Project: Lofthouse I
Architects: Marc Koehler Architects
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Area: 721 sq ft
Photographs by: Filip Dujardin
Lofthouse I by March Koehler Architects
Lofthouse I is a minimalist home situated in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is designed by Marc Koehler Architects.
The different levels of the house are truly interconnected in a single, continuous flow due to the combination of the atrium, staircase and split-level structure. This also goes for the workspace on the ground floor, which is located adjacent to the garden and the two bedrooms which are designed like small houses within a house, and are experienced as such.
From the architects: “In this corner house, all floors are interconnected in a continuous flow. The house takes maximum advantage of the exceptional views of its rugged, industrial environment. Loft House 1 is the first implementation of a series of durable, wooden loft houses.
The house is based on a reversed principle: its owners decided to sleep downstairs and live upstairs. This allows them to fully enjoy the views of the harbour from the kitchen, the lounge and the dining room. The owners’ wish was to connect the areas on the upper floors with the lower floors in one, continuous flow. A solution was found by incorporating a staircase that serves as an atrium and has become a central design element. The atrium has been designed so that each vertical walk becomes an attractive adventure. Another classification principle is the split-level structure: each floor is half a floor higher or lower in relation to the previous or the next. This allows the owners to look easily from one floor to the other. This creates a gradual transition from one floor to the next, unlike the clean break between each floor in a standard terraced house.”
