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Archipelontwerpers Completes the Steel Study House II at Leewarden

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As with their previous work, shown here in the first Steel Study House, Archipelontwerpers is interested in using off-the-shelf steel components in a way to make them individual and personal, while keeping them economical.

This is their much more ambitious second version: the Steel Study House II at Leewarden. It is also designed using lightweight prefabricated components made of steel.

Sited between the town view and the water view, a building height mesh screen is used to screen off privacy within an otherwise completely open house with a gigantic sea-viewing platform that defines the house.

The water side opens out fully to the low sea level side of Leewarden, a provincial town in the Netherlands, which is sited at the edge of the sea.

The trellis roof on the patio subtly slices up pieces of the sky to make that included in the view.

Each of the spaces within the house have long views towards the open patio, accessed by the gangplank stairs. They see these studies as an evolving laboratory to define a contemporary house within the ever-evolving urban environment of the city.

Sun comes from the street side, but that side has no views. However, good passive solar design requires that this side be open to the sun.

This is achieved by steel mesh screens used to enable views out and sun light in, while preventing views into the house. The steel mesh is incorporated into concrete frames.

The L-shaped house fills the back of the lot, leaving an enormous open space in its center, behind the viewing platform, so each of the rooms has the longest possible view across the lot, facing onto the viewing platform.

This side, conforming to an urban aesthetic of an almost industrial or commercial low profile, is a bit harsh for a home, especially for the bland suburban environment it is in.

But on the water view side, the design is clean and refreshing. The house is open and airy and it makes the very best of the environment. With the rather boring houses next door hunkered down and closed, can you blame the owners for not wanting any windows in the sides?

Via e-architect