Splijten II

The house was once two homes, until someone decided that with enough holes, they could be lived in as one. The ground floor has already been addressed; the stitching together of the two volumes forms an intriguing constellation. Upstairs, however, the ore still lies hidden beneath layers. Pickaxe in hand, we get to work.

The upper floors house bedrooms and other private spaces. Rooms, for all kinds of purposes. It’s rather dim here, the building casts shadows on itself. The roof volume is used as a light-catcher. It rises above the rest, harvesting photons and bouncing them deep into the core of the house. Entire rooms act as light tunnels. Openings stretch from ridge to gutter, front to rear façade, party wall to party wall. Not generic expanses of glass, but intimate apertures; each one tailored to what happens behind it. Tailored to the path of the sun. The mass of the house splits open. Light seeps in. We welcome the cleaving and carving.