HÄUSER AWARD 2014 - Kleine Häuser

Stripe House is a small, mixed-use house located near the historic city centre of Leiden, The Netherlands. It takes its name from the characterizing horizontal stripes carved deep into the plaster of the façade. Because of the small plot and limitations in budget the available space is cleverly organized and treated with care. There is no square meter that isn't used, both practical and spatial.

Low-rise, high density. Stripe House resides in a former industrial area that has been transformed into an attractive urban housing district where people can develop their own homes. The urban framework, conceived by MVRDV, is based on a rational grid of geometrically shaped building plots and pedestrian streets in between. Each plot is divided into smaller plots, designated to be built by individuals and families. Due to the underlying low-rise, high dense concept, the urban framework challenges to a new way of living and to a new housing typology. The plot on which Stripe House is located is only 95 m2 and is bounded by public space on three sides: a small public park on the east side, a bike path on the north side and a pedestrian street on the west side. This urban context asked for creative solutions regarding the use of the available space, daylight, privacy, outdoor spaces and the relationship with the public space.

Patio. Despite its limited size, the plot is not entirely built on. One quarter of the plot is reserved for a small enclosed garden, creating a soft transition from public to private space as well as a distance to neighbouring houses. The enclosed garden or patio provides not only privacy, it also evokes a feeling of space and air in the high dense urban context. Opting for a garden also implied a concentration of program on one side of the plot and a stacking of functions in a compact, cube-like structure.

Program. Stripe House encloses a stacking of three floors, all similar in size but different in program. Roughly two-thirds of the total program is living space and one-third is working space. Going upwards the functions have an increasingly private nature. The ground floor houses the office space and the patio, the next level contains the kitchen, living and dining space, while the upper floor holds two bedrooms and a bathroom. On top of the house a roof terrace is projected.

Void. The large void along the north façade is the focal point in the house. It connects the two upper floors and it spatially zones the kitchen area. The enormous window at the top offers an abundance of natural light as well as an impressive and poetic sight on the Dutch sky.

Triptych. Because the house is situated on a corner it has an almost all-round orientation and presence. There are not many window openings, but the ones that are present are large and oriented towards interesting views. On the first floor the three windows together form a triptych. They show different scenes each representing a specific side of the house: the park, the neighboring houses and the sky.

Craftsmanship. The huge exterior walls are made tangible and appealing by means of horizontal grooves in the plaster. The grooves, with a total length of approximately 7000 meters, are handmade and carved into a semi-hardened plaster by using several moulds. The result is an unparalleled piece of craftsmanship.