Almere House, Residence Holland, New Dutch Property Design, Images, Project

Project X Almere : Architecture in The Netherlands

Project X, Contemporary Residential Development in Holland design by Rene van Zuuk Architekten

5 Jan 2009

Project X

Design: Rene van Zuuk Architekten

Text by Maarten Willems

Project X Almere House: Rene van Zuuk Architekten
photograph © Christian Richters

Behind the somewhat mysterious name ‘Project X’, hides the design of René van Zuuk and his family’s own residence. The villa with a small office space is located right next to the architect’s former residence Psyche in Almere’s The Fantasy district, an area for experimental housing. Because the old house serves as his architect’s office since 2004, it occurred that the two plots could be consolidated into one garden. The garden area is optimized by leaving only the width of a parking space between Project X and its neighbouring house.

Project X Almere house Project X Almere property Project X
photographs © Christian Richters

From an urban point of view three major considerations were important: the box-shaped appearance of all the Fantasy dwellings, the fixed building line and the pattern of alternating building heights. Placing the lower storey half below ground level resulted in House X being lower than the adjacent dwellings, thus fitting in the height sequence.

Project X Almere Contemporary Dutch Residence design by Rene van Zuuk Architekten New Residential Development in Holland by Rene van Zuuk Architekten Contemporary Holland home design by Rene van Zuuk Architekten
photographs © Christian Richters

The distance from the living room to the water is reduced to half a metre, creating a sense of living along the waterfront despite the rather modest size of the canal. This feeling is being intensified by the large expanse of glass in the living room offering a panoramic view on the canal.

Project X Almere Project X Almere
Photographs © René van Zuuk Architekten bv

Only the exceptionally high entrance door infringes the closed appearance of the box-shaped upper storey enclosing the bedrooms. Its façade is cladded with large thin cement tiles with a continuing branch-like pattern of grooves softening and reviving the rigid box shape.

The scanting daylight entering the bedrooms comes through rooflights and a few subtle ‘eyelets’ in the façade. Because of the small dimensions of the façade openings the main volume remains intact. The upper volume is separated from the lower storey by means of a glass strip. On the garden side the strip is storey high.

Contemporary Holland house design Project X Almere residence Contemporary Almere home design Project X Almere house
photographs © Christian Richters

The basic design is largely defined by the latitude enabled by the Dutch Building Decree. The maximum volume allowed on the particular location is 500 m³, while the residence plus office required 750 m³. Nowadays the Building Decree creates the opportunity to build up to 2.5 metres outside an external wall, without submitting a planning application under the condition that it does not border a public street or public park.

Therefore the building part perpendicular to the street is maximized in length to create as much extra building volume as possible. According to another provision in the Decree the extension can only start one meter from the front façade.

Project X Almere Project X Almere Project X Almere Project X Almere
photographs © Christian Richters

To provide the ground-floor level with a uniform width, the upper floor protrudes one meter in the direction of the street. For the office section the rule that allows an annexe up to thirty square metres without a planning permission is utilized. This extra part is constructed as a basement to make it secondary to the living area, despite its street side location. To emphasize its commercial and subordinate character the exterior concrete surface is left exposed.

Inventive interpretation of these loopholes in the legislation has resulted not just in the space required, but also in unprecedented restrained and rich architecture.

Project X Almere Project X Almere Project X Almere
photographs © Christian Richters

Project X, Almere – Building Information

Location: De Fantasie 8, Almere/ NL
Client: René van Zuuk & Marjo Körner
Program: Villa

Office: René van Zuuk Architekten b.v., Almere / NL
Design: René van Zuuk
Structural Engineer: Van de Laar, Eindhoven / NL

Site area: 454 m²
Floor area: 215 m²
Cubage: 780 m³

Start of planning: 2003
Start of construction: 2004
Completion: 2008

Project X Almere images / information from Rene van Zuuk Architekten 050109

Rene van Zuuk

Location: De Fantasie 8, Almere, Netherlands

Architecture in The Netherlands

Contemporary Dutch Architecture

Netherlands Architecture Designs – chronological list

Dutch Architecture News

Amsterdam Architecture Walking Tours by e-architect

Dutch Architect – design firm listings

Dutch Buildings

Almere Buildings

Huize Vreeburg, Rosmalen
Design: HILBERINKBOSCH architects
Huize Vreeburg
photograph : Rene de Wit / Rene van der Hulst
Huize Vreeburg, Rosmalen

De Citadel Almere building

La Defense Almere

Almere shop building

Masterplan Marktkwartier, Amsterdam, North-Holland
Architects: Mecanoo
Masterplan Marktkwartier Housing Amsterdam
images : GVd Werff, Bank Amsterdam and Mecanoo
Masterplan Marktkwartier Amsterdam

Comments / photos for this Almere House page welcome

Netherlands