Patio Villa

Transformation of a rundown bungalow into a lush home that blends indoors and outdoors and features a pool patio and a captivating architectural routing

Private residential, transformation and extension, 520 sqm, The Netherlands

Reinventing the Old Modernist Bungalow

This project originated from a 1960s L-shaped bungalow that, over the years, lost its charm and character due to ad-hoc refurbishments and extensions. Nestled in a rural setting, the bungalow enjoys vast private fields in addition to its private garden. The new owner entrusted us with the task of reinventing the house’s original character by both adding an extension and modernizing the existing structure.
Our first decision was to remove the pitched roof added in the 1990s. This restored the front elevation to its original height, recapturing the house’s modernist charm. Next, we extended the old bungalow with a generous living room with glass walls to create a U-shaped ground floor plan. The building surrounds the existing outdoor swimming pool area and transforms it into a courtyard. The old bungalow part on the ground floor contains guest bedrooms, a home office and utilitarian areas. A new recessed first-floor level discretely contains the bedrooms of the family. Lastly, next to the new living area towards the large open garden and fields, we introduced a pergola structure with louvres which can be rotated and retracted. This creates a gradual transition from the interior to partly covered outdoor areas to the garden to the fields and beyond.
The house is insulated and upgraded to become an energy efficient home. The roof contains a green landscape and photovoltaic panels for the energy supply of the house.

The House as an Architectural Route of Experiences

For the reorganisation of the villa, we introduced the concept of the Promenade Architecturale of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. The Backbone of the new house is the long hall which connects all the indoor and outdoor areas. A walk along this corridor offers views to the different parts of the house and gardens as a sequence of experiences and impressions. In the house it ends in the new kitchen and living area, which is a panorama platform with long views towards the green landscape. From there the route continues over the terraces and gardens into the fields.

Concept for Form and Material

The original character of the bungalow is reinvented as a play of long horizontal lines on the building volumes. The villa features a limited pallet of colours and materials. The white stucco rendered walls are an original feature of the bungalow. Horizontal wall elements of naturally weathered vertical fraké wooden planks with smaller window openings in between and long strips of glass create a precise composition. In the living room the enormous glass walls with grey aluminium frames slide away to transform this space a covered outdoor living area. The internal floor is polished cast in situ concrete and the outdoor terraces are a mix of wood and stone. The robust materials create a tranquil atmosphere with a colour pallet that consists of different shades of white and grey within the green landscape.

Staycation at its Best

The generous layout with its big variety of indoor and outdoor spaces blends the house into its beautiful surroundings. Everywhere in or around the house you experience the wonderful rural landscape. Arriving home after a long day feels like returning to your everyday holiday.

Design team: Majka Mikulska, Edwin Larkens, Matteo Talarico, Jovita Laurukėnaitė, Magnus Weightman, Alberto Nanni
Client: private
Photography: Ossip van Duivenbode
Status: completed 2022