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Home » Villa Kogelhof
Record HousesResidential Architecture

Villa Kogelhof

Putting Down Roots: A Dutch design team infuses a sweeping, minimalist aesthetic into a home with an ambitious sustainable program.

Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Lightly touching down on publicly accessible land, which is in the process of being reclaimed by its owner, Villa Kogelhof comprises two perpendicular wings: a glazed living space above grade and a garage-cum-office level below a reflecting pool.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Lightly touching down on publicly accessible land, which is in the process of being reclaimed by its owner, Villa Kogelhof comprises two perpendicular wings: a glazed living space above grade and a garage-cum-office level below a reflecting pool.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
In lieu of a private garden, the house has an internal patio open to the master bath on one side and living room on the other.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
The rooms of the living level are arranged to align with the building’s structural bays, maintaining an uninterrupted curtain wall and views from every vantage point. The glazing is applied to a steel frame around the outside of the curtain-wall opening, erasing the boundaries between indoors and out.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
A skylit concrete core connects both levels.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
A skylit concrete core connects both levels.
 
Photo © Jeroen Musch
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
 
Image courtesy Paul de Ruiter Architects
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
Villa Kogelhof
April 16, 2014
Tracy Metz
KEYWORDS Netherlands
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Architects & Firms

Paul de Ruiter Architects

Kamperland, Holland

People/Products

In a gravity-defying act of daredevil modernism, a villa in the Dutch province of Zeeland seemingly floats above the surroundings it was named after—the former 60-acre Kogelhof farm. In its uncompromising radicalism, this clear, linear house would stand out anywhere, but, among the brick houses and tarred barns dotting this rural part of the Netherlands, it is truly an anomaly.

The client, Ton Zwijnenburg, an international potato and onion trader, purchased the land from a local farmer under the auspices of a national restructuring initiative called “red for green” developed for agricultural areas in decline. Through this program, the Dutch government grants one building permit for each 10 acres of land, on the condition that the buyer transform the remaining property into a public nature preserve.

The project's agenda was as ambitious as the concept is simple. Zwijnenburg wanted the house to be a clean, transparent abstract form with no distracting elements, such as windows, on the skin. The architect, Paul de Ruiter, was intent on making the glass box energy neutral. They both managed to get their way in a feat of engineering that, says de Ruiter, “took an hour to think up and six years to execute.”

During three of those years, Zwijnenburg lived in a tiny camper next to the building site on weekdays. For bathing, he used a new Z-shaped pond the project's landscape architect Bosch & Slabbers created by excavating 2,472,000 cubic feet of soil. The firm devised the 1,312-foot-long-by-98-foot-wide man-made lake as an inviting habitat for birds and fish, reusing the dug-up earth to vary the flat site with gentle hills. They also planted 71,000 young trees.

The 7,700-square-foot house consists of two perpendicular volumes connected by a concrete core with a glazed entrance at grade. One is tucked beneath a 2-foot-deep reflecting pool and houses an office, storage, full bath, and a garage for Zwijnenburg's tractor and four cars. The small water feature, positioned to overlook the larger Z-shaped pond, was added to enhance views from the house as well as to conceal the home's plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. The upper volume, a glazed Vierendeel truss structure, hovers above the ground and accommodates the primary living, dining, and sleeping spaces. The improbable cantilever created by the structural arrangement is buttressed by a V-shaped steel support located 82 feet from the core.

De Ruiter applied a similar sweeping approach to the interior of this home for a family of four that includes two teenagers, and it is every bit as cool and collected (that is, maniacally tidy) inside as it is outside. By his own admission, Zwijnenburg is neurotic about cleaning up and organizing. “Even my cars are organized by size and color,” he says. Interestingly, he selected de Ruiter for the project on the basis of an underground parking garage the architect had designed in Rotterdam. “I've always been fascinated by functional, minimalist architecture, especially in America,” Zwijnenburg says. “I like big open spaces with no clutter.”

The rooms upstairs are delineated according to the structural bays. The master bedroom is at one end, followed by its bath suite and an internal open-air patio, accessible from both the master bath and living room beyond—a scheme that maintains an uninterrupted curtain wall. The kitchen, dining area, and children's rooms align to complete the floor plan. Modern classics by the likes of Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier constitute the home's sparse furnishings.

The aesthetic does not compromise the architect's goal to build a net zero–ready house, however. To that end de Ruiter is employing both active and passive means. The facade is made of dual-glazed low-iron, low-E glass insulated with Argon gas. The 11-foot-tall glass panels, fastened with U-shaped clips to a steel frame on the building's exterior, slip past the 9-foot-high curtain-wall opening and seem to disappear beyond the floor and ceiling edges, erasing the line between indoors and out, like an infinity pool. Sunshades, seven inches behind the glazing, provide an additional air barrier, aided by a dedicated ventilation system that draws solar heat buildup outside. Meanwhile, a heat pump maintains comfortable temperatures throughout the year, and will get a boost during winter months from a soon-to-be-installed freestanding stove fueled by wood pellets—to be produced from the trees on the property (when they mature).

