Location
The plot is located along a provincial road on the outskirts of the village of Bemmel in Gelderland. The lot is on the one hand adjacent to a new 1930s neighborhood and on the other hand in the agricultural landscape with white-painted farmhouses. We changed the zoning of the plot from agricultural zoning to a building lot.

This client’s desire was a sleek, white, modern, minimalist new construction villa combined with home office space. In addition, the desire was for all primary living functions to be located on the first floor to make the home life-long. On the first floor, in addition to the living room and kitchen, includes the master bedroom with en-suite spa bathroom and walk-in closets. The back of the villa has an enclosed veranda as much as 10 meters wide.

Design
The first floor consists of two rectangular volumes, one of which is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the other. These two volumes are set apart from each other and connected by a glass facade. This glass frontage forms the entrance to the home while providing a view through to the backyard. The second floor is a rectangular volume placed on top of the other two first floor volumes. Because of this stacking of volumes, the building becomes a monolithic entity and the house is seen as a white sculpture in the landscape. The house was given large windows to bring in the beautiful landscape as much as possible.

The floor plan/layout of the house is designed to maximize the use of passive solar energy. The house is very highly insulated and a heat pump with heat recovery system has been used in combination with solar panels. A natural swimming pond with helophyte filter system was installed next to the house. This special filter ensures that the water quality remains optimal without applications of electricity and toxins.

Photography: Chiel de Nooye