Situated just outside the city of Amsterdam on the tip of an island, this modern home takes advantage of both natural and urban views with immense glass space and outdoor recreation areas. Designed by the local firm of Studioninedots, the house features a unique diamond shape reminiscent of the pointed piece of land it occupies. As a result, certain edges of the house appear grand and wide while others appear very minimalistic and compact. The residence spans three full stories, with a basement that still sees natural light because of intelligent architectural features. The main level’s public rooms are bordered by glass window walls (including an interesting curving facade at the front), while the top floor is obscured by custom-designed shutters with granular openings.
Inside the dwelling, a smart combination of structural stress points allows for a very open middle floor, complete with living room, kitchen, and dining space. The concrete exterior walls provide plenty of support, while a centrally-situated staircase hides more structure holding up each level. Most daily activities occur on the main floor, where luxurious contemporary finishes look out over the water at the wetlands and towards Amsterdam. Below, a guest bedroom and theater room give special-occasion entertainment and extra space in a darker, wood-lined atmosphere. On the top floor, the bedrooms of each permanent resident are housed along a hallway lit by skylights and ambient wall-mounted bulbs, with the shutters casting an array of pinpoint lights as well.
From certain angles, the house appears almost impossibly thin for the amount of space it contains, a result of clever floorplan work and minimal black-finished concrete walls.
The only side of the home without significant clear glass area is its right edge, where only a single shuttered deck populates the portion of the wall built above the ground. However, a row of windows occupies this edge’s below-ground facade, dug out of the lot with the bulk of the home appearing to float above it.
Under the roofline which continues past the glass’s curved face, a small covered patio area has been built for relaxation just steps from home.
Next to the two deck chairs, an eye-level slit in the exterior wall gives a view of Amsterdam across the river to the right, allowing somebody in the chair to see the wetlands and city at the same time.
At the opposite edge of the house, a shining stainless steel door boldly marks entry into the main floor. While this wall contains glass and shutters just like at the front, here they’re more subdued in style.
One level below, a hidden pseudo-basement holds a number of supplementary spaces, including a guest suite which can be accessed directly via a staircase next to the home’s main entrance. To prevent those rooms from being completely closed off, the lot is sloped downward along one edge to allow light into wide, sunken windows.
The rooms of the first floor are arranged along the line created by the angle going back into it from the left side of the house, with direct views out the inward edge of the glass.
The top-floor shutters can be completely opened, as well, letting in light to many private spaces and even creating elevated built-in decks along the upstairs hallway.
The main floor of the house is characterized by an open floorplan revolving around the home’s staircase, with views from nearly every side out floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside is a spacious living room, dining room, and kitchen, with access to each floor above and below.
Those same windows cast impressive linear shadows which shift as the light of the day changes.
By night, light comes from rows of recessed bulbs spaced throughout the main floor and basement. Above on the top floor, Skylights and warm mood lighting give a more shadowy, private appeal.
From the tree-trunk dining table or ultramodern living room, occupants of the dwelling can look out across the water towards canal-front wetlands. The two largest window sections of the house are on this side, taking maximum advantage of the island’s best views.
The black-finished style of the staircase mirrors the exterior of the house, along with the long and low fireplace which forms the back wall of the living room at the rear of the main floor. Another long window wall at the back contains the main door to the house.
The kitchen takes on an industrial-chic vibe, with concrete and stainless steel dominating the room. The space is finished very minimally, with storage and sink space built into the staircase behind and only a long, low island countertop in the center of the room.
The staircase itself at the center of the house acts as a structural piece, allowing such an open floorplan on the main level. Descending to the basement, you’ll find the guest bedroom, storage, and additional living space. Above, private rooms span the upper floor.
The top floor of the house, which contains the bedrooms of those who live there daily, is significantly more closed-off than the glass-fronted living area below. Even where there are windows upstairs, custom made ultramodern shutters span from floor to ceiling to obscure the view inward.
Two layers separate the interior from the outdoors at the home’s front, meaning that when its shutters are drawn aside, this skylit hallway space becomes a covered upper deck. The pinhole openings in the shutters cast brilliant shadow patterns upon the corridor.
Since the master bedroom is situated two floors above the guest room and down a section of the upstairs hallway all to itself, there is no need for a door. Instead, a ceiling-height opening leads inside without hindrance.
The master bathroom includes its own shutter cut-out and a floorplan centered around a dark-stained wood vanity, with a walk-in shower and freestanding tub on either side.
Very close attention is paid to the custom details of the decor, especially in the stainless steel pieces which area present in the doors, kitchen, and bathrooms of the residence. Everything down to the door handles and drains have been custom-made if possible.
On the basement floor, against the sloping side of the building which allows some light into the submerged level, an additional living room combined with a home theater provides private recreational space.
Studioninedots
