Immeuble de logements sociaux, Ferdinand Berckmansstraat 1-5 — Anvers

Apartment block built for the municipality of Borgerhout to plans drawn up at the end of 1931 by the municipal architect Franciscus Hermans, originally with 44 dwellings (34 today); the contractor was Jos Jennes, licensee of the Hennebique reinforced-concrete system. On the corner with Vinçottestraat, this five-storey walk-up block over a basement, arranged around an inner courtyard, combines red-brick corner piers with natural stone and cement rendering in a strongly vertical composition. Its Art Deco decoration includes fruit and flower motifs in the window breasts and relief coats of arms atop the entrance bays. It was renovated from 1988 to 1995 by the architect Johan Peirelinck, when the original joinery was lost.

Translated from the French original.