This corner house by Sophie Valla Architects and Marc Koehler Architects is the latest of 670 architect-designed homes to be completed at a new development masterplanned by architects MVRDV in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Called Twisted Corner, the home is part of the Nieuw Leyden district, located on the site of a former slaughterhouse. See more Dezeen stories about houses in Nieuw Leyden.

The house comprises three floors that differ in plan to create the irregular angles of the facade.

Grey panels in graduating shades give the false impression of a shadow on the house exterior.

More stories about Dutch houses on Dezeen »

Photography is by Luuk Kramer.

Here are some more details from Sophie Valla:

Twisted Corner

In Leiden (Netherlands), private commissioning was chosen for the development of the residential area Nieuw Leyden on the former slaughterhouse site. For the house in the corner plot that the studio Sophie Valla Architects was asked to design, the corner was chosen as starting point and inspiration. The end result offers the inhabitants an unexpected sense of space and changing views.

For this high density area bordering the city centre, MVRDV in Rotterdam conceived a master plan based on a double ground level: closed building blocks on half sunken parking-lots. This allowed for a densely built neighbourhood, but green and with little traffic. A common coordinator, contractor and advisors worked on each building block. Then each plot owner was able to design his house according to his own needs and wishes.

The house was built for a young family. From the beginning, the value of the corner position of the plot was fully exploited. The clients were extensively involved in the conception and building process, watching over and nourishing the tectonic quality of the design.

The lateral façade of the house ending the block presents an intriguing and dynamic play of lines and volume. This is brought about by shifts in the orientation of the façade at each of the three floors. A 'transformation' of the geometry of the front and back façades over the length of this side is thereby created. Four supporting columns in the house are freeing the lateral façade from its load bearing function, enabling this free play.

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The horizontal transformation is accompanied over the whole façade by a vertical articulation of the surface panelling and of the window frames. The high and narrow windows on this wall not only emphasise the vertical articulation; from the inside they also give clearly framed views while their form limits the possibility of looking in.

On the ground floor, bordered by a pedestrian street and the park, is a playroom for the children. The living space is on the first floor. The large window at the front looks into the park, creating a spacious quality inside and offering interesting perspectives to the park.

Materials

The façades were executed with prefabricated wooden frame panels.
Panels of Eternit in different shades of grey were used to cover the façades. The distribution of the greys accentuates the flowing transformation on the lateral façade and reduces the cutting loss of the Eternit to a minimum. The extra thick seams between the panels, as well as the heavily profiled wooden window frames, accentuate the vertical articulation of this façade.

Private house in Nieuw Leyden, Leiden

Address: Alexander Gogelstraat 6, 2316 DV Leiden
Client: Floor en Barry Pepers
Design: Sophie Valla architects in collaboration with Marc Koehler architects
Project architect and realisation: Sophie Valla architects
Team: Wouter Hendrikson, Petr Ulrich
Construction advisor: Buro Broersma
Installations advisor: S&W, van Leeuwen
Contractor: KbK Bouw
Bruto surface: 233 m2
Netto surface: 122 m2
Completion: February 2011

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and Marc Koehler Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Dutch architecture studio GAAGA have completed this house in Leiden, the Netherlands, with a roof that pitches inwards to create a V-shaped profile.

Named V-House for this reason, the building forms part of a terraced row and is located on a former industrial area where experimental housing is encouraged.

The roof shape is emphasised internally by exposed wooden eaves, which stand out from an otherwise monochrome interior.

The bedrooms of the house are located on the ground floor and the living room and kitchen can be found on the open-plan, L-shaped first floor.

Photography is by Marcel van der Burg.

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The following information is from the architects:

V-House, Leiden

V-House is designed for a private client and is located in the urban planning area “Nieuw Leyden”, a high dense area in the city of Leiden (The Netherlands).

Urban context

The site is a former industrial area near the city centre, designated by the city of Leiden as an experimental housing zone where people can develop their own homes. The local authorities supplied a schematic urban plan based on a grid, giving private persons a framework to fill in. It consists of more than a hundred plots in a pedestrian precinct. Regarding the appearance of the houses there are no limiting conditions other than a fixed maximum volume.

