For a year and a half, the architect and his partner searched for the right water tower for the project
Those who are looking for a house are not likely to consider a water tower. However, this was not the case with Patrick Mets. He had always had a passion for converting old industrial buildings into homes, but this time he wanted to go one step further. He set his sights on a water tower and was determined to transform it into the house of his dreams.
Finding a water tower
“We wanted to do something more extreme than turning an industrial building into a house,” says the Belgian Patrick Mets, in a video on Kirsten Dirksen’s YouTube channel. “So, we thought: why not a water tower?” He had the idea, now all he had to do was find the right water tower, together with his partner Valerie. “We drove around for a year and a half to find the right water tower. It was quite a challenge to find it.”
The right tower
As a child, Patrick was already fascinated by buildings that had a purpose, such as water towers, other than merely offering people a roof over their heads. The architect decided in 2007 to make a dream come true: to turn an abandoned water tower into a house. For this he chose a water tower in the Belgian town of Steenokkerzeel.
Surroundings
The moment Valerie and Patrick first saw the water tower in Steenokkerzeel, they knew this would be the perfect choice. The tower was in a beautiful setting, but they first had to investigate whether the water tower was suitable to turn into a house. Fortunately, that was the case!
View how the inside of the water tower looks now, on the next page.
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