Plot A
This is by far the largest plot with a length of 170m facing a main road and a
roundabout. A car can drive in a continuous movement around the entire plot from the ground floor to the rooftop. To drive down from the top, the car makes another tour around the entire building on the opposite side. The spaces change from one side to the other since half of the building almost adjoins the green corner building by Anne Holtrop.

Text provided by the architects.

Until we started writing this text, September 21, 2014, we have worked with this project in an intense and very fast process, all done in less than eight months, and now when the construction has already begun and the intensity is emphasized, because it must be completed by the end of November, we got out a small interval on a flight to a work that flies, allowing us to reflect a little on the project, its motives, needs and possible realities or virtues. We understand that one of the first questions that everyone will ask, ourselves included, is why is there such an exaggerated use of the curve, why a simple space with an orthogonal layout of original pillars, eventually becomes a complex space dense and at the same time smooth and continuous?

The answer to the first question is, in fact, so banal as all realities usually are: It is purely an economic issue. The concept of secondhome involved the unavoidable need, quite achieved finally, of occupying with small work spaces every corner and every area bathed in daylight, and, of course, the need to access each of these different areas spread the ends; the need for there to be nothing wasted, there is no corner that is not used for something, there is no angle where someone can’t sit, work, talk or relax. This handling of the economy, in its broadest and original meaning, up to its maximum limit, is something that always leaves us very satisfied with the accomplishment; but on the other hand, this high density implies full occupancy and use of space to the limit, it becomes one of our greatest unknowns about how it will really work in the future, with so many people working together in highly concentrated areas.

Therefore, we try to limit this potential chaos that could result in a maze of complexity, with two tricks: First with a permanent visual and physical fluidity of the whole, which prevents you from feeling lost or locked in anywhere; and second with full control of the sound, not only with absorbent carpets and ceilings, but also the continuous curve that spreads the sound in all directions. And also to use this continuity as an antidote to the density, we achieve side reactions that increase the strength of the entire space, making it a whole, unique and united, appearing larger and endless. And that is exactly our question these days: Will it really be like this in the end? Will it really be a space in which the transparency and reflections run out while simplify and make it so complex that they open the space and make it infinite and cozy at the same time? And more importantly, will we end getting a space where architecture is dissolved in a homespun air, to do just that … which is exactly what Sam and Rohan commissioned us at the start: An office as a home? …… Or was it a house as an office?

“In five to ten years we will all work at home. But then we will need bigger homes, big enough to use for meetings. Offices will have to be converted to homes” Rem Koolhas, The Generic City 1994

Text provided by the architect.

Suspecting that a building with regular frame walls would result in narrowing the already narrow usable space of the site, I looked for a possibility to create a building with alternative method. My final decision of structure consisted of a vertical layer of horizontal slabs to create a building without walls. A garden and a room are distributed as a pair on each floor – every room, whether it is the living room, private room or the bathroom, has a garden of its own so that the residents may go outside to feel the breeze, read a book or cool off in the evening and enjoy an open environment in their daily life.

Each room is smaller than the slab allowing for freedom in determining the relationship between the room and the garden regardless of the floor level. The entirety is a wall-less transparent building designed to provide an environment with maximum sunlight despite the dark site conditions. A delight in life is felt as you ascend the light, well ventilated residence that is nestled in this exceptional location in the dense urban fabric.

Text provided by the architect.