huge houses
Houses on IJburg
On the "Steigereiland" on IJburg, the most recent large-scale city extension of Amsterdam, some of the terraces of private houses have been given to individuals to build their own house. The project follows a successful example of a similar row of private houses built in the 1990s by different architects for a variety of clients on Borneo-Sporenburg.
| location: | Steigereiland, IJburg, Amsterdam |
| design: | 2004-2005 |
| realisation: | 2006-2006 |
| client: | SdF family |
| structural engineer: | Pieters Bouwtechniek |
| contractor: | Jasper Kerkhofs with Christian Dörschug, Aichach |
For two private clients, we built two almost identical houses of solid timber construction. The most important element of the layout is the split-level section subdividing the street façade of the building into three floors and the garden façade into four. As a result, every room has its own proportions and character. The ceiling of the ground floor varies in height and this floor is used as a large living space with an open kitchen.
The houses are realised within an extremely limited budget. Due to the height differences and the special use of materials, each room has its own character and proportion. In both houses, living and working are combined. In addition to the sleeping quarters and children's rooms there are two special workshops in each house on the first and third floors. The entire ground floor will be used as a living room with a raised living area and an open-plan kitchen.
Due to the extremely tight budget, both the interior finishes and the façades remain extremely plain and simple. This, quite literally, offers space for the inhabitants to creatively add their own personality to the house. As a result, the bathroom in one of the houses have been lined with individually painted tiles. On the outside this is further expressed with the plinth of the street façade becoming a colourful composition of homemade mosaic.
