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Dutch design agency Smool, led by founding designer Robert Bronwasser, presented an exhaustive collection of products for the home this past week in Milan as part of …

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Dutch studio Maxwan has renovated a thatched house in the seaside town of Noordwijk in the Netherlands and added concrete and glass protrusions to the front and back (+ slideshow).

Named House N, the residence dates back to the 1930s and had become run down over the years, so Maxwan was brought in to repair the existing structure and create more room on the ground floor.

The architects added two extensions to the house. The first is a precast concrete block that stretches the kitchen out beyond the facade, while the second is a glazed box at the rear that extends the living room into the garden.

“We wanted the extension of the kitchen to read as one monolithic object, almost like a sculpture or a piece of street furniture,” Maxwan’s Jason Hilgefort told Dezeen.

Strips of glazing across the roof of each extension create a visible separation between the old and new structures.

To create a new route up to the second-floor attic, the architects installed a spiral staircase with a custom-designed filigree balustrade.

“This historic lace-like pattern traditionally would have to be repeated to be formed, but this was fabricated with a metal laser cutter,” explained Hilgefort. “Therefore, the pattern could do things traditionally not possible, which is why we chose to warp it in places.”

“An additional feature of the lace pattern is that it is structural. This is why the pattern is more dense at the tread level, but has a more open transparency along the handrail.”

Bedrooms, bathrooms and the basement in the house are also renovated, plus the thatched roof is restored.

Other residential extensions completed in the last year include a barrel-vaulted addition to an English farmhouse and a dark brick extension to a red brick house in France. See more house extensions on Dezeen.

Photography is by Filip Dujardin.

Here’s a project description from Maxwan:

House N
Extension to a seaside villa
Noordwijk, 2012

Built in 1938, this Noordwijk seaside villa was originally the holiday home of a concrete factory owner. Battered and blustered by the salty sea weather over the decades, the house was in need of renovation.

Besides roof replacement and basement repairs, the bedrooms, bathrooms and windows were outdated and some spaces had grown too small for the clients’ requirements. Maxwan’s additions bring new distinctive features to the house, while respecting its original character.

Extending into the back garden with floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides is the new living room, which maximizes light and views from among the treetops towards the garden and further out to the sea.

In the opposite direction stretches the new kitchen, incorporated in a single precast concrete block. Its color contrasts to the existing house while harmonizing with the surroundings.

Both extensions of the new kitchen and living room are clearly separated from the existing structure with glass slits, through which the sky dramatically bursts.

The bespoke spiral staircase connecting the uppermost levels elegantly uses the balustrade to support the treads, with the laser-cut pattern blending from closed to open for structural efficiency and recalling the breaking waves. The attic is given a new lease of life by new multi-functional wall furniture and large windows.

In addition to these major components, the entire house is renewed in a manner complementary to the original house.

Above: concept diagram – click for larger image

Client: private
Country: Netherlands
City: Noordwijk
Scale: S
Team leader: Rene Sangers
Partner in charge: Hiroki Matsuura
Team: Anna Borzyszkowska, Larraine Henning, Jason Hilgefort, Claudia Strahl
Collaborators: F. Wiggers – Varsseveld (structural engineer)

Above: site plan – click for larger image

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image

Above: cross section – click for larger image

The post House N by
Maxwan appeared first on Dezeen.

Bright red louvres screen the gabled walls of this office building in Tilburg, the Netherlands, by Dutch architects Équipe (+ slideshow).

Proyecto Roble is the headquarters of landscape firm Van Helvoirt Groenprojecten, who asked Équipe to upgrade an existing building that had become too small.

The architects demolished the canteen of the old office, then added a new structure stretching out in its place. Constructed around a chunky timber frame, the building has an asymmetric shape with floor-to-ceiling glazing along its sides and the red slatted timber across its ends.

“The original building wasn’t that old so we tried to reuse it,” architect Daniëlle Segers told Dezeen. “We demolished half of the structure then reused as much of the materials as we could, for example the old brickwork was used in the foundations.”

Describing their decision to use red paint, Segers explained: “We had a discussion about leaving the wood in a natural colour, but it wouldn’t stay beautiful in the future. Now, when you approach the building you notice the colour stand out against the green, but it’s still a natural pigment.”