V-House is part of an ensemble of eight houses which are grouped side by side and back to back. Each house is an autonomous object designed by a different architect. The houses are connected to each other by means of a party wall. V- House is situated on a plot which has a surface area of nine by sixteen meter. The house itself is approximately nine by ten meter, leaving a space of six by ten meter for a garden at the back side of the house.

Architectural design
V-House is a white stucco abstract looking house of which the V-shaped roof is its most striking feature. The roof is constructed of wood and is modeled after a common saddle roof with the difference that the top is turned downwards, resulting in a dip at the centre of the house. From the outside the V-shaped roof gives the house its distinguishing and dynamic appearance and from the inside it vitalizes and intensifies the interior space. The roof is thus an important constituent of the architecture.

The house covers a practically square area and consists of two floors. On the outside there is no clear distinction between the floors; the façade is composed as an unambiguous whole with a cluster of windows in the middle. From the inside though, each floor has a typical program and spatial lay-out.

The top floor accommodates the living, dining and kitchen area. It is one open space, with a varying height of 2.8 meters at the centre to 4.1 meters at the edges. At the front corner of the floor a large void is situated. This vacant space not only links the upper floor to the ground floor, it also creates an L-shaped floor plan. The freestanding bearing wall at the inner corner of the “L“, together with the dip in the roof, divides the space in two: the kitchen and void on the left side and the living and dining area on the right. In this way the kitchen area is subtle separated from the sitting area. The interior and outward vistas, resulting from a well thought-out positioning of openings (windows, roof lights, void, and openings between the bearing wall and façade), evoke a sense of openness and spaciousness. In addition to this the use of natural materials like stone and wood contributes to an informal and friendly atmosphere.

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The ground floor accommodates different functions which are zoned in adjacent strips parallel to the partition walls. The strip in the middle accommodates the stairway, the corridor and also the entrance hall from where a view is presented to the garden, the street, the void and the roof. Through the corridor the two other strips are opened up: at the right side a strip designated for private rooms like bedrooms and bathroom and on the left side a more than three meter wide strip accommodating a large polyvalent space. Because of the void overlapping this space, there is a strong visual relation with the kitchen and sitting area on the top floor. Furthermore, the large window situated at the top of the front façade and the casement doors at the back façade provide a view of the sky and the closed garden respectively. These interior and outward vistas in combination with the natural light coming in from above (roof lights, top window) make the space intriguing, poetic and serene.

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Factsheet
Architects: GAAGA
Team: Esther Stevelink and Arie Bergsma
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Client: private
Realisation: 2008 - 2010
Contractor: Verbeij Bouw, Boskoop.
Structural Engineering: IMD, Rotterdam
Energy performance & building physics: GAAGA - Arie Bergsma

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Rotterdam studio Pasel Kuenzel Architects have completed another house for MVRDV's masterplan in Leiden, the Netherlands (see the other houses here).

Called V35K18, the residence is separated from the house behind by a narrow glazed section, which forms the entrance.

The glazing covers a corridor extending the full height of the building, sandwiched between the two houses.

A long staircase reaches from the entrance at ground level right up to the second floor, with landings leading off into each level.

A work space is located at ground level, living spaces on the first floor and bedrooms on the top floor.

The architects have designed 10 other houses on this former industrial site and this residence sits opposite the zinc-clad V36K08/09 house in our earlier story.

Photographs are by Marcel van der Burg.

All our stories on this series of houses by Pasel Kuenzel Architects »

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Here's some more information from the architects:

RESIDENCE * V35K18, the Netherlands

V35K18 residence is located on the southern corner of an urban block comprising 18 utterly different houses. Due to its distinct design, clear materialisation and dark color the compact building forms a dominant ‘corner stone’ within the existing urban fabric.

All architectural details are subordinate to this principle. The massive brick volume is detached from the adjacent neighbour building by a glazed void and the square floor-to-ceiling windows are detailed flush into the facade. The smaller but longer ‘Hilversum-format’ of the bricks allows for an surprising elegancy and noblesse, and at the same time the black color of the facade associates directly with the traditional Dutch buildings dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th century.

Functional, the residence is set up in a classical Dutch way: work related program is located on the ground floor, living on the bel-etage and sleeping on the upper floor. The spectacular cascade stairwell situated in the glazed void on the long side of the building, generates an overwhelming space between the public and private realm.

