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The Quiet Charm of a Glass and Concrete Cube

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OYO have created a house that has the somnolent charm of a Vermeer painting in the old Belgian town of Wijgmaal.

Quaint and unsophisticated curtains echo the clouds in this bluest of Belgian skies.

By contrast with the floor to ceiling glazing facing the back garden, bedroom windows to the street are few and small.

The house is essentially a cube: a glass box with a concrete top half.

The simple space has a very clear and organized layout.

The space is furnished in quietly retro fifties modernism, but set within a more contemporary cubic volume.

Touches like a humble and quiet rug bring warmth and humanity to the uncompromising polished concrete floor.

Some books are housed right in the window, suggestive of friends in the neighbourhood.

A concrete floor is fully exposed to the sun through the floor to ceiling glazing for gentle all-day warmth.

The glass used has reflective qualities that mirror its surroundings.

The garden is left to nature, uncontrived in any way.

The result is a self-effacing house that blends unobtrusively in the traditions of the small town.