The roof of the building is covered with a mixture of sedum grass and photovoltaic solar panels.

Meeting rooms are located in the old building, while all the offices occupy the new building and are lined up beside a spacious corridor.

The architects designed custom furniture for use throughout the building, then added reclaimed chairs and LED lighting.

This is the second bright red building we’ve featured in the last week, following a temporary theatre that recently opened in London. See more red buildings on Dezeen.

Photography is by René de Wit and Équipe.

Here’s a project description from Équipe:

“Proyecto Roble” extension of Van Helvoirt Groenprojecten in Berkel-Enschot

“Proyecto Roble” by young office Équipe is a grass roots project, a building embedded in the local context in the rural south of the Netherlands. The client, owner of landscaping firm Van Helvoirt Groenprojecten, had a vision for his headquarters to be a flagship model of sustainability. This was to be a key project where sustainable innovations replace money-issues as the bottom line.

The building is a custom designed environment with no standard details. The project was undertaken as a research into the potentials for creating a positive workplace. Key themes were broken down into components and expressed in the design. “Feel Good!” was the catchphrase coined that encompassed the different themes as renewable energy, passive climate control, abundance of natural light and the relationship to the external landscape, which was to be a showpiece of healing environment garden.

Sustainability was thus been payed attention to in all stages and all scales. From a period of studying what ‘sustainability’ actually means to making sure everyone on the building site understands and embraces these principals.

A.o. a new way of tendering was used, called the Building-team Plus and a new formula was invented to document decisions on materiality and techniques.

The new extension immediately catches the passing motorist’s eye, a sleek red form in the agrarian landscape, replete with a fully integrated photo-voltaic-panel roof and a green roof. The green roof transcends its cosmetic role, and is a testing ground for emerging water filtration technology. In the beginning of the 20th century Tilburg was re-known for its textile industry, collecting the workers pee in pitchers for using it as a bleach. Now this project goes back to this tradition inventing worlds first sloped constructed wetlands.

Urine is separated from the black water using it a as a nutrition ingredient for making fertiliser in the clients landscaping activities. Further the grey water runs through the grass roof leaving it as clean water that can be used in the building again. This is only one of the multiple innovations in this project that has been designed to the smallest detail: from building to garden, from the bicycle shed to the bespoke interior and signposting.

The building consists of two parts, connected by the clay stove. Heated with prune wasted from the greenery’s own business, this element brings together the office-employees and the outdoor workers. Thus connecting the new extension to the traditions of the family business. Besides the pleasant indoor atmosphere the clay stove also brings technical advantages. The air heating pump could have less capacity and in addition the heater is used as a hot water boiler.

The north part of the building consists of offices. The linearity of the building is emphasised by the interior elements, that are placed on the coloured pathways. By using red linoleum on different areas of the floor and furniture the interior keeps a coherency to the exterior looks of the building.

The southern part of the building is a oversized foyer that connects all spaces. This multipurpose lobby, used for bigger and smaller, organised and spontaneous meetings, provides a green and transparent link to the outdoor world. The play of lines has been made expressive by folded raw aluminium lighting trays that float the length of the building.

Above: site plan

The facades are made of open detailed, wooden slats painted red with water based ‘nature paint’ thus creating different transparencies between inside and outside. The structure of prefabricated cross laminated timber elements is left unfinished, the imperfections of the timber adding to the natural serenity of the interior. The timber imbues the internal spaces with a positive connection to nature, something which contributes to the landscaping firms green image. All interior elements, apart from second-hand chairs and desk LED lamps, were custom designed. They are specifically designed in consultation with the personnel. Chairs and table carriages are second hand, like all kinds of smaller parts in the interior design: the door handle of the employees entrance (a re-used banister), the magazine stand (heating pipe) and the fruit boxes in the sample cabinet. Also in the furniture low environmental impact products were used. Special research was done to investigate what material could be best used in what elements and how should these materials be connected. Just like for the exterior the ‘decision document’ was used to explore the considerations in the building team plus and to be able to document conclusions. This proved to be a very useful tool that helps making choices that exceed standards or norms. During the whole process norms were never leading anyhow. Choosing consciously prevailed following scores. (Nevertheless all calculated scores are excellent) F.e. were passive house theories and Dutch energy performance norms may lead to small windows in the north facade, this building has high windows from floor to ceiling that provide the employees with a view to the landscape and lots of northern light.

