V8 Architects

Villa K6

Rieteiland-Oost was developed as a villa island on the new housing development (Vinex) neighbourhood of IJburg. Free-standing houses on expensive plots. This led to houses in the urban plan that are close to each other, but this density is adequately compensated with a public space with a high-quality design around a ‘dune’ theme. Our client decided to move with his family from the city centre of Amsterdam to a plot with its own private pier on the waterside of this island. We were asked to design their dream home here – a robust beach house.

Living on a dune

The residential functions of the house are on the first floor. The terrace and the garden on the waterside connect to this, which means the house appears to be standing on a dune. This was not a solitary layout of the plot, but rather the elaboration of the beautiful public space of the island. And even better, it offered enchanting sunsets and extremely high levels of privacy.

Facade is structure

The ‘leitmotif’ for the character of the villa was privacy. This made a fully concrete facade an obvious choice. This gave the villa a robust mixture of large spaces and comfortable privacy. The choice was made for concrete together with the client, where the ambition was for this to actually be the structure, and not an aesthetic shell. As a result, the villa gained a somewhat civil-engineering character that is refined by means of classic board formwork and ‘shell’ decorations from cast iron that were also cast.

The facade is provided with a stud wall on the inside with an air cavity. The unique thing about this is that the air cavity is ventilated via the cone holes. These holes are sealed for this purpose with a special cast iron element with a vent hole.

The concrete is poured in continuous, horizontal pours, where three different warm colour nuances were chosen. These colour differences are minimal, but when combined with the various heights of the pours and the board formwork, they creates a subtle concrete layer effect.

The craft of poured concrete

This villa is a tribute to craft. The craft of the steel fixer, the iron founder who cast the ornamental elements, the carpenter who create the formwork and the concrete mixer at the concrete plant. Together they provided a seamless and perfect installation.