House with four roofs / Denkkamer
‘House with four roofs’ is a new residential building on a former land of a car company in the countryside in the North Brabant village of Boekel. The plot has a special location in the middle of structures in an old medieval agricultural area. The plot is surrounded by a small forest on one side and on the other side it has a view of the large countryside of Peel. The house expresses a new way of building and living in the rural areas of Brabant Peel municipalities.
In the area with many large agricultural buildings, a small-scale configuration has been chosen in the mass of the house by putting together four smaller archetypal volumes. By placing these volumes against each other in a cross shape, a central space is created with four wings, each with its own roof. Each wing has its own function and quality in relation to the surrounding landscape.
At the heart of the house is the junction of the central room with dining table and multimedia corner. This room is the entry point through which all areas of the house are accessible. You neither leave nor enter the house without passing through this central space. On the west side of the intersection are the two wings with living room and kitchen. Together, these wings enclose the outdoor terrace facing the garden facing the evening sun.
From the inside, the wings are characterized by openness and transparency towards the garden. Cavities, both inside and outside, offer views of the tree crowns. The entrance wing contains facilities such as a toilet and carport, but also has a staircase to the leisure room, which is located under the roof construction on this wing. The triangular facade opening provides a view to the background of the wide landscape in front. The wing on the east side is sheltered from the morning sun and contains a bathroom, laundry room and all bedrooms.
The abstraction in the detailing and the expressive facade openings give the house a monolithic appearance and reinforce the archetypal form. This makes the individual volumes readable from the outside. The plinth, roof edge and upper floor are framed by upright masonry. This creates a framework within closed wall surfaces interspersed with large facade openings that function as geometric canvases on the landscape. In terms of size and scale, the slender aluminum frames fully serve the meticulously detailed brickwork. The choice of brick, a carbon sintered extruded brick, brings together the two characteristics of abstraction and craftsmanship in detail.
