Living on the attic | Pieter Graaff

Contemporary demands for this 14th century attic in Utrecht, the Netherlands, are draped as a new historic layer over the existing construction. A building with a rich history dating back to the 14th Century, on the Dutch national list of monuments (status: Rijksmonument), is since long time in residential use. The house is located in the very centre of Utrecht, along the oldest canal of the city. The 73m2 attic however had no possible function but storage as no daylight entered the space. Insulation of the roof, bringing in daylight through the introduction of roof windows and two dormers formed the boundary conditions to make domestic use of this attic possible. The design of a compact sanitary cell unit and a kitchen allows the attic to function as an independent apartment. Roof windows are placed behind the 14th century wooden construction, so that no historic material was lost and the experience of the space, determined by this original structure, is retained. The windows are less more than holes in the outer skin of the roof. The dormers, when opened, are abstract rectangular holes, just framing the fantastic view. Even the roller-blinds are given a small cavity so that they don’t obstruct this view while they are lapped. In this way, a maximum of spaciousness is realised within in a minimum of transgression of the original. For the exterior, the dormers are designed merely as subtle adjustments of the building instead of contrasting additions. The front view of these dormers are less more than the combination of the window frame and the fascias. In size and colour, they are adjusted to fit the existing facades. The bathroom is a compressed rectangular shape that is modestly placed as an object in the continuous space. With these interventions a modern apartment is created in the compact attic while preservation the historic qualities.