OFFICETWENTYFIVEARCHITECTS

Paul de Ruiter Architects

Amsterdam-based firm Paul de Ruiter Architects has designed a one-of-a-kind luxury villa in Noord-Beveland, The Netherlands, which presents a powerful juxtaposition between minimalism and futurism, whilst it maintains a high level of energy self-sufficiency and a fundamentally strong environment-friendly agenda.
Villa Kogelhof is an extraordinary case of residential architecture where smart design techniques and the latest state-of-the-art technology were applied in order to create a house that is energy-sufficient and sustainable as well as particularly refined and effortlessly elegant.
The villa is part of a very interesting nature reserve project; a government-protected habitat for animals and plants that attracts large amounts of visitors each year. When the site was bought by the current owner, it actually was a farmland until back to 2006; building permission was given to the owner on the condition that the site would be returned to its’ pre-agricultural state. Therefore, Villa Kogelhof is an impressive now glass box in the midst of some 71,000 newly planted trees, entitling this residence in the near future to resemble a ‘villa in the woods’.
Paul de Ruiter Architects have designed a villa which features a great level of understated sophistication; this residence is all about silent opulence. Villa Kogelhof is the ultimate glass house by demonstrating sheer elegance and high-tech design. The villa is composed by two square stacked volumes; one is underground and another floating above ground level. The final outcome is a lightweight glass box supported by a steel V-frame.
The underground volume of the house consists of the entrance, parking (for 6 cars and a tractor), storage, bathroom and a workspace, that overlooks the pond. The living area is situated in the floating glass box above ground, featuring an open plan space with subtle glass room dividers. Thus, the space gives the illusion of infinity as well as it provides its residents with unlimited, breathtaking views of the surrounding natural setting.
On this level there separate volumes that house the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and a multifunctional room. Moreover, the villa has a patio with glass doors on both sides that makes it accessible through the living room and the bathroom. All internal open-plan spaces feature white epoxy floors and continuous-all around glass façades which grant high transparency and retain a sense of spatial fluidity and ease of access.
Moreover, the villa features a very distinctive environmental agenda. The design concept is centered on energy autarky; therefore the house is energy neutral offering comfortable climatic environment all year round. Paul de Ruiter Architects have applied a palette of smart materials, such as the unique glass façade, that is composed of an outer layer of clear insulated glass from floor to ceiling and an inner layer of sun-reflecting fabric that can be rolled up and unrolled. When the fabric is lowered, an air cavity is formed in which the air from the villa is extracted of a central ventilation system.
The house also features central heating system in combination with an air pump as well as PV-cells on the roof from which is generated electricity. in the near future warm water will be also generated, by using a range stove, in which wood will be fired from the trees out of the private forest of the estate, making the villa completely self-sufficient in terms of energy.