The original detached house was about 90m2 and dates back to 1934, with lots of character and details that we wanted to keep. Our assignment was not only to make it a lot more energy efficient, but also to make it much larger.
Project Name: KDW199
Studio Name: CUBE architecten
With the new volume we had to add, we wanted to combine the warm and safe atmosphere of the old 1930s part with the transparent open character of a modern home. From the backyard you can now hardly see anything of the classic front and vice versa, the modern new rear is hardly visible from the street. And yet the 2 in the interior go together effortlessly.
We have enlarged the house by extending the house 5 meters further to the back, over all 3 floors. The floor of this new part, where the kitchen is located, is two steps lower than the living room in the original part. In this project we used 3 different materials; burnt wood, glass and raw stones. In most of the façade we used burned wood. That is an old Japanese technique called ‘Shou Sugi Ban’. It protects the wood with a thin charred layer. Unlike paint, this requires no maintenance. The all black solar panels are mounted flush in the roof, flush with the charred wooden slats of which the roof is made.
Next to the house is a coarse natural stone wall that is only connected to the house by a strip of triple glazing. It almost looks like a drawer that has been pulled out of the house. Part of the kitchen is located in that wall, so from the kitchen you can see everyone coming up to the house. In the back façade we created a small veranda by moving the glass facade of the ground floor slightly back. The 3 oak wooden columns that support the rear facade reinforce this effect. This way we were able to create a secure feeling and still connect the house to the garden through a large transparent glass front.
In order to make the old part of the house sufficiently energy efficient, we had to take many insulating measures. All the remaining existing facades were given a high-quality insulation from the inside.
Because we wanted to preserve the old thirties character of the house, this could only be done on the inside. Even the existing old staircase has been moved slightly in order to place the insulation along the facade. In addition, the entire existing roof has been replaced by new insulated sandwich panels and the floor and floor beams on the ground floor have been removed to make way for a new insulated floor. The old stained glass had to be preserved, but it was packaged in double glazing. The huge glass front in the rear facade is fitted with triple glazing.
