The first thing you notice is the way the glazed rear side opens the house to the garden. From the outside, the volumes step and shift in a Z-shaped villa design, while vertical wood slats temper the harder lines of architectural concrete. Inside, the plan turns that geometry into daily use: family zones, quieter sleeping areas and rooms below ground are separated without losing sight of the landscape. It is a modern villa with lots of glass and a covered terrace, but the story is really about how light, privacy and long views are arranged room by room.

A Z-shaped plan that shifts the house into place

The Z-shaped villa design is not just a formal gesture. It gives the house a clear rhythm, with volumes that slide past one another and create sheltered corners along the perimeter. That movement is visible in the exterior and it carries through to the interior circulation, where each zone feels set apart without being sealed off. The result is a plan that can hold a busy family routine, with two teenagers on one side of the house, the parents above and shared spaces in between. Large openings keep the structure visually open, even when the rooms are divided by level and use.

Vertical slats bring another layer to the elevation. They break the flatness of the wall surfaces and register as a screen rather than a solid shell. Against the pale volumes and the broader glass panes, the timber introduces depth and shadow, especially when the light shifts across the facade through the day. The contrast is clear, but never loud. It is one of the reasons the house reads as both precise and inhabited, with a strong outline and a material palette that softens the edges.

Glass corridors, sightlines and a shared living zone

A full glass wall turns the connecting passage into more than a corridor. It frames the garden while linking the shared living room, kitchen and the upper-level parent zone. The indoor-outdoor sightlines are constant here: from one end of the house, you can track the view through the glass, across the living spaces and back out toward the terrace. That sequence keeps the house from feeling compartmentalised, even though it is carefully organised around privacy. The open-plan living with natural light is less about one large room than about a set of aligned openings and clear transitions.

In the kitchen, the stone island anchors the room. Its surface sits against a backdrop of wood and pale finishes, while the large window beside it pulls the eye away from the worktop and into the greenery outside. The layout supports movement without interruption: cooking, dining and sitting all happen within a short visual distance. The furniture choices stay restrained, so the materials carry more of the mood. A leather sofa, a vintage rug and a classic table shape the room without crowding it, while the fireplace niche adds a darker focal point at the edge of the living area.

Light, texture and a quieter upper level

Upstairs, the parent level uses tighter textures and a more enclosed feel. The carpet underfoot and the warm palette do a different kind of work from the glass below: they slow the pace and make the rooms feel more private. The same can be said for the corridor and the sleep areas, where the finishes absorb light rather than bounce it around. This shift matters in a house with so much glazing. It allows the rooms to change character as you move through them, from open and outward-facing to more enclosed and restful, without changing the language of the interior.

That language is consistent across the built-ins as well. Blonde walnut appears in the cupboard lining, and the surfaces move between stone, plaster-look walls and pale ceilings. The visual effect is quiet, but not plain. Pietra dei Medici on the floors gives the rooms a grounded surface, while the nude-toned plaster finish keeps walls and ceilings visually steady. Together they let the architecture stay in view. Even the line of the ceiling lights and the fitted storage reads as part of the room, not as an added layer.

Rooms below ground, made for movement and downtime

Below ground, the layout opens into two relaxation rooms and a training area. The spaces are practical, but they are not treated as leftover square metres. One room can hold music, another games or guests, and the sports area connects directly to the shower and the garden pool route through the adjacent stair. That movement from basement to garden is one of the more striking spatial decisions in the house. It makes training part of the daily loop rather than a separate destination, and it ties the lower level back into the outdoor plan.

The bathroom continues the same material discipline. A glass shower enclosure keeps the room visually open, while the light stone surfaces and simple basin layout hold the focus on clean lines and reflection. Nothing here is overloaded. The shower screen, the tile joints and the mirror zone work together to keep the room readable at a glance. That clarity is important in a house where each level is doing several jobs at once: living, sleeping, entertaining and moving between inside and outside.

The covered terrace as an extra room outdoors

The covered terrace sits deep enough to read as a real extension of the house. With its glazing, timber ceiling and linear lighting, it works as a protected place to sit when the weather changes and as a link between the interior floors and the garden. The terrace does not try to disappear. It has its own edges and ceiling line, and that gives it the feel of a room placed outside rather than a simple overhang. In the evening, the lighting traces those edges and draws attention to the sequence of volume, glass and garden.

Beyond it, the water plane and the planted garden create the infinity pool look that gives the project its visual pull. The long horizontal edge of the pool sits against grass, gravel paths and taller planting, so the water reads as part of the landscape rather than an isolated object. The view changes with the season, but the composition stays the same: house above, terrace in front, water and greenery beyond. It is a calm arrangement, yet it keeps moving because the reflections, the trees and the layers of planting never look exactly the same twice.

Materials that hold the rooms together

Architectural concrete and wood accents are the clearest material pair in the house, but they are joined by stone, plaster-look walls and carefully chosen soft furnishings. The mix is more about surface than spectacle. Wood appears in cupboards, slats and selected wall elements; stone turns up in the floor, the kitchen island and the bathroom; concrete keeps the exterior volume sharp. The palette works because each material has a clear role. Nothing is pushed too far, and nothing is asked to do the work of everything else.

That measured approach is what makes the house feel believable as a place to live, not just to photograph. The furniture and finishes keep the rooms grounded, while the glass, the stepped plan and the covered terrace keep bringing the eye outward. Seen from inside, the house is full of lines leading to the garden. Seen from outside, the shifting volumes and vertical slats give the facade a steady pulse. It is a modern villa with lots of glass and a covered terrace, but also a house that uses structure, shade and material weight to make that openness livable every day.

Photography – Tim Van de Velde