House R

House R | Eindhoven, Netherlands | 2022
[Eek en Dekkers + Studio of Things]

A simple volume where space, light, use of materials and color create quality for family life.

The client was clear at the first meeting: they wanted an honest and nice family home. Special in its simplicity. The focus had to be the quality of living for the family.

Apart from that, the budget was a reason to build pragmatically. We were confident that these principles would lead to an esthetical quality and would unexpectedly produce a special result. To meet the clients’ requirements, we chose to use industrial building methods to create a large volume in the form of a barn. The various residential functions are, as it were, composed within the building volume.

As a basis, we made a basement under the barn one meter above ground level. The living spaces in the basement have become a kind of garden room because of the windows, which protrude into the green garden-like loopholes. The basement is connected to the floors by open staircases.

The family lives connected in the whole house, but sleeping, working, playing and the entrance can be closed off with doors, which allows for privacy when wanted. Because of the somewhat higher location and the fact that the house is placed backward in relation to the neighbors, there is more and longer sun around the house and the garden plays an important role at both the front and the back.

Despite the industrial construction where the steel construction covered with corrugated aluminum cladding with slender profiles determines the image, the house is almost energy neutral. Under the corrugated skin, it is a pragmatic modern house. Text description by the architects.

EXTRA TEXT (by Studio of Things, Interior Design, Material & Color Concept)
EXTERIOR
The exterior of House R is clad with anodized aluminium corrugated sheet. The anodization (chemical treatment) creates a matt silver color. The material softly reflects the environment. The house comes to live with sunlight, changing colors throughout the day; bright and gently reflecting in full sun and a beautiful combination of gray and blue in the morning and evening twilight.

The shape and the use of materials give House R a modern, industrial, technical look. The house is in the middle of a lush garden. The house and the garden reinforce each other.

INTERIOR
The interior is characterized by balanced material and use of color; ash and oak walls and (sliding)doors provide tactility and warmth. The steel and concrete makes for a pure and readable experience.

The base color of the interior is gray RAL 9018. It is used for all outer walls, curtains, the stairs, balustrade and steel in the main volume. The rooms and inner walls are executed in wood or in color. The pronounced colors and mix of materials create a playful and cozy atmosphere.

The vertical lines seen in the polycarbonate panels, corrugated glass and in the wave curtains create a visual reference to the corrugated sheets; connecting the interior to the exterior.

HOUSE R is full of bold contrasts and beautiful textures, both inside and out.
The cool blue of the kitchen next to the terra cotta red in the hallway reinforce each other and make both spaces pop. By combining steel, concrete (cool, hard) and wood (warm and soft), all the materials become more pronounced.

Textures infuse the home with warmth, it caters not just your sense of sight, but also your sense of touch. Woodgrain, mesh and perforated steel, corrugated glass and mesh curtains gives the home a tactile richness.

The effect of contrast can even be seen outside, the basic geometric shape of the house stands out in the lush garden. The plants grow on to the 5x5cm mesh steel, showing a beautiful composition of organic and graphic shapes. The living spaces in the basement have become a kind of garden rooms due to the windows that project into the green garden like loopholes.