Community
Building the neighbourhood, not just in it
Building a home is also about making a city. At Funkey, we prefer to do that together with the neighbourhood, with local partners who, like us, are convinced that a home is more than a product. Peace, Love and Serendipity are not coincidentally in the heart of Ghent: they were built to truly belong there.
Craftsmanship with local partners
For the interior joinery, we worked together with vzw Labeur from Ghent, a social economy enterprise. This means that the bespoke work in our homes was made by people who, through such work, build their craft and their place in the labour market. This way, the value of the construction project flows back to the city and its people, not to an anonymous chain somewhere far away.
We made the same choice by building with bio-based, locally produced materials and by working with craftsmen from the region. Short supply chains, recognisable faces, and work that stays in the area.
Careful urban integration
Where Peace, Love and Serendipity now stand, there used to be buildings that had seen better days. Instead of further sprawling the city, we chose infill: three full-fledged family homes that fit the scale and rhythm of the street. This way, we keep families and households alike in the city, close to schools, work and daily life, instead of pushing them to the outskirts.
The coloured plinths and wooden doors (green, red, blue) deliberately give the façade a friendly, human face. A small gesture, but one that makes the street a little warmer for everyone who passes by.
Living that gives back
For us, a home is never finished if it only looks good on the inside. It must also give something back to the environment: to the neighbours, to the craftsmen who built it, to the city as a whole. That is the social side of Funkey, and the reason why we choose local partners and careful integration for every project.