hé! reworks typical flemish farmhouse into compact, earth-warmed home in belgium

Hé! breathes new life into Flemish fermette in belgium

In Pajottenland, Belgium, architecture studio Hé! Architectuur completes Omloop Farmhouse, the sustainable transformation of a 1990s turnkey ‘fermette’ for Marc and Ann, a couple working in the social sector who wanted to reconnect their aging home with the surrounding landscape and prepare it for lifelong living.

The project began as a request from the owners and soon led to a broader question about the future of the typical ‘off-the-shelf’ Flemish fermette. Ubiquitous across the Belgian countryside, these homes are often perceived as outdated and architecturally irrelevant. Hé! embraces the typology’s flaws and approaches the house as a prototype for densification and reorientation, leading to a compact, energy-conscious home centered around a thick rammed-earth wall and a communal earthen stove.

all images by Tim Van de Velde

earth wall regulates temperature inside Omloop Farmhouse

Originally built as a turnkey farmhouse-style home, the building was purchased in the 1990s by Marc and Ann, who raised their daughters there. Three decades later, the emotional value of the site remains strong, and the pair hoped to age in place. Their renovation brief was to open up the house, reconnect with the landscape, and do so sustainably. The Omloop Farmhouse project became a collective process between the architects, the family, and their friends who joined in throughout construction.

The renovation began with a critical analysis of the building’s original layout and its disconnection from the hilly site. To reverse this, Brussels-based firm Hé! Architectuur proposed a spatial inversion, removing the daughters’ former bedrooms to create a new winter garden bordered by the thermal earth wall that retains solar warmth in winter while helping cool the space during hot days.

Hé! Architectuur completes Omloop Farmhouse in Belgium

a new life for an old typology

The former hallway and office of the residence now form an expanded living room that looks onto the winter garden. A previously oversized entrance hall becomes an intimate seating area organized around the central earthen stove, which replaces the outdated oil boiler and now heats the entire house, while the garage is repurposed as the new entrance. White interior walls are coated with warm red clay plaster, echoing the tones of the earth wall. On the ground floor, a new bedroom and compact bathroom ensure single-level accessibility, allowing the house to support lifelong living.

While the transformation is grounded in personal needs, Omloop Farmhouse offers a way to address one of Flanders’ most widespread and undervalued housing typologies without erasure or nostalgia. 

the studio transforms a 1990s turnkey ‘fermette’ for a couple working in the social sector

the owners wanted to reconnect their aging home with the surrounding landscape

questioning the future of the typical ‘off-the-shelf’ Flemish fermette

these houses are ubiquitous across the Belgian countryside

the architects approach the house as a prototype for densification and reorientation

a compact, energy-conscious home centered around a thick rammed-earth wall

originally built as a turnkey farmhouse-style home

the renovation began with a critical analysis of the building’s original layout

the approach offers a way to address one of Flanders’ most widespread and undervalued housing typologies

project info:

name: Omloop Farmhouse

architect: Hé! Architectuur | @he_architectuur

location: Pajottenland, Belgium 

photographer: Tim Van de Velde | @tvdvphotography

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