Spotlights at the ends of tentacle-like cables illuminate the client's collection of paintings and sculptures inside a seafront apartment in Belgium.

Rotterdam architects Ooze renovated the residence for a Dutch art collector by exposing the concrete structure, reconfiguring partitions and inserting a wooden floor reclaimed from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

This wooden floor wraps up around walls, as well as over sculpture plinths.

Paintings also hang on ceilings, while the image of a hilly landscape decorates a translucent curtain hanging in the bedroom.

Bathrooms and toilets around the apartment are partially screened behind reflective blue glass and the en suite washroom is located on a platform tucked into the wall.

This is the third project by Ooze to be featured on Dezeen, following a Rotterdam residence with a faceted skin and a community garden and water treatment plant - see both projects here.

Above: photograph is by Eric Klarenbeeck

Photography is by Jeroen Musch, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: photograph is by Eric Klarenbeeck

Here are some more details from Ooze:

Knokke-Heist is a mythical cité balnéaire in Belgium.

The apartment lies on the 2nd floor with a view over the Rubensplein.

Above: photograph is by Eric Klarenbeeck

Despite its generous size, the typology of the flat is very long and narrow which makes the current layout very inefficient with regard to corridors and effective living spaces.

Above: photograph is by Ooze

A clear reorganization of the internal partitions and bathroom layouts enables us to develop a new specific concept not only for the space and the materials, but also for the display of the client art collection, a mini "personal museum".

A frame to look out at the ocean and towards the beach in the daytime, the apartment becomes a glowing space to look into at night time.

Above: photograph is by Ooze

Increasing the perception of generous space was the prime goal pursued in order to provide a new living experience within. The idea was to blur the limits of the rooms to maximize the impression, the continuity and the fluidity of space.

This was achieved by a careful planning of niches integrated into the walls creating pockets on both sides, extending the volume from one side to the other.

These miniature rooms are not touching the ground. They are perceived as floating elements, with the floor opening out below them. The fact that the edges of the ground are not visible increases the virtual gain of space.

Immateriality and materiality are used in a dynamic way to provide a clear context of the outdoor / indoor feel, transparencies and reflections:

• Concrete for walls, ceilings, and niches
• Highly reflective glass for bathrooms and cross visual panels.
• Natural wooden floor salvaged from the original Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam creating a continuous surface that morphs into furniture, inducing this feeling of unity and space.
• The provenance of the floor constitutes a reference to the art world important for the client’s ”personal museum.”
• Collaboration with the artist Maxime Ansiau has led to the design of specific tiles for the bathrooms, with manipulated illustrations of original Dutch landscapes.
• Layered curtains by Designer Eric Klarenbeek are overlaying boats and dune landscapes

They create an indoor landscape that expresses a close relationship between the client and his home country, the Netherlands.

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Ooze 51:Sea Side  Apartment
Project: Holiday Apartment for a Dutch art collector
Location: Knokke-Heist-BE
Areas: 150 m2

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Team: Ooze - Eva Pfannes, Sylvain Hartenberg, Mauricio Freyre, Rene Sangers
Consultant: Mobile Kitchen / Tiles: Maxime Ansiau  -  Artist
Dining-table: Ooze & Vincent de Rijk - Designer
Curtains: Erick Klarenbeek - Designer

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Site manager:  Ruben Cattrysse - Crux architecten
Date: Completed July 2010

The post Seaside Apartment by Ooze appeared first on Dezeen.

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.

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

Prefabricated solid timber panels were used to speed construction.

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.

See also: Between the Waters by Ooze and Marjetica Potrc

More stories about residential extensions on Dezeen »

Photographs are copyright Jeroen Musch & 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

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."

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

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

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

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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

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See also:

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23.2 by Omer Arbel	Villa by Knevel Architecten	Ty Hedfan by Featherstone Young

The post Villa Rotterdam by Ooze appeared first on Dezeen.

Rotterdam and Paris architects Ooze have collaborated with artist Marjetica Potrc to create a community garden and water treatment plant on an island in Essen, Germany.

Top photo is © Ooze
Above photo is © Roman Mensing

Called Between the Waters, the project collects rainwater, waste water, and water from the adjacent Emscher Rivert and Rhine-Herne Canal.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

The water is processed and cleaned in a visible installation, educating visitors about the processes that normally take place out of sight.

Above photo is © Florian de Visser

A walk through the community garden culminates in this water processing installation and a platform over the river to view the state of the waterways.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

The installation opens this weekend as part of The Emscherkunst 2010 event, which continues until September.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

Here's some more information from Ooze:

Between the Waters: The Emscher Community Garden

The project Between the Waters: The Emscher Community Garden is located at one of the narrowest points on Emscher Island, between the Emscher River and the Rhine-Herne Canal.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

The walk through the project starts next to the Rhine-Herne Canal, with visitors entering the Community Garden; it then leads uphill beside the fully exposed water supply and treatment installation. The walk ends on an elevated platform above the Emscher River dyke.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

Here visitors can view the challenging topography of the landscape and see for themselves how the highly polluted (and for this reason fenced-off) Emscher River is elevated above the nearby towns, which have sunk as a result of mining activity in the previous century.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

Looking down the slope towards the Rhine-Herne Canal, they have a clear view of the complex water processing installation, which works with the water on the site between the two waterways. The project is a complete and sustainable water-supply system. It uses only water from the immediate area: the Emscher River, the Rhine-Herne Canal, rainwater and waste water.

Above photo is © Roman Mensing

The main elements of the water supply and treatment installation are two toilets located above the Emscher River, a pump that draws water from the river into a septic tank, a constructed wetland (a helophyte filter), a rainwater-harvesting roof, water storage bags (“pillow tanks”), and a fountain located above the Rhine-Herne Canal that offers visitors water of drinkable quality.

Above photo is © Ooze

In addition, the system provides water for irrigating the Community Garden. The project teaches visitors about the various stages of the water supply system – usually hidden underground in their everyday environment – and engages them in such issues as the conservation, treatment and use of water.

Above photo is © Ooze

Between the Waters: The Emscher Community Garden shows it is possible to reclaim and restore the natural habitat by using low-tech processes to construct a high-tech system. Although designed for this particular site, this is a mobile system that can be replicated in other localities.

Above photo is © Ooze

Equally important, through the Community Garden the project demonstrates the importance of local residents’ involvement with sustainable practices relating to water, including water conservation and local food production. The project underscores nature’s ability to restore itself and the power of local communities to make this happen.

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Above sketch is © Potrc

PROJECT: Art installation - Autonomous water treatment system & community gardens
LOCATION: Essen - D
AREAS: 1000 m2

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CLIENT: Emschergenossenschaft
TEAM: Marjetica Potrè, Eva Pfannes - Ooze, Sylvain Hartenberg - Ooze, Florian De Visser - Ooze, Shilesh Hariharan - Ooze

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STRUCTURE – Ronald Wenting - ABT
CONSTRUCTION – Bouwhaven Consultants
WATER SYSTEM – Kilian Water
CONTRACTORS: Tiggelovend-Kok & Vandulmen

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GARDENER: Andre Piegsa
DATE: 29 / 05 / 2010 to 05 / 09 / 2010

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THANKS TO: Herr Thuena (EG), Simon Schubert (Foerder-Demmer), Mariana Idiarte, Veronika Pfannes

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See also:

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The Blue Fence Project by StudioSuperniche	OceanScope by AnL Studio	Suncheon International Wetlands Centre by G.Lab*

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