Aarle-Rixtel House, The Netherlands

Dijkmeijer House, Aarle-Rixtel Country, Netherlands 2007 Private client Extension & renovation of existing house (Remodelled House) New house on the left, old on the right: The stimulation for this kind of project is activated by the wishes and the budget of the principal, the protective village view and a re-introduction of the concept of spatiality and tactility. The front of the existing house, situated at the street, has been left intact in order to maintain its historical character. The private house was built up by small rooms with limited daylight and there was no view from the living room into the long extended back-garden. The restrictions have been reviewed and another kind of spatiality and tactility has been introduced. The extension creates direct connections and a new experience between the existing entrance and the back-garden. The spatiality has been thought out from the inside and it connects the existing house and the extension. The materialization and the play of colors have been organized in such a way that this continuity is perceptible in the interior by means of different sight lines, openings, connections as well as the treatment of the surfaces. The stairs and the built-in cupboards are made of the same material as the connecting stairs on the border of the existing house and the new extension. For the facade of the first floor the choice have been made for special treated wood which does not rot. The wooden laths have been fixed with a special designed fastening system on the back construction. The fasteners are not visible. It is a light and demountable system of wooden laths on the exterior which can be easily replaced as elements. This part of the first level has been built as wooden frame construction to make the perspective stronger with sloping planes and diagonal lines. An advantage of this system is the savings economy which has been achieved for the dimension of the foundation and by using no pales for the foundation have been used. With a traditional way of building in the Netherlands, these advantages could not be reached. The frames of the windows have been made of dark red mahogany. and are transparently painted in order to be protected against to weather influences The walls have been made of special brick, with a thickness of 35 cm with an air insulation within the brick and with a light gray plaster as a finishing layer on the outside. For the inside of the house is plaster and French Oak is used by the stairs and cabinets which are hidden under the stairs . The direction and relation between location and garden takes shape The interior and exterior is totally new in concept, connections and space through light, sequence and material on new level of experience between the existing and the new building. Dutch House building images / information from UArchitects 180408