Renovation works glass roofs art nouveau ‘Hôtel Solvay’ finished, Brussels (BE)

The Art Nouveau house ‘Hôtel Solvay’ along Avenue Louise was hidden under construction works for a while. Now, you can admire the façade again. After dismantling, renovating, and reassembling the façade, the same operations were carried out on the roof structure and glass canopies. The roof structure is a ‘Polonceau’ truss, named after Camille Polonceau, who combined two opposing beams to form a two-slope roof using a central tie beam. An on-site survey revealed differences between the original plans and the existing situation. After verification, all the primary elements were able to be retained. The secondary elements, which were not original, were replaced to respect the glass grid originally designed by Victor Horta. This also made it possible to integrate an automatic window opening and closing system to improve the building’s thermal comfort. The roof and all the secondary elements were dismantled. The ‘Polonceau’ trusses were then blasted on site before being repainted. The new secondary elements were then reassembled and the opening and closing mechanism adjusted. For this project, Ney & Partners are associated with Barbara van der Wee architects, Daidalos Peutz (HVAC) and Luc Reuse (ironworks). Photo: Ney & Partners