Westalu is a small family business in Westerlo (BE) specializing in the construction of aluminum curtain walls and windows. The secluded location along the banks of the Nete River is incredibly unique for an industrial site in Belgium. The small complex consisting of an office building and a production warehouse is situated between a residential cluster, a protected natural landscape, and a flood plain. The architecture attempts to grow and unfold into its natural surroundings, and in doing so, transitions from residential street to office building to natural landscape. The prefabricated steel structure allows the building to float above the flood plain, resulting in a subtle, yet confident, presence amongst its surroundings. Designed on the scale of a home, the office building is able to neatly integrate into the residential street. Being the last ‘house’ on the street, however, Office Nete fittingly disintegrates into nature. With a location like this, the building just wanted to look outward, so we designed accordingly.
Office – 250m²
Warehouse – 800m²
Site – 4.000m²