House in Motion

cooperation with Arkitektstudio Elfrida Bull Bene BV and MaartjesRuimte

In designing a house for Mark and Julie the fact that living is a dynamic act is emphasized. Living is always in motion. The house will not determine their lives, their lives will determine the house. The ‘House in Motion’ for Mark an Julie is therefore: First of all specific, fitting the demands Mark and Julie formulated. Secondly flexible, because  it needs to facilitate changes of use daily, seasonly and in the future. And thirdly it will be diverse, by having a great diversity in comfort and spatiality. The house will literally be in motion. Supporting the different ways of living every season, the relation between inside and outside is changed.

Environment conscious house

The ‘House in Motion’ combines compactness and the smallest footprint on one side with spatiality, openness and a vivid connection with outside, on the other. In winter the floorplan will be compact, introvert and in summer parts of the house will be moved and the plan will become open, extravert  and connected to the outside.

The spatial core

The spatial richness and diversity of the ‘House in Motion’ support functionality. The diversity of the spaces and comfort give the house an extra dimension and will make the plan readable and usable in a natural way. In this house one can recognize different types of spaces, with the most important one: the spatial core. This is the center of the house, it is a common family-space, for everyday family activities and seasonal gatherings like Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas mornings, etc. It is the center of the home and the center of living, it will be the base of the family. It is the richest and most spatial room of the house.

Different routes and stairs

The house has different zones of privacy.  The west side has the public functions as the office and entrance, the east side has the most private rooms. The spatial core is the center of the house and can be used to invite guests. The stairs of the core and the stairs on the east side form the private family route. This creates the possibility to use the house in different ways at the same time. If Mark and Julie invite guests in the spatial core their children can use the bathroom in private, invite friends, or quietly do their homework. The stairs on the west side form a separate entrance to the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. This makes them useful for different purposes: (business related) guest can stay over without compromising their privacy or the privacy of the family. In short, these stairs give the house its flexibility for different scenarios, and different ways of living.

Diversity in spaces and comfort

In the ‘living-in-motion-house’ dwelling becomes a collection of diverse experiences, diversity in comfort, spatiality and material. The house consists of four different spaces with different materials and different types of comfort. Heavy space has a daily constant temperature. This space is made of heavy materials and  is cool in summer, warm in winter. Light spaces, these spaces are made of light materials, they can be heated quickly and have their own ventilation system. Fixed spaces are spaces with a constant temperature, these are the bathrooms and toilets. Intermediary spaces are unconditioned spaces. They form the buffer between inside and outside, in winter they will have the advantage of the active warm mass of the core, in summer the coolness of this mass and ventilation will help to make these spaces comfortable.