Engel Architecten has realised a villa with a building system that has its roots in industrial and commercial buildings.
The villa is made from prefabricated concrete element. This system is widely used for industrial and commercial buildings, but this is one of the first times it has been used for a villa. One of the big advantages is the cost and the building speed, without having to make concession in build quality and spatial experience.
It consists of a perfect cube placed in the axis of a green strip in a newly formed neighbourhood in Aalsmeer, a medium-sized town close to Amsterdam. Next to the cube a small workspace is placed. The workspace is connected to the main volume by a glass corridor. On top of the house there is a roof terrace with a built-in kitchen.
The materials used are both natural and industrial: precast smooth concrete and wooden sidings made from padouk, an African FSC hardwood type. The concrete and wood are separated by glass windows. This disconnects the concrete from the wood so that the concrete block seems to hover above the wooden plinth.
