Within the house, music and sound form its conceptual and spatial core. The building functions as an acoustic buffer between the road and the garden, shielding the more intimate interior from the noise of the outside world. On the second floor, an atelier is dedicated to vocal practice and teaching, while on the first floor, a quiet office accommodates the partner’s work. In this way, the house carefully balances artistic production with the rhythms of everyday professional life.
Set in Groningen, the house has been pushed far toward the water, where it becomes a boundary between two contrasting landscapes: the reed fields and the cultivated garden. It is conceived as an architectural expression of inhabiting this threshold, a place that belongs to neither side entirely, but mediates between both.
At the heart of this mediation lies the entrance patio, organised around a single tree. From here, both landscapes are visible at once. The patio offers a moment of pause and orientation, functioning simultaneously as a connector between the reed land and the garden, and as a hinge between living and working, between withdrawal and engagement.
Inside, the sequence of spaces unfolds as an acoustic journey. As one moves through the house, each room reveals its own sonic identity, shaped by variations in height, width, depth, and materiality. These subtle shifts give rise to distinct acoustic atmospheres, allowing the house to be experienced not only through sight but also through listening.
w/ daad architecten
