Dutch architecture studio i29 has nestled a bamboo-clad house among trees in Limburg, the Netherlands, aiming to connect its residents to the surrounding woodland.
Named Open Park Villa, the home offers multiple views of the outdoors, with extended sightlines running through the building.
According to i29, this design responds to the basis of the client’s brief, which asked the studio to create a home that embraced the surrounding greenery.
“The client wanted to have a home which gives the feeling that the home is everywhere on the plot, but being present in a very honest way in relation to the green surroundings,” the studio told Dezeen.
Open Park Villa is part of a wider development that has transformed the site of former military terrain into a green residential area, filled with 43 unique homes.
Clad in untreated bamboo, the house is defined by five interconnected orthogonal volumes placed around existing trees, each broken up by the large glass windows and doors.
Inside it comprises a spacious ground floor with living areas and an open-plan kitchen diner arranged around a central courtyard, while three bedrooms occupy the first floor.
Dutch studio i29 orientated the volumes to ensure natural light can move through the interior of each one during different parts of the day.
Each of Open Park Villa’s living spaces is treated uniquely with different ceiling heights and finishes to create a diverse living experience. In the living area, this was achieved by sinking the room into the landscape, which i29 said creates a “surprisingly different atmosphere” from the rest of the house.
“Although it has an open connection with the kitchen, it feels like a completely different room with a different connection to the outside,” said director Chris Collaris.
Throughout the home are bespoke details including built-in closets for internal storage and custom-made furniture for the outdoor dining area on the wood-decked patio.
Uncoloured bamboo is used as cladding inside and outside the building, with fastenings hidden behind the panels for a minimalist look.
Chris Collaris and i29 Interior Architects complete Tiny Holiday Home in the Netherlands
This flush facade finish also helps the house blend in with its verdant surroundings, with the help of complimentary tones of sand-coloured cement flooring and stone, oak and fir detailing inside.
For the i29, this allowed it to achieve its goal of maintaining a connection to the outside, “even in the deepest point inside the home”, it said.
While preserving the landscape, the positions of the orthogonal volumes between the trees also help to keep the Open Park Villa cool in the summer.
This natural cooling technique works in tandem with high-quality insulation and an air-source heat pump.
Founded by designers Jaspar Jansen and Jeroen Dellensen in 2002, i29 is a Dutch studio specialising in architecture and interior design.
Its other recent projects include a floating residence in Amsterdam and the renovation of a 17th-century canal house.
The photography is by Tim Van de Velde.
