ATELIER KOLLER - A bathtub with a view, The Hague/NL

A BATHTUB WITH A VIEW

This two-story apartment is located in the “Segbroekkwartier” district, a neighborhood close to the center of The Hague. It occupies the first and second floor of a typical Dutch townhouse.

The first floor is designed as a loft-like, barrier free living area with the living and dining room and an adjacent office space. The open kitchen also gives occupants access to a large roof terrace on the back side of the house, which overlooks the green inner courtyard of the long residential block. The upper floor, on the contrary, is divided into two large bedrooms and one small with bath.

Given the size of the apartment and the number of bedrooms, the owner wanted to expand the bathroom, equipped with a shower, a sink and the toilet. The west-facing terrasse on the back of the house, accessible from the master bedroom, is hardly used, as the woodwork, door and window frames are in a rather bad state.

Subsequently, Atelier Koller made a proposal to integrate a part of the terrace into the bathroom.

The new layout shows a preview of a small, L-shaped balcony. In the new, more spacious arrangement, a large bathtub is positioned right in front of a glass window spanning the entire height of the room, complete with a large glass sliding door to draw one’s eye from inside the bathroom to the outside. The bathroom has been reorganized to keep only the toilet and the shower. Beside the bathtub, the remodel made room for a double sink, a washing machine, and a dryer.

Cedar slat cladding encompasses the entire volume of the extension. This creates an exterior screen, which together with a curtain on the inside of the bathroom, guarantees the necessary privacy for inhabitants. At the same time, the wooden cladding recalls to the wood frame construction of the remodeled extension. A roof overhang above the remaining balcony protects the wooden joinery from rain and serves as natural protection from the sun. It also extends the protected interior spaces visually towards the outside.

FICHE TECHNIQUE / PROJECT DATA
lieu / location: Segbroekkwartier, La Haye, Pays Bas / The Hague, The Netherlands
maître d'ouvrage / client: privé / privat
maître d'oeuvre / architecture: Atelier Koller, La Haye / Atelier Koller, The Hague

ingénieur de structures / structural engineer: Bouwadviesbureau van der Ven, Ridderkerk (www.vd-ven.nl)
missions / design phases: Esquisse (ESQ) - Projet d’exécution (PRO) + Permis de construire / Schematic Design (SD) - Construction Documents (CD) + building permit