KRalingen eco house

2017 | Rotterdam, The Netherlands

As architects and designers, we dream of creating a unique space of our own. When our architect client saw the chance to build his own home within an eco-living, regeneration project in Rotterdam’s popular Kralingen area, he jumped at it. As such, the base of the Kralingen project was mostly determined when his wife felt that things were getting a little too ‘masculine’ for her taste. The couple enlisted our help to find the balance between the clean and minimal architecture, and the interior. The brief was to ‘soften the space’. 

The focal point of the property is the glass façade inspired by the VitraHaus in Basel. This feature was beautiful but with so much glass, it felt ‘cold’. We brought in copious amounts of soft neutral linens and created a curtain system which would allow for the curtains to open top and bottom independent of each other, electronically. With the glass framed in linen, the space was instantly softened, and the architecture even more visually stunning. 

The design of a custom walnut room divider allowed for the dining room and living room to be separated making the spaces feel more dedicated to their specific function, and cosy. By choosing the right paint colours, layering in soft rugs, adding timeless dining furniture, art, plants and special ceramic pieces, we met the brief without changing some of the more ‘masculine’ elements of the base such as the resin floor and black kitchen.