Canyon
Canyon
LEIDEN (NL) - The Netherlands, a country where housing has traditionally been built by housing associations and developers, has recently taken to experimenting with owner-built housing. By issuing private building plots, which are then filled by a variety of different architects, individuals get the chance to realize the home of their dreams, while the neighbourhood acquires a more varied and apparently naturally evolved appearance.
Nieuw Leyden, an area north of the centre of Leiden, is one such owner-builder district. The spatial masterplan, drawn up by MVRDV in 2005, allowed for a remarkably high number of private plots that could be filled in without reference to the design review guidelines. The future owners were free to design their house the way they wanted, so long as it fitted within the allotted building envelope.
Within this masterplan, 24H-architecture designed two houses of 180 m2. To ensure adequate daylight penetration, the architects came up with an unconventional solution; in both houses they designed a 'canyon', a gap that allows the sun to penetrate deep within the house. This canyon is also the main organizing element – there are no other dividing walls, and it is present in every space. The canyon walls are solid or perforated according to need, so that they filter the light.
The organizing principle of the canyon is also reflected in the design of the facade, where elegantly curved strips of certified wood alternate with panels of Cor-Ten steel. Anyone familiar with the inside of the house will detect the logic of the canyon in the facade: where the void meets the facade, Cor-Ten steel is used instead of wood. But the canyon concept is not just a matter of the omnipresent void. Think canyon, and you think 'reddish brown', a colour that is a dominant presence both in the facade and in important internal details like frames and balustrades. Partly thanks to this expressive colour, but also to the organic design and combination of materials, 24H's facades are genuine eye-catchers in the row of owner-built houses. (Hannah Schubert)
Facade, Metal, Wood |
Netherlands
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