Côte belge
The Art Deco coast — De Panne to Knokke
On the Belgian coast, from De Panne to Knokke, the interwar years left a tram depot and a villa with streamline (paquebot) elements in De Panne, a spa institute combined with a grand hotel in Ostend, a hotel in De Haan, a pier and, on the seafront opposite it, the double apartment residence of the Palais du Comte Jean in Blankenberge, then, in Knokke, Florimond Vervalcke’s Villa De Valk and an apartment building on the seafront. A neoclassical façade and Art Deco interior at Ostend’s Thermae Palace, reinforced concrete for the Blankenberge pier, carved seahorses and shells at the Palais du Comte Jean (1929): the seaside repertoire remains varied.
8 stops · Duration full day · Distance 72 km · public transport
Dépôt de tram et quai de chargement — De Panne
Tram depot designed by an unknown Brussels architect after the electrification of the lines to Veurne and Adinkerke; the plans, approved on 7 November 1935, were carried out in 1936.
Villa Mon Refuge — De Panne
Villa Mon Refuge, after the inscription in iron lettering: a detached house in the Art Deco style with elements of the ocean-liner style, built in 1936 according to the building plan to a design by the architect P.
Thermae Palace Hotel
The Thermae Palace, formerly the "Palais des Thermes", combines a thermal institute and a grand hotel built on and behind Ostend's Royal Galleries; the project was decided in 1929.
Hôtel Astoria — De Haan
Art Deco hotel in De Haan, built to plans of 1929 after the demolition of the casino that stood on the site.
Belgium Pier de Blankenberge
Blankenberge's first pier, of cast iron, dates from 1894; it was set on fire by the German occupier in 1915.
Palais du Comte Jean — Blankenberge
Double apartment residence known as the "Palais du Comte Jean", after the inscription on the cornice, built in 1929 on the Blankenberge sea front opposite the Pier, in a rich Art D
Villa De Valk
The villa "De Valk" was built in 1932 in the Art Deco style by the Knokke architect Florimond Vervalcke as his own residence; he added a small volume to it in 1939.
Résidence Serenite — Knokke-Heist
"Serenite" block of flats, possibly a former hotel, built in 1928 to a design by the Bruges architect Lucien Coppé, who signed the building.
Translated from the French original.