A work in progress, Villa Kogelhof is not yet producing as much energy as it consumes. Photovoltaic panels on the roof currently meet some of its demands. But the house won't be fully net zero until these are supplemented by the installation of a wind turbine, planned for the near future.

Such apparent independence can be deceiving. Surrounded by a surreal landscape that is at once wild and calculated, private and public, Zwijnenburg muses that there are times at the Villa Kogelhof when, “One is able to cherish the illusion that you are the only person in the world.”


People

Client: withheld

Owner: withheld

Architect:
Paul de Ruiter Architects
Valschermkade 36 D
1059 CD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T +31 20 626 32 44
F +31 20 623 70 02

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Project architect: Paul de Ruiter (registered architect)
Project leader: Willem Jan Landman (registered architect)
Team: Noud Paes (registered architect), Marieke Sijm (registered architect), Willeke Smit (registered architect)

Interior designer: Paul de Ruiter Architects (Amsterdam)

Engineers:
Structural engineer: Broersma bv (The Hague)

Building physics:
ARUP (Amsterdam)
Smits van Burgst (Zoetermeer)

Costs: Studio Bouwhaven (Barendrecht)

Installations:                        
Intec (Kapelle)
ITN (Nieuwdorp)

Glass: Si-X (Benthuizen)

Steel structure: Meijers Staalbouw (Serooskerke)

Consultant(s):
Landscape: Bosch Slabbers (Middelburg)

Lighting: InventDesign (Amsterdam)

General contractor: Bouwbedrijf J. van de Linde (Goes)

Photographer(s):  
Jeroen Musch, M
 +31 6 50 24 1662
E mail@jeroenmusch.nl

Size:

7,700 square feet

Cost:

$3.5 million

Completion date:

January 2013

 

Products

Structural system
Steel frames, main steel base “Vierendeel truss” (open frame girder).

Manufacturer of any structural components unique to this project: Meijers Staalbouw (Serooskerke)

Exterior cladding
Metal Panels: Kingspan Optimo

Metal/glass curtain wall: TG-THERM®sun SKN165 Fassades, Thiele Glass,SI-X

Precast concrete: Walls Parking garage, Covers sides pond, Staircase

Curtain wall: TG-THERM®sun SKN165 Fassades, Thiele Glass, SI-X

Roofing
Built-up roofing: Kingspan Cooltherm

Elastomeric: EPDM

Metal: Steel frames, Meijers Staalbouw

Other: Glass panels around staircase, TG-THERM®sun SKN165 with coating on the inside layer

Windows
Metal frame: Patio: Windows minimal frame system, with TG-THERM®sun SKN165 (Satin) glass

Glazing
Glass: TG-THERM®sun SKN165 Fassades, TG-PROTECT® inside sliding doors and TG-ESG® inside fixed glass panels, Thiele Glass, SI-X

Skylights: TG-THERM®sun SKN165 4.2m x 2.4m

Doors
Entrances: Garage door, Centurion Steelline, Sliding door with SKN165 glass

Main entrance Steel support frame behind TG-THERM®sun SKN165 glass

Sliding doors: Glass TG-PROTECT®  

Interior finishes
Wall coverings: Vescom, Vinyl covering NERO white (wall) and Offwhite (ceiling)

Paneling: Breedveld sliding panel door, between bedrooms

Raised flooring: Senso flooring, Fusion®, white

Furnishings
Chairs:
Chair Cassina LC2 (Le Corbusier)
Chaise Cassina Longue LC4 (Le Corbusier)
Dining chairs Cassina LC7 (Le Corbusier)

Tables:
Site table, Eileen Gray E1027
Dining table Cassina LC6 (Le Corbusier)

Lighting
Interior ambient lighting: Inventdesign  - LED lighting, Aluminium U-frames, Semi transparent covers,

Downlights: Dose, Modular

Task lighting: BES Hanging, BES standing by Ferrolight, Hendrik Ido Ambacht

Dimming System or other lighting controls: GIRA E2, KNX control system

Plumbing
waterfiltering HB Tuintechniek

Energy
Photovoltaic system: PV-panels on roof

Other unique products that contribute to sustainability: Climate facade of sun screen on inside of the glass facade, Sunscreens by Vitrona, Waalwijk

Add any additional building components or special equipment that made a significant contribution to this project: A windmill (!)is planned to be build on the Kogelhof estate

 

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