House In Meerkerk

House In Meerkerk

House in Meerkerk

Ruud Visser Architects


BUDGET
$100K - 500K

AREA
0 sqft - 1000 sqft

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Meerkerk, The Netherlands

TYPE
Residential › Private House

A retired couple asked Ruud Visser Architects to design their house on a plot in the Tolstraat in Meerkerk.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk

The lady of the house grew up in the former house on the same lot. For her this is a location filled with memories.

One of her favourite things was the beautiful view on the backside of the house, almost invisible from the front.

The facades of the buildings in the Tolstraat are lined-up very strictly lengthwise to the street. In this way forming a compact wall of individual facades. The entrances of the houses are directly on to the street, making it look like a shopping street of a medium-sized town.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk

Yet at the same time, the Tolstraat feels slightly disorganized. This gives it its rural atmosphere.

Small volumes and elements have been built up the houses during the cause of time. Making it a mix of 'variegated concatenation' of annexes, sheds, roofs and fascias.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk

The back of the lot is situated along a nature reserve called 'De Zouweboezem'. This is a 700-year-old excavated water-reservoir to aggregate the water from a huge area. From De Zouwboezem, the water is pumped into the rivers by windmills.

The windmills now long have disappeared, yet once there were as many windmills on this location as on the famous Dutch 'Kinderdijk'.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk

The main challenge in this project consisted of 'how to blend in a new (contemporary) house into the complex historic setting of the Tolstraat?'

We decided to work with the local village character of the street by not approaching the house as a single stand-alone object.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk

We divided the body of the house into three distinct parts.Every part is made of a different material, each already to be found in the adjacent facades in the Tolstraat.

Part 1:
The brick front-façade along the Tolstraat.
Part 2:
The white plastered sidewall.
Part 3:
The grey slate roof.
The back façade is opened up completely to optimally enjoy of the view on the water of 'De Zouweboezem'.

House In Meerkerk
House In Meerkerk


House In Meerkerk