
wooden family palace
house T in Heiloo
On a generous plot on the edge of Heiloo, a village in the province of Noord-Holland, a derelict house has been replaced by a newly built family home. Here, different generations and people of different ages and needs live together under one roof.
location: | Heiloo |
design: | 2008-2009 |
realisation: | 2009-2010 |
client: | P-T family |
structural engineer: | Pieters Bouwtechniek |
contractor: | Christian Dörschug |
photography: | Moritz Bernoully |

situation





The clients asked us to design a wooden house for them, with various possibilities for sleeping and playing and a vast, yet intimate, living area centred around a large stove. Due to legal limitations concerning the building’s height and volume we designed a compact and simple volume to which several ancillary volumes were added. On the inside, the large volume has been subdivided in a multitude of ways. There are low and high spaces, mezzanine floors, alcoves and sleeping attics.




The building is constructed of solid timber panels placed on top of a concrete basement. Following the example of our house near Lyon, the Larch timber cladding is treated with a grey varnish, anticipating the natural weathering process. The shallow side of the asymmetric roof, facing the neighbourhood, has been covered with herbs and mosses, and its steep side has been clad with the same timber boards as the façade. Large sliding doors on the ground floor enhance the relationship between inside and outside.




Inside, the volume is subdivided into different high and low spaces, interiors, bed spaces, alcove-like spaces and sleepers.
The house is designed as an organic whole that allows different uses, different objects, devices and changes. It allows space for daily life and the luxury of growing in nature.

