JW Architects restores a historic Belgian home to its former glory by creating harmony between past and present.
Located in Ixelles, Belgium, this home underwent careful restoration at the hands of Belgian architecture and interior design studio JW Architects.
Tasked with preserving the home’s old-world essence while embracing contemporary living, JW Architects founders Julie Wissocq and Aurélien Courtois approached the project with an overarching goal to create spaces to relax in “without thinking about the outside world”. Through a dialogue of organic curves, soft marble and white and oatmeal tones, Ixelles by JW Architects offers a soothing atmosphere from the moment you step through the front door.
Natural light plays a central part in the design of the home’s shared spaces, enhanced by the high ceilings, wide-paned windows and carefully cut archways. “We wanted to recapture the soul of the house,” designer Julie Wissocq says. “So, we highlighted the wonderful high ceilings, the beautiful doors and mouldings, and opened up the spaces to let the light in.”
The grand staircase acts as the home’s focal point and anchor. Structured around the first-floor rooms, it features a three-level skylight, curved balustrade, and muted beige carpeting that leads to the second and third floors. The first floor acts as the main thoroughfare, housing two living areas—one featuring the rounded reception area, the other sitting as a large open space with a modern fireplace and hidden TV—the shared dining and kitchen area, butler’s pantry and terrace, which leads directly off the kitchen and dining space.
“Every floor has its function,” Wissocq says. The second and third floors feature the home’s private spaces—the primary and kids’ bedrooms, respectively. Continuing the neutral tones within the home’s textiles and the natural oak parquet flooring, all three floors share an open and calming atmosphere. The second floor is largely dedicated to the primary living suite, offering quiet solitude from the first floor’s entertainment and daytime spaces.
In the primary suite, recognisable design pieces, such as the Pierre Jeanneret bench, are in dialogue with the traditional mouldings. Adjacent, the primary bathroom offsets the warm, neutral palette with the cooler tones of calacatta white marble, as seen in the kitchen.
The Living Divani Extrasoft sofa in the living area.
For JW Architects, every design choice was made through a deliberate awareness of the need to combine now and then, tradition and progression. These elements paint this project’s central ethos: marrying the past and present into one seamless space to “recapture the soul of the house”. Ixelles by JW Architects is a restoration project that reflects how a home can respect its history while propelling its longevity.
The staircase, which features a three-level skylight, anchors the home, with the first-floor rooms organised around its grand structure.
The Cassina 524 Tabouret Méribel and Berger stools in the en suite.
JW Architects’ intent was to preserve the home’s historic essence while adapting to the client’s contemporary needs.
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