WAA: V’ House

V’ House was constructed for a couple that collects vintage cars, and is stitched within the medieval tapestry of Maastricht.

The city dictates all new structures remain within the envelope of pre-existing buildings, and so a cut was created in the house’s front façade to generate a triangulated surface, which leads from one neighbor’s sloped roof to the opposite neighbor’s vertical bearing wall.

As the house’s site is long and narrow, voids were cut into the maximum permitted volume to ensure that natural light spills throughout the interior. The ground floor is both open to the exterior elements and sunken to the rear of the site, which makes possible the maximum two-story height. A covered portion of this exterior space serves as an outdoor parking garage for the owners’ collection of Aston Martins.

The house is entered through two oversized sliding glass doors that perforate its front façade. These doors open to either their left or right for pedestrian entry and both simultaneously retract to allow the entry of automobiles. The house’s front façade was fritted with a gradient pattern of dots, composing an image of curtains fluttering in the wind. Actual curtains align the interior of the front façade to allow additional privacy.

Circulation throughout the house occurs via two paths. A “slow” stair leads from the ground floor to the living room, which is connected to the partially raised kitchen and dining areas by a small ramp. A “fast” stairwell traverses the entire height of the house and, together with the platform elevator, allows for direct vertical shortcuts to all levels of living. At the apex of this “fast” route there is a roof terrace that is also the most public space of the house, as it offers panoramic views over the spired roofline of Maastricht.

The living room has been suspended above two I-beams, which allows its volume to float above the Aston Martins below. For privacy reasons, the glazings were treated with a highly reflective coating that casts a hue of chartreuse or amber depending on the season and angle of the sun.

Heating and cooling is provided via a concrete core activation system concealed within the floors and ceilings of the house, while all storage is built into the circulatory areas in order to divide spaces and define rooms. The one-piece custom designed kitchen was constructed in stainless steel, and the diningroom, which is connected to it, cantilevers 3.5 m toward the rear façade. The custom furnishings and storage spaces, together with the in-situ concrete and multiple roof terraces, make the V’ house an expression of free space in a regulated heritage context.

V’ House, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Program: single family house
Architects: Wiel Arets Architects (WAA)
Client: private
Area: 530 sqm
Completion: 2013