Extendible houses | J.H. van den Broek, J.B. Bakema

The Netherlands | 1963 | soft form

Description

Van Broek and Bakema’s project for extendible houses is an example of intentionally planning for future expansion, something often overlooked in normal housing design. On an elongated plot of land, the architects propose a narrow house not unlike a nineteenth century British terraced house. This core house contains a small front garden; it has a kitchen with direct access the back garden, and a combined dining and living room on the ground floor. The core house in its smallest state also has a second storey, which houses three rooms: a larger room to the front and two smaller rooms towards the back of the house.

This smallest functional unit is designed to be expanded by pushing out horizontally to the front and back, and vertically upwards. Towards the front, on the site of the front yard, an additional room can be built, which might be a garage, a small shop or a guest room. Towards the back, the entire rear garden can be transformed into a series of rooms that are organised around a courtyard - which almost doubles the useable space on the ground floor. Finally, planning permission allows for an additional room to be built on top of the first floor flat roof. Together these changes allow for the initial house of 85 m2 to be transformed into one of 130 m2.

References

Bakema, A. v. d. B. e., Architektur-Urbanismus, Stuttgart: Karl Krämer Verlag, 1976.
Bakema, J. B., Thoughts about architecture, London: Academy Editions, 1981.