The ground drops away quietly here. A new volume sits partly embedded in the slope so the garden is disturbed as little as possible, while the view toward the pond stays open. On top, the garden continues across the roof instead of stopping at the edge. From a distance, the planted roof with ornamental grasses reads as another layer of landscape rather than a separate surface, and the long glass facade keeps that relationship visible from inside.

The extension gathers a workshop, an office, and a swimming pool into one low profile. Service access is pushed to the back, out of sight, so the route at the front remains tied to the land and the water beyond it. A flat slab covers the new functions and hides their thickness, while the roof overhangs taper at the edge. That angled underside gives the horizontal line a finer finish, especially where the concrete meets the garden.

Built into the slope, open toward the pond

Seen from the outside, the project relies on restraint rather than display. The embedded volume keeps most of its mass down in the terrain, leaving the roof as the visible continuation of the garden. The pond sits in front and catches the reflections of the glass, so the house never feels sealed off from its setting. The line of the long glass facade stretches across the front and takes in both the lawn and the water in a single view.

That decision changes the way the site is read. Instead of adding a detached object to the plot, the new construction slips into the higher part of the land and lets the existing garden work over it. The planted roof with ornamental grasses softens the roofline, but it also makes the top of the volume legible as usable ground. The result is less a standalone building than a cut into the landscape, with the pond view held in place across that low profile.

A planted roof that keeps the garden moving

The roof is not treated as a dead surface. Grass and planting run across it, so the garden seems to spill over the top and continue beyond the normal boundary of a house. This planted roof with ornamental grasses is what gives the project its strongest visual shift: the upper plane is green, textured, and slightly loose at the edges, while the slab below stays measured and dense. The contrast between planting and concrete is easy to read, even from a distance.

Angled overhangs sharpen that composition. Their underside is not left heavy or blunt; the sloping edge narrows the apparent thickness and makes the roof line read lighter than the material suggests. That detail matters because the building sits low in the terrain. A roof this broad could easily dominate the site, but the refined edge keeps the volume calm and lets the planted roof remain the more active part of the composition. It is this simple move that ties the garden to the architecture without breaking either one apart.

Service access kept out of sight

At the back, the practical route is pushed away from the main view. Access services are rejected there, so the front stays focused on the pond and the open garden. The building does not announce circulation or utility from the primary approach. Instead, the back edge absorbs those functions and leaves the front as a long, quiet face toward the water and planting. That choice keeps the visible composition clear: low roof, green top, glass below.

Concrete inside, wood underfoot

Inside, the material shift is direct. Concrete walls and ceiling define the rooms, and the floor is finished in wood. The contrast is not decorative; it is what sets the tone of the interior. Concrete carries the structure visually across the ceiling and vertical planes, while the wood floor covering adds a lighter band at foot level. The pairing works because neither material is trying to dominate. One holds the room, the other gives it a warmer grain and a clearer sense of surface.

The interior also reflects the same low, horizontal order seen outside. Large openings bring in the garden and the pond view, so the rooms do not feel cut away from the site. Light lands on the concrete and slides across the wood floor, which makes the textures easy to read. In one moment the eye meets a rougher wall; in the next it moves toward a glazed edge and then back out to planting. The architecture keeps that sequence simple.

In the transition zones, the concrete ceiling, wood flooring, and broad glazing frame the route through the house without extra gesture. A veranda-like passage appears in the image set, where the roof projects beyond the enclosure and the floor continues as a clear strip beneath it. The effect is practical, but also spatially precise: the body moves under concrete, past glass, and back toward the open ground. The same language appears in the kitchen and work areas, where built-in wooden fronts sit against the concrete shell.

Pool and glass set into the same landscape

The swimming pool sits in a concrete basin, which gives it a hard-edged frame against the surrounding planting. It is not treated as a separate ornamental element. Instead, it stays close to the architecture and repeats the same right angles and plain surfaces. Nearby glazing opens the interior toward the garden, so the pool, the grass, and the long glass facade are read together. The water reflects light back into the room and continues the line of the pond in a more controlled form.

That relationship matters because the project depends on measured transitions rather than contrast for its own sake. The pond view from the house, the concrete basin around the pool, and the planted roof above all belong to the same site logic. One layer is set into the land, another is carried over it, and another stays visible through glass. The materials are few: concrete, wood, and glazing. Their arrangement is what gives the house its clarity, from the embedded lower volume to the garden that keeps moving across the roof.

Photographs by Jan Verlinden.