Belgian Zero Energy House, Lokeren Property, Building, Belgium Architecture, Architect

Zero Energy House, Belgium : Lokeren Residence

Eco Friendly Belgian Residence design by BLAF Architecten

post updated 14 May 2024

Design: BLAF Architecten

Location: Lokeren, Belgium

Zero Energy House in Belgium

BLAF focuses on the generating capacity of architecture on a spatial, social and ecological level. Urbanism and preoccupation with private property have led to land being consumed to the point that Belgium is now one of the most dense and dispersed areas in Europe. BLAF have since long contributed to the general awareness of this “genetic” condition by experimenting with its most basic component: the single family house.

photo : Stijn Bollaert

26 Feb 2013

Zero Energy Residence in Belgium

This house is built in a typical Flemish sprawl-area, on the edge of an allotment, where the suburbs literally face the countryside. The allotment creates a condition that is both generic and specific, context and non-text. The house deals with this condition in an apparently indifferent way, whilst in fact it is questioning the allotment: it is reformulating the concept of the front, side and back facade by addressing the surroundings in equivalent ways, and it is consciously leaving any kind of fencing behind.

Passive houses have unusually thick outside walls. Organizing staircases, furniture, storage, technical rooms etc. against these walls articulates their thickness even more. The house becomes a monolith, with a thick functional shell and an intimate, encapsulated center. Every window creates a niche, an abscissa, orchestrating the relations between the heart of the house and the exterior. From a “passive house” point of view, the shell perforations are balanced between the maximization of solar heat gains and the reduction of heat losses

photos : Stijn Bollaert

Belgian Zero Energy Residence – Building Information

Site: 990m²
Building: 114m² footprint, 297m² total surface

close to schools, work and public transport
Compactness: C1, 63m
Solid construction materials for heat accumulation, FSC-labeled hardwood facades
Insulation level: K14
Air tightness: n50=0, 14/h
South-oriented glass facades for solar gains
Mobile sun screens Soil/water heat exchanger and ventilation unit with air/water heat pump
Zero emission: C02 neutral Heating energy consumption 11 kWh/m²a, covered by solar panels PHPP certified Passive House and Zero Energy House

Zero Energy Residence Belgium images / information from BLAF Architecten

Location: Lokeren, Belgium, western Europe