Located deep within the dense urban structure of the Jordaan, a former studio has been transformed into a dwelling that deliberately withdraws from the city. Invisible from the street, the house opens entirely toward two enclosed inner gardens. A concealed place, quiet and green, embedded in the heart of Amsterdam.
The design originates from a careful reading of the site and its daily use. The enclosed gardens and the absence of a conventional urban façade formed the starting point for an inward-oriented home, in which space, light, and movement are precisely attuned to one another.
For this three-storey dwelling, studio PROTOTYPE designed the interior around a central volume that organises the plan and connects the three living levels. This volume forms the spatial and functional heart of the house. Within it, the wooden staircase unfolds as both route and object.
The house is entered through a long narrow corridor, after which the space suddenly opens up and the staircase comes into view behind a semi-closed wooden screen of lamellae.
The central volume accommodates all supporting functions of the house, including wardrobe, kitchen appliances, utility room, laundry, sanitary spaces, and technical installations. What is closed remains concentrated. What is open is given space.
Continuous sightlines and circulation routes along and through the volume draw daylight deep into the house and organise the plan in an intuitive manner. Openness is not pursued as an end in itself but alternates with spatial sequences that introduce privacy. The master bathroom, for example, is accessed through a concealed door within a continuous walk-through closet, a transition that is experienced rather than seen.
The walnut core subtly contrasts with lighter oak finishes in the surrounding spaces and floors. The materials interact with light and capture shadow at the heart of the house. They converge in the staircase, where the light wooden flooring continues upward as treads. In the living area, wooden fields in floor and ceiling above the combined kitchen and dining element articulate the generous loft-like space. A full-grown tree rising through the void forms a vertical anchor and establishes a visual and spatial connection to the living areas on the first floor.
Hidden within the city, the house unfolds inward as a quiet urban retreat.
