Nieuwendammerdijk

This extension is a contemporary counterpart to the original fisherman’s cottage on the dike. Old and new together create a whole which exploits the height differences of the terrain to offer a more complete experience of the surroundings.

The original dike house was turned into a state monument to preserve the pittoresque qualities of the Nieuwendammerdijk. This monument contains the living room with commanding views of the river landscape beyond the dike: nature as a panorama. As a polar entity the kitchen is situated in a new glass volume in the garden. With it’s base slightly sunken into the ground it offers a more intimate relation with its natural surroundings.

The monument exists of a lightweight wooden construction on the dike level which rests on a masonry base on the garden level. For its counterpart we proposed a construction made of solid wooden walls which hoovers above a glass volume.

The vertical axis is repositioned inside a glass volume in the space between the old and the new house. In the middle of this space a bookcase rises from which a flight of stairs and the steps of bridge protrude. Extending on both sides of the storage structure until just before the glass the bridge and stairs offer a floating sensation in between the monumental and the modern.

client : private
size : 160 sqm
project : 2015-2015
construction : 2015-2016
collaboration : Studio Appelo, Bouwkundig
engineering : Richard Fielt, B2CO
construction : Delta BV
sustainability : S&W Consultancy, Vlissingen
photography : Matthieu van Ek