more generous than its predecessor, and one that the architect designed for Belgian kitchen company Obumex.
The home features pieces Sestig and Tournemenne have collected over the 33 years they’ve been together, and some purchased specifically for the house, such as the Oscar Niemeyer La Marquesa bench, the Carlo Scarpa sofas, and, most recently, a bench by Belgian creative Sofie Middernacht. “The hardest part is knowing when to stop,” Sestig admits. “I don’t like homes that are overflowing with art; I think the architecture needs space to breathe.”
The architect is still surprised by how the home hides certain functional elements, such as the garage ramp. “Van Mossevelde designed a bridge one metre from the window, with a concrete wall and planting, so when you sit inside, you don’t see the ramp at all. It’s such a clever solution—even I might not have thought of that,” he laughs.
Living in the house has also inspired Sestig to use skylights more in his own work, appreciating that “the house continues to teach [him] things about architecture”, and the opportunity to not only learn from, but contribute to the legacy of another.
This feature originally appeared inside est magazine issue 58: ‘Creative Minds At Home‘.
The interiors previously featured carpet everywhere, Sestig says, even covering the stairs “like an old cinema”. The architect stripped the carpet out to refocus on the architectural forms, introducing carpet as inlays, combined with travertine to make the space “feel more structured”. Most of the furniture and objects Sestig and Tournemenne have collected over the 33 years they’ve been together, but the Cornaro sofas by Carlo Scarpa were among a few pieces purchased for the house. In the foreground, a work by Bernard T. Sestig, and behind the sofas, a piece by Hugo De Clercq.
The Oscar Niemeyer La Marquesa bench, pictured across the courtyard, was purchased specifically for the home. Replacing the darkened 50-year-old windows, the home now opens completely up to the outdoors. “The openings are so beautiful that we don’t need a lot of art in the house—the views are the art,” Sestig says.
Glenn Sestig’s kitchen concept for Obumex. “We enlarged the kitchen, combined smaller bathrooms into one large primary suite, and created a proper dressing room,” Sestig explains how he modified the home’s layout.
“We added our own touch, but for me, it’s very important to preserve as much as possible when working with significant architecture.”
– Glenn Sestig
While Sestig consolidated the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in the home, the layout can easily be reverted due to the flexible elements. Pictured: Artwork by Dirk Braeckman and stool by Sabine Marcelis.
Silver travertine is one of Sestig’s favourite materials. In the reworked bathroom, the architect introduced a skylight, inspired by others Van Mossevelde had used to draw light into specific spaces.
When guests visit the home, Sestig says they are often surprised by how warm the interiors are behind its concrete exterior. “We added our own touch, but for me, it’s very important to preserve as much as possible when working with significant architecture.”
Sestig and Tournemenne introduced a Japanese-inspired garden, but retained the 50-year-old rhododendrons and trees.
