Sterner's Studio

House and Workshop of master glassmaker Sterner
House and Workshop of master glassmaker Sterner
Maison et Atelier du maître-verrier Sterner (French); Atelier en Woning van meester glasmaker Sterner (Dutch);
	Former house and workshop of Clas Grüner Sterner
General information
Type	Town house and workshop
Architectural style	Art Nouveau
Address	Rue du Lac / Meerstraat 6
Town or city	1050 Ixelles, Brussels-Capital Region
Country	Belgium
Construction started	1893
Completed	1902
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Ernest Delune [fr]

The House and Workshop of master glassmaker Sterner (French: Maison et Atelier du maître-verrier Sterner; Dutch: Atelier en Woning van meester glasmaker Sterner) in Brussels, Belgium, is the former town house and workshop of the master glassworker Clas Grüner Sterner.^[1] It was designed by the architect Ernest Delune [fr], and built between 1893 and 1902, in Art Nouveau style.

The house is located at 6, rue du Lac/Meerstraat in the municipality of Ixelles, not far from the Ixelles Ponds.^[2]

History

The building was designed by architect Ernest Delune [fr] for the master glassworker Clas Grüner Sterner, "a Viennese craftsman who specialised in stained glass windows"; construction was started in 1893 and was completed in 1902.^[1]^[3]

The City of Brussels classified the property as a historic site on 23 October 2003. In a 2015 report, the city's website described the exterior in as follows:^[4]

Built in brick and white stone, it has two floors and two bays reflecting the functions assigned to the internal spaces: on the left, an entrance door opening onto the vestibule; above, upstairs, small room; on the right, monumental stained-glass window illuminating the stairwell; on the top floor, an artist's studio lit by a sort of trapezoidal bow-window occupying almost the entire width of the façade and highlighted by the cornice. The front door is adorned with stained glass windows whose patterns are in synergy with the circle that encompasses it. This circular architectural motif is also repeated in the upper part of the stained-glass window that illuminates the stairwell.

By December 2020, the building's exterior and interior were in the final phases of an extensive renovation that started in 2019. Previously, the façade had become "dangerously degraded". The most apparent modifications include repainting of the turquoise exterior with warmer earth-tones and restoration of the stained glass pieces.^[5]^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Renovation of Art Nouveau 'Glassmaker's' house begins in Ixelles". The Brussels Times. 22 April 2019.
^ Derek Blyth (8 September 2015). "Derek Blyth's hidden secrets of Brussels". The Brussels Times.
^ "Ixelles - Rue de la Vallée 5 - Rue du Lac 6 - Delune Ernest". www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
^ "Ancien atelier et habitation de Clas Grüner Sterner". Region de Bruxelles-Capitale. 11 January 2015.
^ "Rue du Lac la façade de la maison Delune restaurée". Yves Rouyet University of Brussels faculty. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
^ "Ixelles la rénovation de la façade de la maison Delune est terminée". Yves Rouyet University of Brussels faculty. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020. Supervisés par la Direction du Patrimoine culturel, les travaux de restauration ont été réalisés par l'Atelier d'Architecture du Congrès (AAC) en collaboration avec des artisans spécialisés notamment dans la menuiserie, et les vitraux ... il faudra encore réaliser de petites restaurations à l'intérieur du bâtiment.