Villa Meijendel takes its name from the nature reserve in which it is located, where a forest meets a valley of dunes. The house is constructed from concrete and set into the side of a sandy slope. The building's design aims to create a dialogue with its surroundings, both through the way the form and materials engage with the landscape, and through the use of glass to provide views out from and into the house.
The boxy geometric structure is entirely clad in charred timber, creating a textured black surface that appears different depending on how sunlight falls on it. The exterior finish, inspired by the ancient Japanese shou sugi ban technique, also helps to preserve the wood. Sometimes the house is almost invisible against the dark edge of the forest, sometimes it sparkles in the sunlight because of the glittering charred wood, as such forming a background for the play of shadows of tree trunks and branches. The villa hides and reveals itself in the landscape.
The property has its entrance on a middle level accommodating an office and two bedrooms. Stairs ascend to an open-plan kitchen and living space, and drop down to a master bedroom and gym room.
The living room features a full-height corner window that looks out through the trees towards the dune valley. A lower window facing to the rear and a large glazed surface lining the adjacent double-height circulation area face out onto the forest. At the far end of the first floor, sliding glass doors lead out from the kitchen onto a terrace.
The material palette –concrete, steel and anodised aluminium– was chosen to complement the tones and textures of the surrounding environment. Each material is applied in a raw, untreated form. Internally, the walls are finished with smooth concrete, while the rough-sawn Douglas fir beams supporting the ceilings feature a distinctive grain.
West 8, Adriaan Geuze, is responsible for the garden design.
Photography is by Christian van der Kooy
| Architects | Ronald Knappers |
| Employees | Hans Schepman, Tijmen Versluis, Mark Verdoold |
The plot Oeverpolder is located in the central part of the Hoornespolder, a 1960s reconstruction area. In recent years, this district has undergone a transformation, where living is more focused on the public space and a clearer separation is made between public and private.
In the design for the new-build location, a U-shaped courtyard building was chosen, which in terms of architecture and grain size connects to the existing buildings. The green structure of the neighborhood is reinforced with the design. The transition between the residential building and the public space has been carefully designed. There are no garages, storage rooms and blind facades in the public space. The U-shaped building contains a total of 52 apartments of 53-88 m2. The building on Hoorneslaan has 4 storeys, the other two sides are 3 storeys high. The houses are all accessible via (widened) galleries in the courtyard, parking is partly in the courtyard and partly on public land, on the street.
The masonry architecture is in line with previous transformations on Hoorneslaan, but also fits in well with the existing modern reconstruction architecture of, for example, the adjacent Pniëlkerk. Due to the sloping boundary of the plot on Hoorneslaan, the building block has been given characteristic staggered façades here. It is an all-round designed building that at the same time has a new and unique character, but also fits well in the neighborhood.
For the Hoge Rijndijk location in Zoeterwoude, a new construction plan has been developed for an apartment building with starter homes, after demolition of the existing office building. The building stands on the edge of the large-scale buildings that are currently being built between the Oude Rijn and the Hoge Rijndijk, and the existing residential area from the 1980s. It adjacents to a small park on the east side. The new building has been placed in the building line of the Rijndijk and thus strengthens the profile of the road. The parking spaces are located in the rear area, lined by green. By dividing the building mass in three, a smaller scale is created, which is further reinforced with differences in brickwork and roof shape. The building will contain 34 residential units of approximately 50 m2 and a bicycle storage. An extremely energy-efficient and sustainable design is achieved with individual heat pumps and solar panels on the roof.
The permit application is being processed, implementation is expected in 2021.
The ‘Oud Woelwijk’ farm, the oldest part of which dates from before 1528, was still standing at the beginning of the 20th century in a sea of lands and bushes to the south of the village center of Voorschoten. The farm formed an ensemble with the country estate of Roucoop. The country estate no longer exists, and from 1930 the built-up area has been advanced. Yet the Essenlaan is still a protected leafy lane that leads to the old farm. For a plot directly on the other side of the farm, we have made a design for a contemporary energy-neutral home. The single-storey house with hood is designed as an outbuilding of the farm. You reach the plot via a bridge that cuts through the historic woods at a clever location. A very spacious home has been designed partly due to a number of voids. The volume is still closed on the farm side. On the south side, the house opens to the large garden.
Together with restoration contractor Burgy from Leiden, the back house, the garden house of the house at Garenmarkt 9 / 9a, has been completely restored and modernized. The new owner lives in this part. The front house with a number of apartments / studios for rent will remain unchanged for the time being.
The house at Garenmarkt 9, 9a is also popularly known as 'Thorbeckehuis'. The house has one of the largest private backyards in Leiden. In the Secret Annex, the garden house (No. 9a), the liberal statesman Johan Rudolph Thorbecke wrote in 1848 the revision of the Constitution, which turned our country into a constitutional monarchy. Thorbecke has lead three cabinets from 1849. A gable stone in the national monument reminds of the habitation by the liberal statesman and professor of law (1798-1872).
