2 under 1 roof at the Veenbies

A limited space, limited budget and lot's of idea's. A nice challenge it seems. Main goal was to include loft house (old warehouse) idea's into the design. Since december 1999 the house is inhabited.

Take a look at the construction sketch (120 kb), Look at some images of the result or read the reasoning behind the design below.

Understanding the design choices will be easier wehen the construction drawing is compared with the pictures and their captions. Starting points for this design are for example:

- The 2-under-1-roof house does not have to be symetric, so it looks more like one big house then a standard version.
- Use lot's of big windows so there is a lot of light in the house.
- The actual living happens in the livingroom and kitchen, which are situated in the back of the house so there is more privacy.
- To include / emphasize the 'loft feeling' I chose to use an open kitchen. By doing this I created a vista of more then 15 meters diagonal.
- At the backside, at the garden-doors in the living room, everything is prepared to add a sun room: also in winter time there is light, sun and warmth.
- By using big garden-doors in the kitchen as well, and the fact that it is an open kitchen, only 1 wall is left for a compact kitchen. All unnecessary elements are placed in the spacious scullery.
- A walk in closet is above al very practical. Here I chose for a walk in closet between the master bedroom and bathroom. The living area becomes larger and more open. Based on these thoughts glass doors are used: to empasize this idea.
- The bathroom has two entries: one for the parents and one for the kids. First you come into the less-fress area (toilet left and laundry basket to the right. Only after the half-high the bathroom really begins.
- Learned from Jan des Bouvries : Nobody wants to see his/her ugly face in the morning: Use big windows and a very small mirror to start the day light and more positive.
- In order to realise the idea's, lot's of elemenst in the house are specially made. For example: the doorbell sign, the wash bowl table. Also the beam in the roof is placed a bit higher to fit the antique bed.

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