Each floor of this timber-clad household home on an Amsterdam peninsula features wide windows and steel-framed balconies, offering views out over the Ij river .
Local architecture studio MeesVisser was asked to design the 4-storey townhouse for a couple with two youngsters who had purchased a plot of land on Kea Boumanstraat – a street on a single of the artificial islands that can make up the IJburg neighbourhood.
The website was obtained for the duration of a slowing down in housebuilding in the city and came with lax preparing restrictions that gave the architects free of charge rein over the design.
“The residence is a self-initiated task on 1 of a series of plots that came offered throughout the housing crisis in an try to restart Amsterdam’s housing production,” explained task architects Uda Visser and Thomas Harms.
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“With quite limited laws with regards to the exterior, only highest volume and facade boundary were defined, a greatest architectural freedom was attainable.
To make the most of the riverside location and organic lighting, each and every of the four amounts features large windows that inspired the venture name: A Space With a View.
In addition to the glazed walls, each of the four ranges characteristics a wide steel-framed balcony. These offer additional outdoor room and normal ventilation, but are also intended to act as a buffer towards new developments on neighbouring websites.
“The home opens up on all amounts: on the north side with a magnificent view more than the river Ij in Amsterdam and on the south towards the garden,” explained the architects.
The balconies are also developed to act as a sun display, safeguarding the developing from overheating in the summer whilst maximising organic light.
Timber was chosen as the main development materials to preserve fees low, and big sections of the home had been prefabricated offsite.
Electrical cabling and pipework had been embedded in the wall, floor and ceiling panels just before arrival on web site. As a result, construction could be completed in just three months.
Substantial amounts of insulation, roof-mounted solar panels and a shower heat exchanger aid to minimise the family’s energy usage, even though rainwater is collected and utilized to water the backyard.
The interior is also lined in timber and completed with wooden fittings.
A utility spaces utilized to retailer bikes and outdoor equipment is set to a single side of a glazed entrance, even though a kitchen occupies the centre of the program and a residing space is positioned at the back to overlook the river.
A modest decked patio is recessed into the rear facade to supply an outdoor dining area by the lounge. A swing strung from the f of the initial floor hangs more than the centre of the patio.
Two children’s bedrooms and a master suite, as well as a video games area and lounge, are situated on the 3 upper floors.
These elevated spaces, accessible by flights of wooden methods that are enclosed by white metal mesh, advantage from views above the river to the north and gardens to the south.
Photography is by Lard Buurman.
Undertaking credits:
Design and style: Uda Visser and Thomas Harms
Structural engineering: Pieters Bouwtechniek Utrecht
Installations: Wahlen Jongkind, De Kwakel
Contractor: De Nijs, Castricum
Ground floor program 
First floor strategy 
Second floor strategy 
Third floor plan 
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