ROTTERDAM-MULLERPIER

Status: Feasibility study

Program: Study for four row single family housing types

Total floor area: average 350 sqm

Budget: confidential

Client: confidential

Location: Rotterdam

Design: 2014

TYPE 1

The idea of the house with the central linear service box begins with the aim of creating a clear separation between the circulation and the living space. This partition is readable on the frontside and the backside, in fact the facade is closed in correspondence to the service box and widely opened in front of the living spaces. Important points of the project are the light and the ventilation system which are improved by the side void that goes through the building.The access to the complex from the street is soften by the garden in front of the house that can be enjoyed in the summertime.The entrance to the house is on the first floor, leaving the ground floor totally independent and assuming a multifunctional aspect that could fit to the needs of each family.This solution is characterized by a central space in which the vertical circulation is next to the linear block for bathrooms, toilets, closets and relax space. Around this central box the house shows a large variety of space as kitchen, dining room, living room, playroom, storage and the top floors for the bedrooms. Thanks to the central box the rooms can benefit from a total indipendence and privacy. On the last floor the masterbedroom offers a spacious and bright environment due to the cointinuity and trasparency of the material. From here it is possible to acces to the external stairs that lead to the roof terrace.

TYPE 2

The house with the front service box is the most extreme experimentation between the four houses because of the unusual disposition of the spaces, but at the same time presents some advantages. In this case the service box is on the frontside of the house which has permitted to develop a glass-front facade without compromising   the privacy inside the building. From the exterior can be perceived only the internal circulation, which is also separated from the living space and allows to every floor to be totally independent. A strong point of this solution is the backward facade creating four terraces, two accesible from the backside and two from the frontside and one on the top floor leads to the roof terrace. The interior disposition is clear with an independent ground floor and the entrance on the first floor gives, in order, access to the dining room, kitchen, living room, bedrooms and master bedroom. The master bedroom has a special private space dedicated to a Spa with a turkish bath that characterized the particular shape of the roof terrace. The dome of the roof is reminded also in the garden in front of the house and with these downs creates a variety of the entrances of the complex. This typology presents wide windows on both facades ensuring lighted and ventilated spaces. In addition the solution reveals strong flexibility, in fact the disposition could be totally inverted with the box on the back according to the request.

TYPE 3

The typology of the central service box is a unique exemplar for the internal disposition. In this project the simple external facade is in opposition to the particular interior due to the central service box that creates a very compact vertical connection and splits the usual five floors in ten floors. The concentration of the service box permits to obtain well-illuminated big spaces by the wide windows on the facades with great views on both sides. In this way each floor has his own privacy and allows to create different disposition of the spaces. This model presents the entrance on the first floor and then the spaces are articulated in kitchen, dining room, office, living room, bedrooms, master bedroom, Spa and terrace.  On the groundfloor there is a closed multifunctional space. In this option the most important value is the flexibility, in fact not only it is possible to change the function of the single space, but also to move the functions in other floors or to separate the floors creating a totally independent part.

TYPE 4

The typology of the side linear service box separates the circulation space from the living space, this is an option that for many reasons stands out from the others. The house presents a double-facade system on both sides that creates optimal conditions of illumination and ventilation. There is a system of voids with different scale that can improve the light and the ventilation in the interior and they create a visual connection of the spaces giving the sensation of being in a unique open space.  The voids also allow to see through the spaces that are facing them on different floors; they are designed as small internal gardens, one horizontal facing the master bedroom and the other, the smaller one is vertical. With the systems of double-facade and voids all the spaces are overlooking the exterior and ventilated-green space. The model is designed with an independent space on the ground floor with a separate entrance to the house and then on the upper floors where there are the kitchen, living room, office, two bedrooms and masterbedroom with spa. In this option there is the possibility to change or move functions in the same floor, but it’s less flessible regarding to have more functions as office or elevate number of bedrooms or independent parts because of the lack of a floor. This lack is due to the desire of creating a very special open space on the last floor with a semi-covered terrace that can be used the entire year providing a space to relax and enjoy the view of the waterfront on the frontside and the city centre on the backside.