Location
Stadswerfen is a new lively urban area on the water as an addition to the center of Dordrecht. Living on the water with the historic city center within walking distance. The shipping industry once thrived here. A new pedestrian and bicycle bridge connects the new district with the center. In the urban plan, a connection is sought with the special atmosphere and characteristic of the Dordrecht city center by using closed building blocks, a building-by-building structure and surprising hidden residential courtyards. Within Stadswerf B-Noord, a new location for self-build has been developed on the side of the Merwede: Werf van Gips. The municipality of Dordrecht has sold self-build plots here for terraced houses and detached town houses. In one of the courtyards of Werf van Gips, a detached town house has been built by 8A under a private commission.
Assignment
The town house is designed for a blended family with three children. The assignment was to design a detached town house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a spacious living space within the maximum dimensions of the plot passport of 6.0x10m and three storeys. In addition, a lot of daylight and privacy was an important wish of the residents.
Entrance
The town house is located in the corner of the courtyard and is rotated 90 degrees and staggered with respect to the adjacent self-build houses. This was the reason to put the entrance on the corner. The entrance has a prominent view of the courtyard and gives the town house a strong connection with the street.
Spatial design
At the request of the residents, the stairs have been included in the entrance hall. Due to the width of the house, it has been possible to place a straight stairway transversely in the house, creating an exciting circular walkway in the house. At the same time, it is possible to lay the wet areas and installations one above the other for a logical vertical pipeline route. The bedrooms are accessed via a longitudinal corridor and are oriented as much as possible to the south at the wishes of the residents. Because this layout requires more space from the ground floor, the house has been expanded by 2.0 m at the back to create more space for the living room with kitchen.
Floor-to-ceiling windows
The town house is built entirely of anthracite-colored traditional masonry and has large floor-to-ceiling windows that connect to the vertical articulation of the traditional town houses in the city center. Due to the great height, the windows provide a lot of light and spaciousness in the house, but the small width of the windows also provides a lot of privacy.
Carefully applied materials
The facade is distinguished by a circular band of ribbed masonry at the height of the 1st floor. The band divides the volume of the house into three parts and at the same time gives the facade a beautiful finish. The lack of window frames on the top floor at the location of the longitudinal corridor contributes to this. The longitudinal corridor and landing are provided with daylight by three skylights. The facade is carefully detailed by using anthracite colored aluminum frames that are set back in the facade with a negge. The entrance is prominently designed by the deviating large facade opening with a deeper negge and sheet steel awning, to be able to stand dry in front of the front door when it rains. This gives the entrance a stately character and is clearly recognizable for visitors.