Architect: pasel.kuenzel architects, Rotterdam , NL
Team: R. Pasel, F. Künzel
Client: Private
Location: Leiden, NL

See also:

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V36K08/09 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	V21K07 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	V21K01 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects

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Here's another house by Rotterdam studio Pasel Kuenzel Architects located on a former industrial site in Leiden, Netherlands as part of their series of eleven town houses for the area.

Called V36K08/09, the zinc-clad building comprises two separate dwellings for a mother and son, each with its own patio.

A wooden gate encloses leads directly onto a patio, which acts as the entrance area for the house.

On the upper part of the building, floor to ceiling windows in the living spaces look out onto a terrace.

This series of houses is part of an urban masterplan by Dutch architects MVRDV (See our previous stories on homes by Pasel Kuenzel Architects here and here).

Photographs are by Marcel van der Burg, primabeeld.

The following information is from the architects:

V36K08/09 - URBAN DIVA

On a former industrial site close to the historical heart of the renowned Dutch university city of Leiden, emerges one of the biggest urban developments of private-collective dwellings in the Netherlands.

In their series of eleven town houses, Rotterdam based architects pasel.künzel architects present yet another exceptional residence.

V36K08/09 is the front end of a terrace that is built on a collective parking garage.

The residence comprises two separate dwellings for mother and son, including two spacious and hidden patios.

The dark pre-patinated zinc façade with its subtle disposition of seams gives the building a calm but yet spectacular appearance.

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Looking from the outside, the house appears rather compact and closed - a fortress in the urban tissue.

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Only by entering the estate through the heavy wooden gate, one gets into an utterly different inner world - an oasis of tranquillity, a living space that is generous and open, where inside and outside merge into each other.

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See also:

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V21K07 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	V21K01 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	More architecture stories on Dezeen

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Rotterdam studio Pasel Kuenzel Architects have completed a house on the site of a former slaughterhouse in Leiden, Netherlands, inverting the typical functions by putting the lounge at the top and the attic at the bottom.

Called V21K07, the house is one of 11 to be built on the site as part of a masterplan by Dutch architects MVRDV (see our earlier story)

The building is clad in a black coloured timber and sliding shutters provide privacy and shading.

The living area is situated on the top floor, in order to maximise panoramic views of the city.

Photographs are by Marcel van der Burg.

Here's some more information from the architects:

On the territory of a former slaughterhouse in the historical heart of the Dutch university city of Leiden, emerges one of the biggest urban developments of private dwellings in the Netherlands. In their series of eleven, Rotterdam based architects pasel.künzel architects present yet another amazing house giving a new interpretation of the classical Dutch housing typology.

V21K07 puts the functions of a classical House upside-down! In order to profit the most from direct sunlight and the panoramic views over the city the functions of the house were piled up in a rather unusual way. The living area with its generous southeast-orientated roof terrace is situated on the top floor. As there are no partition walls, the open space allows for stunning views over the historical centre of Leiden.

By contrast the ground floor holds a multipurpose room, giving the opportunity for all inhabitants to make use of it, be it for playing or working, for reading or collective activities. This exposes activities that would normally be the hidden in the attics of Dutch houses.

By means of big windows inside and outside merges, making the entrance porch, which replaces the traditional front garden, the communicative heart of the building, as well as an informal meeting spot with the whole neighbourhood. The continuous wooden design of floor, wall and ceiling create a subtle transition from public to private.

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Using the full footprint of the plot, the storey in the middle accommodates the kids’ rooms and the master bedroom. Through its cantilever it allows for the entrance area of the house.

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The black coloured timber façade refers directly to the historical black wooden houses in the region. In order to minimize costs, details were reduced to a bare minimum and only one window format was used. Sliding shutters on the outside allow for privacy and overheating in the summer. The building meets all low-energy standards.

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Architect: pasel.kuenzel architects, Rotterdam, NL
Team: R. Pasel, F. Künzel, F. Sack, S. Wolff, S. Bein, S. Pape
Client: Privat
Photos: Marcel van der Burg

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See also:

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V21K01 by Pasel Kuenzel Architects	Herringbone Houses by Alison Brooks Architects	More architecture stories on Dezeen

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