A bed room incorporating a tub and a window bench is considered one of a number of versatile areas architect Ulli Heckmann created when renovating this compact condo in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Heckmann and his accomplice, the designer Nienke Bongers, purchased the condo within the Delfshaven neighbourhood in 2020 with the purpose of refurbishing it to swimsuit their preferences.
The 100-square-metre property is unfold throughout the bottom ground and basement of a brick condo constructing courting from 1935 that stretches alongside a dike on the river Schie.
Earlier renovations within the Nineteen Eighties had stripped away all the inside’s authentic options, so the couple determined to fully intestine the areas and rebuild them utilizing a contemporary and inexpensive materials palette.
The present structure didn’t make the very best use of the backyard entry, so Heckmann moved the bedrooms upstairs and created a big residing house under with direct entry to the outside.
“The unique downstairs plan confirmed one room going through the backyard and one in the direction of the road, which was fairly gloomy and darkish,” the architect advised Dezeen.
“For the reason that new downstairs is principally mono-orientated, an open structure with the kitchen cabinet as a room divider appeared the very best answer by way of house with an choice for privateness.”
The largely open-plan configuration creates an area for cooking, consuming and socialising that receives loads of daylight from the massive home windows at one finish.
Freestanding cabinets display a small personal house that Heckmann defined can be utilized for “studying a guide, inviting buddies to remain over or just drying the laundry with out placing it in the midst of the lounge.”
All through the property, built-in storage helps to optimise and organise house, permitting the inside for use in numerous methods at completely different instances. Examples embody a hidden desk within the youngsters’s bed room and a window bench in the primary bed room.
“A lot of the rooms aren’t restricted to just one goal all through the day and night time,” mentioned Heckmann, “which helps tremendously for the usage of the house – particularly as a household.”
The structure of the higher ground is extra compartmentalised than the basement stage; nonetheless, a full-height mirrored door on the finish of the corridor could be left open to make sure the areas really feel linked.
The 2 bedrooms at both finish of the plan are separated by a walk-in wardrobe and a bathe room hidden behind cupboard-like doorways.
Along with the mattress and window bench, the primary bed room incorporates a tub set on picket blocks that may be screened off utilizing a curtain.
“The necessity to create multifunctional areas is among the the explanation why we determined to have the tub within the bed room,” Heckmann defined. “Additionally, we fairly like that it turns into an object in our every day life as an alternative of hiding it away.”
The couple had needed to make use of pure supplies the place doable to fully revamp the inside, however the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic precipitated costs to soar and subsequent lockdowns made commissioning specialist trades rather more troublesome.
Heckmann and Bongers subsequently designed and constructed many of the furnishings themselves, utilizing plywood or MDF that they stained or dyed to provide the supplies a extra distinctive end.
The bed room shelf and the corridor cabinets are constructed from eucalyptus plywood tinted with an earl-grey combination, whereas the bedhead is MDF with a hardwax end.
Lime plaster was used on the partitions all through the condo. The downstairs areas have been left uncooked and pure, whereas the bed room has inexperienced pigment added to provide it a refined trace of color.
For the kitchen, Heckmann used MDF boards with oak veneer and a countertop with a darkish Forbo linoleum floor. The cabinet below the steps options an oak body surrounding polycarbonate panels, whereas the staircase podium is constructed from painted MDF.
Ulli Heckmann accomplished his Diploma research on the Technical College of Darmstadt, Germany, in 2006 and labored for a number of years for businesses in Germany and France, together with Maison Edouard François.
He based his structure and design studio in Paris in 2013 and now works on tasks throughout Europe, starting from object and inside design to personal housing and architectural competitions.
Different latest Rotterdam tasks featured on Dezeen embody a floating cross-laminated timber workplace and a multi-faceted auditorium designed utilizing laptop modelling.
The pictures is by Ulli Heckmann until in any other case acknowledged.
