House Kersten

Street facade.

Project details

• Project Name: House Kersten
• Client: Kersten
• Project Type: House
• Principal Designer/s: Ronald Janssen
• Design Team: Janusz Filusch, Jaap Willem Kleijwegt, Magdalena Del Cerro Delgado, Juan Jose Lafuente Cilla, Isabelle Sanchez, Karlijn Keppel
• Contractor/s: Bouw-en Aannemingsbedrijf W. de Wit
• Date of commencement of project: January 2006
• Date of completion of project: April 2007
• Location of site: Woerden, Netherlands
• Site Area: 130 m²
• Built-up Area: 74 m²
• Cost of Construction: 260 000 Euro

Street facade at night.

• The house is located in Waterrijk Woerden in the Netherlands. The city plan, by West 8 stipulates that cars need to be parked within the volume of the site.
• The client is disabled. Therefore an elevator in the house was necessary.
• The house had to be built with a low budget.

Therefore, at an early stage the choice was made for a compact volume, a light facade and an efficient position of the stairs in order to make, simple construction possible.

Garden facade.

The house veils its functions. Normal elements that characterize a house like a porch, front door, living room window etc, are hidden deliberately. The detailing supports the concealing.

With nuance, subtle interest is generated in the design by sticking out the round glass stones by 1 cm and putting back the steel fence on the ground floor by 10 cm.

The steel plates of the fence have laser cut holes. This relatively rich ornament is inspired by 19th century cast iron fences. In the steel fence a door and electric garage door is hidden. The facade is made of black plasterwork, finished with a shiny silicon coating.

Bathroom.

The back facade is open to the garden. In contrast with the front faces, big windows and sliding doors are used on the back face.

On the first floor, there is a study; on the second floor, the living room with a large balcony; and on the third floor, the sleeping rooms.

The interior is light except for the bath room. Here, the round glass stones, and the large black tiles on floor and walls create a quiet atmosphere. The bathroom is relatively big. (with the consideration of a wheelchair in mind)

The light above the staircase makes a future extension of the roof possible.

Credits

• Text, Courtesy of Ronald Janssen Architecten
• Photographs by Luuk Kramer, Courtesy of Ronald Janssen Architecten
• Compiled and Edited by Varun M Ajani