The residence of the family, originally designed by architect Jan Rietveld, lacked a true dialogue with its generous landscaped garden. To strengthen this relationship, the family asked us to design an extension: a living kitchen that could act as a new heart of the home. The brief also called for a sitting area for eight around a fireplace, a generous living/dining kitchen, and an enlarged bathroom and master bedroom.
Our concept introduces a circulation space as an intermediary threshold: perceived from the house as an outside, and from the garden as an inside. This subtle inversion creates a shifting sense of orientation, blurring boundaries between dwelling and landscape.
The living kitchen, measuring 6.5 by 6.5 metres, is positioned on the northeast side of the house. In doing so, the plan now revolves around two spacious rooms: the existing living room on one side, and the new living kitchen on the other, connected by a central axis of movement. At the pivot point of this axis, a small library forms an intimate hinge between old and new.
Three fully glazed façades define the extension. Two are concealed with timber louvres, offering privacy and filtered light: from inside, there are wide, uninterrupted views across the landscape, while from outside, the volume reads as a quiet, closed form. The third, more open façade faces a small flower garden. It is this garden, paired with the new addition, that becomes the true mediator, weaving house and landscape into a single continuum.
w/ daad architecten