Above: floor plan

Project title: Proyecto Roble
Address: Oisterwijksebaan 8a 5056 RD Berkel-Enschot, Gem. Tilburg the Netherlands
Client: Van Helvoirt Pensioen BV
Architect: Équipe voor architectuur en urbanisme
Project architects: Huib van Zeijl, Daniëlle Segers
Employees: Adam Murray
Interior design: Equipe voor architectuur en urbanisme
Garden Design: Studio Van Helvoirt

Function: office
Original building year: 1996
Research & design: 2006-2011
Start building: May 2011
Deliverance I employment: June 2012

The post Proyecto Roble
by Équipe appeared first on Dezeen.

Chunky horizontal bands divide the floors of this house in the woods outside Utrecht by architecture studios Powerhouse Company and RAU (+ slideshow).

Home to a family of five, the house comprises three storeys, including one that is buried underground. Living and dining rooms occupy the ground floor, while bedrooms are located upstairs and the basement floor contains guest rooms and a swimming pool.

The architects conceived the top floor as a “village of cabins”, which follow a different outline to the ground floor below. To achieve this, they installed a complex steel frame that surrounds a set of five rectilinear volumes.

“One of the most important aspects of the house is the amazing steel structure,” Powerhouse Company‘s Stijn Kemper told Dezeen. “There is this 11-metre free cantilever that makes the design possible, but the funny thing is that it’s completely covered up, so you never see the structure. It’s a strange experience.”

Different materials are applied to the facades at each level. On the ground floor, a wall of glazing fronts the garden-facing south facade, while the rear is clad with a mixture of glossy travertine and mirrored glass. To contrast, the top floor walls are covered with dark-stained wood but are also interspersed with mirrored glass windows.

Two hollows in the ground surrounding the house slope down to meet the basement floor, helping to bring natural light to the swimming pool and two guest bedrooms.

A small pavilion at the other end of the garden provides a playroom for the children. More mirrored glass is used to clad this structure, which can also be used as a separate guest house.

Charles Bessard and Nanne de Ru founded Powerhouse Company in 2005, with offices in Rotterdam and Copenhagen. This isn’t the first time the firm has teamed up with Amsterdam studio RAU, as the pair worked together to design a competition-winning dance and music centre for The Hague.

Other projects by Powerhouse Company include a spiral-shaped house extension and a woodland house near Arnhem. See more architecture by Powerhouse Company.

Photography is by Christian van der Kooy.

Here’s some more explanation from Powerhouse Company:

Villa L – Paradox of Uniting Diversity

Powerhouse Company, in close collaboration with RAU, recently completed Villa L. Designed to fulfill the desires and needs of a young family, Villa L is set in the woods of central Netherlands, fully oriented towards the sun and the views on the garden. Villa L is a spatially diverse residence where every floor has its own strong identity, creating a broad spatial spectrum within a unified whole.

A young family with three children asked Powerhouse Company to design a house that would fulfill their dreams: a paradox of a house that is simple yet surprising, open yet specific, minimal yet luxurious. Powerhouse Company resolved these contradictions with a sustainable design for a house based on a radical differentiation of spatial experiences on three floors (of which one is subterranean); the maximum buildable size on this site. Three clear levels, with three very different characters and functionalities as a basis for family life to emerge.

Family life

One level is for living, a generously open ground floor. A strip of serving rooms containing storage, toilets and stairs, provides easily access to the luxuriously open living spaces. The kitchen and living room are oriented maximally to the sun and view. In close relation to this living area there are two studies located on the north side next to the entrance.

Village of cabins

The collection of rooms on the first floor provides space for sleeping and privacy. Set in a delicate roof garden, all the bedrooms are autonomous volumes crafted in their entirety from dark wood. They work like a village of cabins, providing intimacy and privacy. Every room is like a world of its own with private views over the wooded landscape.

