Holiday Home Congoberg

This holiday home replaces the former dilapidated dwelling in a protected cultural-historical landscape ‘Congoberg’ in Galmaarden. The historical layout of the plot is preserved, with the architecture maximally integrating itself into the landscape.

This narrow plot in the rolling hills of Galmaarden was still part of the public road in the eighteenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was split off. In the Hageland, this was common. In the Ancien Régime, roads were often much wider than today because they were used for grazing. When this type of corridor became less important, roads could be narrowed.
Historical maps show a building volume on the plot as early as the second half of the nineteenth century, but the present dwelling is younger, probably from the first half of the twentieth century and unremarkable. What is significant here is the historic zoning on the former public domain and the elongated building volume under a gable roof.
The demolition of the current house is not evident, but can be justified by its limited intrinsic heritage value and the fact that the typical elongated building volume under gable roof is being recreated.

Maximum consideration will be given to preserving the appearance of the existing dwelling through material choices and the preservation of building’s implantation and cornice height.
The low existing cornice height results in the holiday home being partially recessed to allow two full floor levels. The living quarters are located at -1/2 and the sleeping quarters at +1/2. The rhythm of the window openings reinforces the front door character so that the facade reads more like two dwellings. The formal language of the central gate and windows is historicised by means of wooden profiles and wooden lintels in favour of a certain farmhouse character.
The side facades are provided with a rather contemporary narrow window opening that extends over the full height of the facades, creating a view to the southern and northern garden area, as well as a physical access from the ground floor.