In a street where villas and bungalows are hidden behind hedges, this new home stands out with its openness. The slightly higher position in relation to the street gives the low-lying villa a certain statelyness.

The tight geometric shapes of the building contrast nicely with the irregular forms of the plants and trees around. The front garden consists of paving with light gray pavers and a lawn around a large beech tree. In front of the left corner of the house is a rhododendron, along which the pavement runs in an undulating line to a private backyard.

The floor and roof of the house are orthogonal, while the front and rear façades are folded inwards. Folding the façades creates an awning at the front at the entrance and a covered outdoor terrace at the rear.

They have been polished four times by hand to give them the desired reflective surface. In addition, this type of dark and solid elements are subject to considerable expansion upon heating. By using connections that can move both horizontally and vertically, we have made it possible to bring together the extremely heavy façade panels in the corners in an extremely fine 10 mm open seam. "

This sharp connection reinforces the architectural concept of a solid object in green. The finesse of the concrete is also visible in the protruding window of the guest room in the side wall.

Bright interior

The dark appearance of the concrete on the outside contrasts with the light interior with a white cast floor, ceiling and walls. A large transparent living space with curtain walls at the front and back is divided into zones by two detached objects. A white T-shaped wall shields the entry area and kitchen.

A second element screens the doors to the bedroom and study room and is also a piece of furniture in which, among other things, the heat pump, central heating and WTW installations are housed. This disc-shaped element has rounded corners and is finished with dark-stained bamboo veneer.

On one side a fireplace and TV are integrated in the furniture and on the other side a bookcase. The element protrudes through the flat roof and has the same circumference as inside. The finish looks the same as inside, but there is no bamboo but 4 mm Dibond with a print of bamboo applied. The installations and drains are so elegantly hidden from view.

Glass facades

Transparency and refined detailing also play an important role in the design of the glass facades. "By designing the curtain walls as a semi-structural system with only black sealant joints between the glass, we were able to lay the concrete, the glass and the aluminum front door in one plane.", Brans explains his choice for Reynaers profiles. "We have removed the top and bottom line in ceiling and floor."

Parallel expansion windows

The central living space is wedged between two more introverted volumes with spaces that require more privacy. At the guest room, where the concrete façade bulges outwards, a parallel window with motor control is used. When the window is turned off, the glass is exactly on a plane with the bulge. The room can thus be ventilated almost invisibly from the outside. The bulge creates a wide window sill on the inside of the building, creating a nice seating area.

In the other side wall the windows are in a band. "In order to reinforce the robust nature of the side wall, we wanted to make one horizontal cut in the concrete instead of separate windows.

By also opting here for a semi-structural curtain wall system from Reynaers Aluminium, we have combined transparent, translucent and opaque glass parts as a band window. Here, a parallel expansion window has also been used.

 "The great advantage of a parallel window for the users is that the scissor connections also provide great protection against burglary in the open position", the architect ensures. This clear transparent home also provides residents with safety and security.

This text was written by Jacqueline Knudsen from Eisma Bouwmedia.