Interior images © Inga Powilleit. 

Exterior images © Fedde de Weert

‘Super Living’ and the expansion of the smart home

The ‘homes of the future’, previously the stuff of fantasy exhibited only in World's Fairs and science fiction, are increasingly becoming a reality. Automation and connectivity are making it possible for today’s smart homes to integrate information technologies through which systems and appliances are able to communicate in an integrated way, resulting in vastly increased convenience, energy efficiency, safety and security.

Ben van Berkel: “The contemporary smart home not only enables the control of appliances from afar and incorporates the necessary installations and materials to aim for a zero net energy building, it also responds to changes in today’s lifestyles.”

As such, flexible floor plans are incorporated which allow for diversity in function in order to correspond to the family’s changing needs and thus offer choice for gathering, seclusion, work or play. The organisation of the contemporary home therefore enables the residents to curate their own home life, both now and in the future.

Ben van Berkel: “A challenge for the architect in the design of today’s single family home is a response that accurately reflects the degrees of flexibility, sustainability and automation required by the residents and the incorporation of these into the overall concept of the design.”

The W.I.N.D. House in the north of Holland incorporates both integrated sustainable solutions and home automation, whilst enabling a flexible use of space.
Located on the outskirts of a Dutch village and close to the sea, the house is backed by a wooded area and fronted by an open expanse of polder landscape. The design of the house responds to both its setting and to the seasons. The more intimate working and sleeping areas are located towards the back, where the enclosure of the woods provides an intimate setting, while the living areas enjoy panoramic views of the polder landscape to the front.

The elevated position of the open plan living areas enhances the views to the exterior. Each of the four facades, curve towards the inside to create four distinct petal-like wings. These curving recesses are visually connected to each other through their view lines, which cross at the heart of the building. The vertical organisation of the building follows a centrifugal split-level principle. An open staircase at the centre of the house connects the front and back wings.

A comprehensive home automation system enables integrated control of the electrical systems including solar panels and mechanical installations. Complete control of this ‘smart home’ is possible by a central touch-screen in the living area, while decentral devices provide dedicated control per room. Furthermore control is possible remotely by independent devices via LAN-connection.

The integrated sustainability concept of the house includes a central air/water heat pump, mechanical ventilation with waste heat recovery and solar panels. Heat gain is reduced through the use of tinted glass on the fully glazed front and back facades.

Project Facts

Client:undisclosed

Location:Noord-Holland, The Netherlands

Building surface gross:528 m²

Building surface net:406 m²

Building volume:1677 m³

Building site:2350 m²

Programme:single family house

Status:completed 2014

Furniture & accessories:supplied by Co van der Horst, Amstelveen

UNStudio:Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos, Astrid Piber with Ger Gijzen, René Wysk and Luis Etchegorry, William de Boer, Elisabeth Brauner, Albert Gnodde, Cheng Gong, Eelco Grootjes, Daniela Hake, Patrik Noome, Kristin Sandner, Beatriz Zorzo Talavera

Advisors
Structural Engineer:Pieters Bouwtechniek, Haarlem

MEP

Mechanical, plumbing:Ingenieursburo Linssen bv., Amsterdam
Electrical and Domotica:Elektrokern Solutions, Alkmaar

Building Physics:Mobius Consult, Driebergen
Interior Design:UNStudio, Tim-Alkmaar, Alkmaar
Landscape Design:UNStudio
Lighting Design:Elektrokern Solutions, Alkmaar
Special Acoustics:Hans Koomans Studio Design, Amsterdam
Cost Management:Basalt bouwadvies bv., Nieuwegein, Studio Bouwhaven bv., Barendrecht
Site Management:Studio Bouwhaven bv., Barendrecht
Tender Documents:Adviesbureau Both, Haarlem

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