Office Space & Temporary Housing Inside Former Textile Factory.

This former textile factory from 1880s is occupied by a young Belgian architect Julie D’Aubioul and her boyfriend. The 800m² building floor plate is split in two parts – a vacant space which will eventually become a permanent house, and a workshop that contains an office for D’Aubioul, alongside the couple’s temporary home. Purchased in 2010, the building was in such a bad state that the previous owner considered it to have no value. So much so that he didn’t even want to show the inside the old factory to the potential buyers, assuming the building would have been demolished.

Given the bad state of the existing saw tooth roof and rotting exterior walls, the couple resorted to building three free-standing modules within the building – two for their temporary home and one for the office. In doing so, the existing exterior became ‘garden walls’ and the newly created spaces provide the comfort and the conveniences of modern buildings.

D’Aubioul and her boyfriend built the temporary mobile units themselves over two weekends. (Yes, they are on wheels. Madness.) The size of these modules was based on standard sheet sizes of OSB boards to avoid cutting and wastage.

“We made the walls flat on the ground and then erected them and fastened them to the wooden floor on wheels. It was like making a house of playing cards. The total size of the units is also determined by the distance of the cast iron pillars in the workshop. It fits perfectly in between them so we can relocate the units any time we want,” says D’Aubioul.

Whilst the style of this project may not be my cup of tea, I am in absolute awe of this couple’s vision. I mean, I have a rather serious and a well documented love of old buildings, industrial and otherwise, although I’m not so sure I’d have the guts to occupy a space with rising damp and rotting walls. I do love the way these spaces are so fluid and dynamic.

Also (architecture wank-word alert), this project gives the concept of “bringing the outside in” a whole new meaning. It’s the new “bringing the inside in”. So radical. Quick, someone better tell design universities and colleges the new wank-word phrase has just been coined. Yep, you heard it here first. No go high-five someone and tell them you’re awesome.

See more projects on Yellowtrace with OSB joinery/ interiors.