Book a visit

Render of a living room seen through an arch edged in navy, with a round dining table beyond

Render of a kitchen in steel and cream, with a rounded island and a window over the rooftops

Render of an apartment, with arches edged in navy

Design renders

Forest · Brussels · 1936

Ninety years under the surface.
Coming back to life.

Apartments for sale · private visits by appointment

Book a private visit Request the plans

A 1936 paquebot building by Léon Van Stichelen, restored into fully designed and furnished apartments. Guillaume Van Haelen 1, on a corner in Forest.

Twin portholes, seen from inside

A building that was already there.

The paquebot

Six storeys of pale yellow brick on a corner where two avenues meet. Horizontal bands run the length of the façade. A row of portholes sits under the roofline. In 1936, Léon Van Stichelen drew it the way the ocean liners of the day were drawn: curved corners, rounded bays, round windows. Nearly ninety years later, the building is being brought back, with its original fabric kept and repaired.

The curved corner of the building, seen from above, with its row of portholes — The corner, seen from above

A porthole window with a dark glazed ring, set into cream tile — A porthole: cobalt ring on cream tile

The original marble fireplace seen through a plaster arch — The marble fireplace under the arch

What survives.

The restoration starts from what is already here. These are the details that stay.

Close-up of a porthole's cobalt-blue glazed ring — Twin portholes
Round windows with cobalt-blue glazed ceramic rings, set into cream tile.

Red-brown veined marble of the original fireplace — Marble fireplace
The original 1936 fireplace. Red-brown veined marble, stepped Art Deco profile.

A wide white plaster arch between two rooms — Plaster arches
Wide white arches between the reception rooms.

A curved bay window with wooden frames and a cast-iron radiator — Curved bays
Rounded corner bays with their original wooden frames and cast-iron radiators.

Terrazzo floor with a checked tile border — Terrazzo and tile
Terrazzo floors. Patterned cement-tile dados. Cream glazed tile in the common areas.

The original caged lift in the stairwell — The lift
The original caged lift, with its metal call plate.

Two circles.

Twin portholes seen from inside, in black and white

At street level, a corner faced in yellow glazed tile carries two large circles. Under the roofline, a row of smaller ones. From inside, two round windows frame the street. The portholes are the building's signature. They are ours too.

Black-and-white elevation of the building during the works — The elevation, during the works

Léon Van Stichelen, architect

1936.

Van Stichelen designed buildings in the paquebot style, after the ocean liners crossing the Atlantic in the 1930s. Van Haelen is one of his quieter buildings: six storeys, a curved corner, a row of portholes. It has stood on its corner in Forest for nearly ninety years.

Van Haelen. Forest, 1936.

The arches, between the reception rooms

Inside

Taken back to plaster and brick.

The apartments are being taken back to plaster and brick. What survives is kept and repaired: the arches, the marble, the bays, the tiled dados, the portholes seen from inside.

What comes next is made with the same care. Each apartment is delivered fully designed and furnished.

Design renders

What comes next.

The design is set from the start. Every apartment is delivered as drawn: arches edged in navy, herringbone floors, round handles that answer the portholes. Where the marble survives, it stays.

Render of a living room with the marble fireplace, arches edged in navy and a window over the treetops — Living room, with the marble fireplace

Render of the entrance hall: an arch edged in navy, a herringbone floor and a mirrored wardrobe with a round bordeaux handle — Entrance hall

Render of a bedroom with a rounded, navy-framed opening onto a green mosaic shower — Bedroom and shower

Render of a dining room with a round table, and the living room through an arch edged in navy — Dining room, arch to the living room

Render of a bedroom with a curved wardrobe and a wide window over the city — Bedroom

Render of a bedroom corner with a curved glass-block wall and rounded wardrobes — Bedroom, glass-block wall

The apartments.

Each apartment at Van Haelen is sold fully designed and furnished, restored with the 1936 fabric kept and repaired. From the upper floors: the rooftops of Forest and the dome of the Palais de Justice.

Plans, surfaces, finishes and availability are shared on request.

Ask for the plans

We send you the plans, the surfaces and what is still available.

Visit the building

A private visit on site, with the sales team, at a time that suits you.

Reserve your apartment

Choose your apartment and reserve it. We guide you through the rest.

Request the plans Book a private visit

Private visits.

Saturdays, by appointment, small groups. First dates in December.

Book a private visit

Forest · Brussels

Forest.

From the upper floors: the dome of the Palais de Justice

Forest, Vorst in Dutch, is a southern Brussels commune: residential, green, mixed, and quietly becoming one of the city's more interesting addresses.

The building sits on a corner among low brick houses and avenue trees, with a bakery across the street. From the upper floors: rooftops, the dome of the Palais de Justice and, on the other side, the green edge of Forest.

The building seen from the street, under the avenue trees — The street, under the avenue trees

Rooftops and the green edge of Forest — The green edge of Forest

Instagram

Follow the restoration.

Week by week on Instagram: site progress, history and heritage, the making of. And with Architectenwoning, a documentary series on the building and the people around it.

@vanhaelen.forest on Instagram