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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Architects Ooze of Paris and Rotterdam extended this Rotterdam residence by wrapping a new faceted skin over the house's existing collection of buildings and extensions.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Called Villa Rotterdam, the project creates a new staircase, kitchen and extra bedrooms in the spaces between the old house and new shell.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Prefabricated solid timber panels were used to speed construction.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The building has green roofs and is clad in wooden panels made from fast-growing softwood that's treated in a high-tech process to make it more durable than tropical hardwoods.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

See also: Between the Waters by Ooze and Marjetica Potrc

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

More stories about residential extensions on Dezeen »

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Photographs are copyright Jeroen Musch & Ooze.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The information that follows is from the architects:


Living in a Structure

This detached Rotterdam house had been extended several times in recent decades. Ooze architects translated the owners' desire to recycle the 'soul' of the house by transforming it in an unusual way. The young architectural firm began with a commission to design a kitchen that then evolved into a complete renovation.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The design was based on the maximum building envelope: ridge height, as well as the depth of the extension was defined by the zoning plan. "We simply connected these points" says Eva Pfannes, the architect who designed the transformed house along with her studio partner, Sylvain Hartenberg. The house on which Ooze began to work had gradually grown over the years.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

It now consisted of two perpendicular building volumes with a pitched roof, a lower semicircle building in between connecting the two parts, and several extensions on the other side in the angle of the hook-shaped house.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The owners wanted to reform these incoherent parts into a logical and comprehensive whole. The pre-defined maximum envelope formed the guideline for a new skin that wraps around the old house and shapes new spaces for inhabitation. The new kitchen and a brief to increase the number of bedrooms were the launch for the redesign of the entire house of which the staircases form the backbone.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The layout has been totally reorganized around a central void. A new staircase on the north wall is servicing first and second floor.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Inside, the building manifests itself through a formal language based on prefabricated, solid wood triangles that have a direct reference to the old roof. Folds and facets were generated by an intuitive rationalism following what was permitted and what would benefit the space inside. This skin becomes the structure which sits like a hat on top of the existing one and works as a load carrier to bring down the additional weight burden of the new floors and roofs.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The only construction method able to provide the precision and speed of delivery requested by the client was prefabricated solid timber panel (Lenotec) for the structure of the skin (roof, walls and floor). The prefabricated, solid wood - LENOTEC - elements were cut and arrived as a 3D kit on the building site.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

This internal structure communicates a sense of the new and the old: living in a new structure as well as with the old walls. The transition between the two is subtle and gradual - as you go up in the house, the new gradually supercedes the old. The spaces generated for inhabitation become very different and very specific, enriching the life within in the house.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The material also allowed the outer walls and roof to remain relatively thin. Within the given building envelope a maximum interior space could be realized. By varying the thickness of the single material, it could serve as outer wall, roof, interior wall, stair balustrade and stringer.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The result is a succession of spaces where the difference between ceiling, wall and floor are gone and thus overlap.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The intervention that started the process of transformation remains the most important. Through the creation of a void, the architects transformed the dark and cramped existing stairwell into a bright and social space.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

The exterior references traditional Dutch farms through the use of sedum green roofs and black stained ACCOYA (High-technology fast growing, sustainably-sourced wood more durable than teak) planks in a standard width of 15cm. The lines of the cladding wrap around the house like a continuous new skin.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Beyond style or architectural aesthetic, the aim was to engage in a process of rediscovery of the vernacular, to introduce a dialogue between the old and preserved and the new, and to explore a new language which reinterprets the old. It is not an object, it is a collection of very comfortable spaces which are intertwined with the landscape, an extended envelope which extends the possibilities of inhabitation.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

We are convinced that reclaiming the past is a form a rediscovery of a different future, away from the tabula rasa, a more sustainable and inspiring way of enriching the environment we live in.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

Clients words after completion of the house: "The house is a precedent in establishing a new culture of dealing with an existing structure.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

"Recycling" is another nature of work; therefore it is not a formalistic but a conceptual house. The new and old come together, in fact they are melted together. The old does not disappear, it is enhanced, and all shapes of the original are still there. The new reacts to it and explodes the space, and creates an interesting expression. Everything has its value and all shapes have a reason.

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

An openness in both parties, architect and client, was necessary to make the project more special and more stunning. We went together through an incredible process and the project is the result of this. Both the recycling of the structure and the process can be seen as a sign of the times that will make it into a landmark."

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

OOZE 063: Villa Rotterdam
PROJECT: Villa refurbishment
LOCATION: Rotterdam - NL
AREAS: 500m2

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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TEAM:
Architect: OOZE architects (Eva Pfannes & Sylvain Hartenberg)
Assistants: Rene Sangers,
Interns: Eloka Som, Maartje Franse

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Building Consultant: BOUWHAVEN Consultants (Ruud Ghering, Corstiaan Verschoor, Jasper Martens)
Engineer: Pieters Bouwtechniek ( Jaap Dijks)
Main contractor: DB Bouw BV

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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CAD 3d construction-
drawings: Bouwbreed BV
Services: Interdaad installbouw
Inbuilt furniture: Binnenruimte
Styling: Dutch Style Company (Monique van der Reijden)
DATE: 2009 - 2010

Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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Villa Rotterdam by Ooze

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See also:

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