In a recent project that embodies both innovation and familial warmth, a longtime couple from Amsterdam sought to create a home that fosters connection—both with their children and the surrounding environment. 

The couple approached architects with a simple yet profound vision: design a house that serves as a sanctuary for their family.

Situated in Centrumeiland, a progressive neighborhood in Amsterdam known for its ambitious sustainability goals and a culture of self-building, the stage was set for a unique architectural endeavor. 

Embracing the area’s ethos of experimentation and individual expression, the architects unveiled their concept: Light House. 

Designed by Amsterdam-based architecture and urban design practice Studioninedots, this imaginative structure consists of a series of whimsically piled boxes, strategically designed to encourage interaction among family members while inviting the natural world in. 

The result is a creative, playful home that reflects the couple's values and the community's spirit, making it a remarkable example of modern sustainable living.

In contrast to a traditional home, which focuses a lot of program components on the ground level, Light House has its own "box" for the family's essential activities, like dining, socializing, and alone time. 

In order to create blocks that may be lived inside as well as on top of and underneath them, the studio then placed these boxes throughout the building envelope in a composition that looks whimsical but is thoughtful. A typical sensation of "above" and "below" starts to fade as users navigate the house.

"Moving through the space that naturally opens among the boxes, you’ll find intimate nooks fit for relaxation or work — or dramatic voids, that trigger maximum interaction and create a stronger sense of the surroundings," said Metin van Zijl, partner. 

"This interplay of open and enclosed space inspires new, unexpected ways of use and connection," Van Zijl added.

The layout is made to adapt to the family's changing needs. Although the boxes are designed to disperse the major activities in a more interesting manner throughout the house, they can be reinterpreted at any point.

A pleasantly enclosed volume that serves as a hideaway for reading, yoga, watching movies, or just lounging by itself floats directly above the kitchen area, the pulsing heart of Light House. 

The team created the outgoing "holiday home," which climbs 14 meters to the top level, as a unique meeting place for the family. This tall room opens onto an outdoor terrace with expansive views of the IJmeer Lake through ceiling-high arched windows on either side.

Behind a wall of square glass blocks is the lower part of the house. While allowing life inside to be seen from the street, the blocks distort vistas and filter daylight deep into the house in a way that is abstract enough to guarantee the tenants' sense of enclosure.

"Light House blurs your sense of the above and below, the inside and outside, the open and closed, to create a house that inspires different spatial experiences and ways of interaction," said Wouter Hermanns, partner.

The steel grating elements along the back facade maintain this square rhythm, giving the house a distinct and unified identity. Grey industrial materials, whether translucent, reflecting, or raw, produce a variety of textures that give the façade an abstract yet flowing appearance when daylight passes.

Light House is constructed as a lightweight system with prefabricated timber components inside a steel frame. This circular, modular method enables long-term sustainability, flexibility, and ease of disassembly. 

Light House meets the island's sustainability goals by managing water on-site, just as all other plots on Centrumeiland.

In order to create a home that encourages many spatial experiences and modes of interaction, Light House blurs your sense of the above and below, the inside and outside, and the open and closed. 

Light House gives the family with a house they never would have imagined, yet it feels entirely theirs thanks to a unique blend of lively and peaceful moments.

Axonometric drawing

00 level floor plan

01 level floor plan

02 level floor plan

03 level floor plan

04 level floor plan

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Studioninedots unveiled a workspace building with new spaces for interaction in Bordeaux, France. In addition, the studio revealed design for a new housing for plot K27 in Hyde Park, the large-scale urban development in the city of Hoofddorp in Amsterdam.

Project facts

Project name: Light House

Architects: Studioninedots

Location: Centrumeiland, Amsterdam, NL

GFA: 257m2

Design – realisation: 2021-2025

Design team: Metin van Zijl, Albert Herder, Vincent van der Klei, Wouter Hermanns, Ania Bozek, Dennis Roest

Collaborators: De Ingenieursgroep BV, Romijn Bouw, AtelierBouwkunde, Clemens Lichtadvies

All images © Sebastian van Damme.

All drawings © Studioninedots.

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