House rue Bonne Fortune
- Date 1999-2001
- Address Rue Bonne Fortune, 13 – 4000 Liège
Whilst finalising work on the Esther House, Vandenhove is focusing his efforts on a prestigious project: the conversion of the Hôtel de Woot de Tinlot, built in the 18thth century and situated on Rue Bonne-Fortune. Situated in the shadow of the cathedral, the building has served many different purposes and underwent a major refurbishment in the late 1980s, led by the architectural firm Audex. Consequently, when Vandenhove was commissioned to take over the project, he decided to start with a clean slate. After removing the most recent alterations, the architect set about converting what had been a vocational school into an elegant private residence. In the wing facing Rue Bonne-Fortune, Vandenhove retained the entrance porch, which serves as a partition between the caretaker’s accommodation and the spaces reserved for the client. On the ground floor, the partition walls were gradually removed to create a series of reception areas arranged in an L-shaped layout. On the other side of the garden, which features a terrace and a pond, a glass orangery on a stainless-steel frame with wooden joinery is reminiscent, on a smaller scale, of the gallery at the Palace of Justice in ’s-Hertogenbosch. The upper floors, accessed via a spiral staircase, feature a similar layout but are dedicated to private areas as well as a large gym reserved for the client, who is a keen sports enthusiast.
The Bonne Fortune project stands out in several respects within Vandenhove’s body of work. The richness of the materials and the quality of their execution far exceed anything the architect had previously achieved in a private residence. Vinalmont stone, Carrara marble and solid oak interact in perfect harmony, whilst not without a touch of flamboyance. The collaboration with artists also reaches new heights here, with nearly a dozen visual artists contributing to both the interior spaces and the courtyard. Notable among them are Daniel Buren, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, …
Guest artists: Charlotte Beaudry, Daniel Buren, Patrick Corillon, Sol LeWitt, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Sophie Ristelhueber.
- Volumetry 12 archive boxes (1.50 m)
- Bibliography
BEKAERT, Geert, Bonne Fortune, Paris, Éditions du Regard, 2002.
VERSCHAFFEL, Bart, Charles Vandenhove, architecture / architectuur 1954–2014, Tielt, Lannoo Publishers, 2014, pp. 42–43 and 208–215.
- AUTHOR AND DATE OF THE ENTRY Sébastien Charlier, 2022
