Sometimes a change in perspective makes all the difference in the world. Which was exactly what MVRDV did in designing two private houses in Borneo-Sporenburg Amsterdam – the most compact new housing district in The Netherlands.
This former harbor area, located east of the wonderful city of Amsterdam, was inspired by the city’s canal houses. The developers were looking to turn it into a kind of an old fashioned neighborhood like ‘De Jordaan’. The result was 60 terraced houses, each having its own plot, with a 6cm gap separating each unit.
The private house on plot 12 has been designed to fit a narrow lot, 5 metres wide and 16 metres deep. The house, only 2.5 metres wide, features a glass facade overlooking a private alleyway, while the front and back have been left entirely closed – This way an extremely narrow house becomes an extremely wide house with a composition of varied living spaces.
“The alley accommodates three elements: a block for storage whose roof slopes up from the street and provides a place to park; and two closed volumes, one block for a guest room and bathroom and one block that provides extra width locally to the two studios on the first and second floor. The last two volumes are hung on the glass facade, shutting in the exterior space and livening up the alleyway.”
The private house on plot 18 features a 4.2 x 16 meter plot, with a 4-meter deep garden on the waterfront. It consists of three floors.
On the second floor, an extra bathroom and bedroom block protrudes at the rear facing the water, creating a spacious long cross-section within two closed elements. The remaining irregular space houses the kitchen-diner, sitting room and study, all spatially connected to one another.
“A series of rooms have been created differing in height and degree of privacy. Each are connected with the exterior in their own individual way, ranging from a two-storey veranda facing the water, to a balcony with French windows to the living room, a glass bay window to the bedroom and a roof garden to the studio in the attic.”
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