Villa SR | Reitsema & partners architects

  When  older  houses  are  preserved,  it  is  often  because  of  their  recyclability.  They  have  high  ceilings,  daylight,  large   rooms  and  wide  doors.  But  there  is  one  more  important  reason  we  don’t  demolish  them.  We  love  them,  because  their   architecture  is  good  and  they  are  made  of  beautiful  materials.  Preserve  your  house,  or  make  a  new  one  with  a  high   long  term  value,  and  you  make  your  house  more  environmental  friendly.  By  not  only  looking  at  the  cost  of  the  total   investments,  but  being  aware  of  the  monthly  costs,  sustainable  solutions  become  feasible.   The  clients,  a  married  couple  in  their  fifties  whose  children  have  left  home,  in  first  instance  felt  that  their  Villa  on  the   newly  acquired  dream  site  in  Rijssen  should  be  350  m2.  Nevertheless,  after  the  first  design  brainstorm,  their  first   decision  was  to  halve  the  desired  size  of  the  house.  With  a  compact  setup  priority  could  be  given  to  good  materials   and  energy-­‐saving  solutions  over  the  number  of  square  metres.     A  compact  setup  also  meant  a  chance  to  focus  on  the  most  specific  quality  of  the  building  location:  it’s  view.    The  Villa   was  to  be  built  among  a  number  of  other  villas  on  a  plot  on  an  ordinary  residential  street  but  with  a  most  unusual   view  from  the  back  gardens.     Designed  to  face  this  beautiful  landscape  Villa  SR  simply  and  naturally  captures  the  landscape  as  a  large  picture  frame,   in  order  to  amplify  it.  It  does  so,  not  only  for  its  residents,  but  also  for  the  passersby,  connecting  the  surrounding   landscape  with  the  neighborhood.  The  carport  lies  in  line  with  the  street  plan  and  just  shows  the  tip  of  the  ‘Holter   mountain’  in  the  distance.  Plus  in  June,  exactly  at  that  same  spot  the  sun  sets.     The  overhang,  that  in  summer  for  shade,  provides  a  terrace  over  the  full  width  of  the  house.  A  second  terrace  is  found   in  the  patio  which  is  behind  the  brick  façade;  ideal  for  breakfast  in  the  morning  hours.  An  additional  evening  patio  can   be  found  in  the  lee  of  the  carport  and  is  ideally  suited  for  an  intimate  dinner.  A  sliding  door  makes  it  possible  to  close   the  space  off  from  the  streets,  while  providing  shelter  from  the  wind.  A  setup  which  enables  to  dwell  in  concurrence   with  the  landscape.   By  involving  the  construction  engineer  already  on  a  very  early  stage  in  the  design  process  the  design   team  managed  to  guarantee  maximum  transparency  towards  the  landscape.  Lifted  just  above  the  ground,   the  open  floor  plan  the  concrete  roof  is  supported  by  only  three  100-­‐mm  outer  walls  and  three  60-­‐ mm  diameter  chrome  columns.     Asking  the  brick  supplier  to  add  yellow  clay  and  to  burn  the  batch  of  bricks  very  close  to  the  fire  of  the  oven,  we  were   able  to  create  a  richness  of  colors  and  a  glazed  look  here  and  there.  From  a  distance  the  stones  look  remotely  flat  and   dark,  but  from  more  up  close  a  shiny  shade  of  black  and  yellow  appears,  offering  a  new  interpretation  of  a  local   product.   Encouraged  by  the  design,  father  and  son  -­‐  both  experienced  carpenters  -­‐  felt  enabled  to  choose  to  build  the  building   themselves.  Personally  involved  they  were  committed  very  accurate  execution  while  forming  motivated  collocutors  to   improving  them  further.  This  integrated  design  approach  resulted  in  a  timeless  architectonic  gesture,  in  which  long   term  value  and  high  comfort  per  m2  instead  of  the  total  numbers  of  m2  are  key.  Low-­‐tech,  in  order  to  produce  high-­‐ quality  space.     The  Villa  includes  the  use  of  a  heat  pump,  a  low  temperature  floor  heating  system  and  a  cooling  ceiling,  combined  with   high  quality  thermal  insulation.  Frames,  grilles,  curtain  rails  and  other  connections  are  all  custom  designed  and   integrated.  Guided  by  the  design  principle  of    “less  is  more”,  no  distracting  elements  obscure  it’s  clarity.     The  investigating  attitude  and  ongoing  engagement  of  al  parties  in  designing  this  sustainable  almost-­‐passive  house   resulted  in  a  high  quality  and  poetic  architectural  dream  and  ensur