Martelaar House by Machteld D’Hollander: Transforming an Urban Industrial Lot into a Garden Oasis

The Martelaar House, designed by the Belgian architect Machteld D’Hollander, is a striking example of how thoughtful architecture can reclaim and transform neglected urban spaces. Located in the heart of Ghent, Belgium, this project converts an enclosed area filled with crumbling industrial remnants into a lush urban sanctuary, balancing architecture, landscape, and light.

From Industrial Derelict to Urban Sanctuary

The site was once dense with industrial structures—derelict buildings that blocked views, light, and movement. Instead of completely erasing the past, D’Hollander approached the site with a philosophy of selective subtraction and thoughtful addition. Some walls were deliberately left standing, not as barriers, but as framing devices that create visual connections and layered perspectives between spaces.

By tearing down much of the existing clutter and introducing plants, trees, and greenery, the architect generated a new kind of urban fabric: a garden house. The design is conceived as a playful sequence of house-garden-house-garden, where each built volume and planted area is in dialogue. The result is what D’Hollander calls a “gardenhouse”—a hybrid living environment where architecture and landscape merge seamlessly.

Spatial Composition: Garden Rooms and Pavilions

The intervention is composed of two semi-transparent garden pavilions that frame a series of outdoor “rooms.” These garden rooms each possess a unique atmosphere, defined by how the walls, vegetation, and pavilions interact. While the walls suggest enclosure, they are anything but confining. Instead, they invite movement and exploration, offering open views, hidden views, and a sense of playful discovery.

This spatial strategy emphasizes hide and seek, light and shadow, openness and privacy. The house is designed not only as a private residence but also as a space linked to a professional practice. The separation between these zones is both physical and perceptual, managed through the clever use of walls, materials, and sightlines.

A House for Living and Playing

The Martelaar House celebrates multiple experiences of space, allowing for different uses by different people at different times. The architecture fosters interaction, encouraging residents to engage with their surroundings in active ways: moving through garden pathways, peeking through openings, or pausing in shaded corners.

Inside, the interiors are light-filled and minimal, carefully oriented to frame views of the surrounding gardens. Large windows and transparent boundaries dissolve the line between indoors and outdoors, extending the living experience into nature.

Materials and Atmosphere

The materials palette is deliberately understated, allowing the textures of nature—the rustling of leaves, the play of light, the softness of planted surfaces—to take center stage. Industrial materials from the site’s past, such as brick and steel, are repurposed or referenced subtly, ensuring a respectful dialogue between old and new.

Architectural Impact and Urban Renewal

More than just a private residence, the Martelaar House is a model of urban renewal, demonstrating how small interventions can bring new life to forgotten urban pockets. It challenges conventional notions of residential space by showing how architecture can be open, fluid, and integrated with the landscape, even within a dense urban setting.

This project by Machteld D’Hollander is a testament to adaptive reuse, landscape integration, and playful spatial design—offering a contemporary interpretation of what a home can be when boundaries are reimagined.

All Photographs are works of Stijn Bollaert