Atelier het Vierkant and residents, Schoorldam

Schoorldam, Westfriesland (NH)

description

Working studio, part of a newly to be developed community.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

On the Westfrieschedijk in Schoorldam, construction company De Nijs owns a storage yard. A significant portion of the site became available, prompting Tangram to undertake the construction of various small buildings: a studio building with an office for owner Winfred de Nijs, a number of semi-detached houses, and 4 small holiday homes. Together, this constitutes a substantial program for the location in a highly open environment characterized by fields, farms, and rural residences. The monumental sea dike is a crucial spatial element that flanks the site, and its spatial impact was to be preserved.

The solution lies in the compactness of the new buildings, dispersed freely in the space without a distinct front or back, complemented by an informal landscaping design where only sheep fences provide separation.

Despite differences in scale between the various blocks, a consistent form was chosen: the mansard roof, traditionally prevalent in the surrounding area, typifying the building volumes. Roof and facades seamlessly merge into one another.

The studio space is designed to offer optimal space for De Nijs’s art objects. The large loft-like space and the expansive terrace on the upper floor provide a breathtaking view over the fields to the dunes. The wooden roof structure dominates the interior.

The facade is clad with tongue-and-groove ceramic panels from Petersen, lending a robust appearance to the volume. The gable ends are a combination of larch and Fraké wood.

The residences also follow the mansard roof concept, combined with wooden gable ends. The visual identity is defined by Muldenpan roof tiles arranged in a distinctive pattern. The abstraction of the facades aligns with that of the studio building.”