Wellness and retreat

The curved basement is for guests, wellness and storage. The excavations allow the pool and the guest rooms to have fully glazed facades and direct access to the garden.

Smart Sustainability

RAU designed innovative sustainable measures including a hot and cold-water storage and extensive use of hidden PV cells. The basement contains a dedicated area for the high-end energy saving installations.

A house designed for the hectic life of an evolving family; fragmented yet united, plural yet whole.

The audacious structural engineer Gilbert van der Lee, also responsible for engineering Villa 1, designed the structure, including the soaring ceiling of the living room. The interior furnishings are designed by interior designer Bart Vos.

Above: site plan

Location: near Utrecht, The Netherlands
Partner in charge: Nanne de Ru
Co-architect: Thomas Rau
Design: Nanne de Ru, Charles Bessard
Project leader: Stijn Kemper
Team: Ard-Jan Lootens, Bjørn Andreassen

Above: exploded axonometric

Structural engineering: Gilbert van der Lee – BREED Integrated Design
Sustainability: Thomas Rau – RAU
Project management: Stef Pierik – Pierik Projecten Groep BV
Contractor: Coen Hagedoorn Bouwgroep BV
Landscape design: Sander Lap – LAP Landscape & Urban design
Interior design: Bart Vos – VOS Interieur

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Above: basement floor plan – click for larger image

The post Villa L by Powerhouse Company
and RAU appeared first on Dezeen.

This leisure centre in Amsterdam by Dutch architects VenhoevenCS was designed as a fortress covered in plants (+ slideshow).

SportPlaza Mercator is positioned at the entrance to a park in the De Baarsjes neighbourhood. The architects wanted it to fit in with its surroundings, so they added a camouflaging facade of bushy plants and flowers.

“Because the building was constructed in a park we wanted to preserve as much as possible, we completely covered it in vegetation, camouflaging its diverse program,” explains VenhoevenCS. “From a distance, it seems like an overgrown fortress flanking and protecting the entryway to the nineteenth century city.”

Behind the planted walls, the three-storey building contains swimming pools, a sauna and fitness studios, as well as an events hall, a fast-food restaurant, a cafe and a nursery. An outdoor pool is also included at the rear.

Windows nestle in amongst the planted exterior but feature tinted glass to reduce visibility into the swimming-pool halls. Skylights were also added to bring in more natural light.

The building was completed in 2006 but recently picked up a nomination for the inaugural Green Building Award, organised by Dak & Gevel Groen magazine in the Netherlands.

Other buildings we’ve featured with planted facades include a townhouse in Portugal, an office building in France and a pharmacy in Japan. See more green walls on Dezeen.

Photography is by Luuk Kramer.

Here’s some extra information from VenhoevenCS:

Amsterdam’s ‘De Baarsjes’ is a multicultural neighbourhood that is home to people from 129 different countries. The city district wanted to boost community life in this area. The authorities therefore opted for a building which combines swimming pools, a therapy pool, fitness, aerobics, a sauna and steam bath, a party centre, café and childcare alongside a fast food restaurant. Each individual element attracts different target groups, so the entire population will be able to use it in the end. Inside, everyone can see other activities, intriguing their interest and inspiring them to use other facilities as well. Because the building was constructed in a park we wanted to preserve as much as possible, we completely covered it in vegetation, camouflaging its diverse program.

Now, with its green façades and roof, Sportplaza Mercator marks the start and end of the Rembrandtpark. From a distance, it seems like an overgrown fortress flanking and protecting the entryway to the 19th-century city. Glimpsed through the glass façade, a modern spa-style complex glistens, complete with swimming pools, fitness space, and restaurant and party facilities. The entrance seems like a departure hall from which the various visitors can reach their destination.

The building was designed as a city – a society in miniature – inside a cave. The building is full of lines of sight and keyholes that offer perspectives on the various visitors, activities and cultures in the building. Sunlight penetrates deep into the building’s interior through all sorts of openings in the roof. Low windows frame the view of the street and the sun terrace.

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image

The post SportPlaza Mercator
by VenhoevenCS appeared first on Dezeen.