Villa West: preserve elusive content

Being Japanese by origin and engaged in practice in European countries, the architect Hiroka Matsuura combines the approaches learned by him in different schools. The synergy of two types of mentality can also be caught in the project of the individual residential house Villa West, realized by MASA architects in 2020. Impressive in scale and at the same time cozy, hidden from the eyes of the neighbors and facing the sunlight, filled with a state of peace and preserving the history of the place, a space This villa became the embodiment of Eastern wisdom and Dutch pragmatism.

Hiroki Matsuura is an architect, designer, urban planner, born in Japan, lives and works in the Netherlands, graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Tokyo University of Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku) ​​and the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. the founder of the MADMA urbanism+landscape bureau, since 2015 — the co-founder of the MASA architects workshop (a company focused on architecture, interiors and industrial design), a teacher at the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam, lectured at the Technical University of Delft Delft). Hiroki Matsuura often takes part in international workshops and gives lectures and master classes on the development of modern urban planning.

Rene Sangers is an architect, engineer, urban planner, holds a master's degree in architecture from the Technical University in Delft, and since 2015 has been a co-founder of MASA architects in partnership with Hiroka Matsuura.

"I would like to create out of time. In the very heart of Rotterdam, in the harbor, there are many nameless buildings: looking at them, you think that they have always been here. It is not important to me whether they will remember me or not, but I would really like my objects to create a similar impression. When forming a new one, it is important to preserve the elusive content that gives the spirit of the place and the materials chosen during the design," says architect Hiroki Matsuura. The historical or cultural content, which Hiroki talks about with such trepidation, became the starting point in the work on the Villa West project.

The history of the place and the goals of reconstruction

In the 40s XX century In one of the central districts of Rotterdam (Netherlands), a sports complex was built, which was later converted into a radio station, and then into a kindergarten. For a long time the house was in an abandoned state. It was saved from demolition by a private customer who was able to assess the potential of a seemingly unattractive and useless space. When this object became the focus of MASA architects' work, both parties - the client and the architects - were touched by the "rough beauty" of the building. Its expressive tectonics, laconic forms and natural textures are what inspired the team to create the future interior, in which the architects sought to make maximum use of available resources and emphasize the uniqueness of authentic materials and structures. But how, preserving the character of the architecture, adapt this space to living conditions, create a feeling of coziness and security?

Architectural composition and planning solution

The feeling of the scale of the building changes depending on the angle of view. From the street, the facade looks commensurate with the neighboring buildings, since the entrance is located on the short side of the house. However, this deceptive nature of the physical dimensions is immediately exposed by the opening door: the viewer at this moment is presented with a space developing deep into the site, and it turns out to be much more extensive than it appeared on the threshold of the house.

The structure of long-span structures characteristic of sports structures played a positive role in the transformation of the object. The large distances between the load-bearing elements allowed the architects to work with a free layout and create maximally open spaces.

The new layout scheme of the building is given by the existing framework: reinforced concrete columns conditionally divide the site of the house into two blocks - the northern and southern zones, separated by a central corridor. When the sports school was located here, this corridor was located between the halls for boys and girls.

Now in the northern part there is a small office, a laundry room, an outerwear wardrobe and two large bedrooms, one of which is the master. Living rooms have access to a narrow terrace arranged along the northern border of the house. Both bedrooms are two-level with an atrium, the second tier of which is used as an additional wardrobe. In the southern part of the villa there is a small guest room with its own bathroom, another master bedroom and living space — the heart of the house, which unites the kitchen, dining room and living room, open to the wide southern terrace. During the reconstruction, specialists increased the height of the openings from the side of the yard, let even more air and light into the house, and made nature a full-fledged participant in the interior. In the eastern part of the house there is a SPA area, including a gym and a swimming pool.

Scale and scale

"One of the distinguishing features of our work is that we use almost the same approach when implementing architectural, urban planning, landscape and design projects. Of course, their scale, as well as the methods we use, are different, but the method is similar in many ways," explains the author of the project, Hiroki Matsuura.

Sometimes the scale is what becomes the defining characteristic in working with space. Thus, in the Villa West project, the scale of the building tells about the history of the place on which the architects focused. To preserve and emphasize the physical parameters of the object and at the same time create a cozy, homely environment commensurate with a person is a difficult task, for the solution of which the architects turned to a similar, but not equivalent, concept - scale. If the scale tells about the actual dimensions of the object, then the scale is more likely connected with sensory perception. In other words, using scale as a tool of architectural composition, you can change the feeling of the real dimensions of the building. In this project, the architects managed to connect two spaces with different scales: a new structure with its own proportions was placed in the existing volume of the building. The boundaries of the projected space are formed by partitions that are not made to the entire height of the room, so they set new anthropometric benchmarks, determining the proportions of the entire subsequent ecosystem of the interior: furniture, lighting, decorative items, house plants. Among other things, the described method made it possible to visually unite all the premises, created a feeling of a smooth flow of functional zones, which became even more expressive with the use of mirrors and translucent structures.

Subjects and materials

The first step in the transformation of an abandoned building into a cozy home was the creation of a comfortable temperature regime. To do this, the architects created a heat-insulating layer, completed the cladding of the facades from corrugated metal panels of dark bronze color.

In working with the interior and exterior, the architects tried to make maximum use of existing resources. Thus, the amount of brick obtained during dismantling was used for additional masonry work, and concrete pavers and tiles for the roadway and curbs were also reused. In order to emphasize the beauty of the original surfaces, during the reconstruction, all the external cladding was removed from the walls and ceiling. "It took many man-hours to remove the plaster from the bricks and the paint from the concrete," says Matsuura, "then the bricks were varnished to repel dust." The character of rough textures of native materials is enhanced in combination with smooth surfaces of new objects and finishes. The polished monolithic floor, the shiny stainless steel that makes up the countertop with the sink in the bathroom, the mirrors placed above the kitchen work surface, the polished and oiled quartzite that makes up the kitchen island, work in contrast and create a balance with the authentic materials of the building.

In addition to contrasts in materials, the interior is balanced by a variety of styles. In the cold strict minimalism prevailing in the forms, the architects brought warm ethnic notes, dictated by the wishes of the customer, who is interested in art and crafts, appreciates the quality of natural materials and the charm of objects marked by time. Therefore, in the living room we will see a sofa upholstered in natural leather, bamboo partitions and decorative podiums for flowers made from a single sawn tree, in the office - furniture and decor bought at a Dutch antique market, and in the children's room - a suspended wicker chair.

Playing with contrasts, Hiroki seems to be hinting at the symbiosis of two mentalities that determined his approach to work. Even looking at the chairs at the dining table, you get the impression that the architect is inviting Dutch pragmatists and Japanese philosophers to sit on different sides of him.

Some items in the interior were made according to the original sketches of the MASA architects team. Among them are lightweight partitions and storage systems made of pressed bamboo, a kitchen work area that includes bases, cabinets, an island and a dining table, and a marble bathroom in the master bedroom.

But the pieces of furniture with which the interior is filled do not only fulfill their utilitarian task or create certain images — they also play a role in the formation of space, creating a scenario for life. Thus, a double-sided modular sofa provides house guests with "viewing points" facing the plane of the TV screen - on the one hand, and a comfortable lounge for the whole family, directed to the wildlife outside the window - on the other. The kitchen island serves as an interactive bridge between the kitchen and the dining room. Pots with large plants, displayed along the long side of the living room, create a visual barrier between the public and private areas of the house.

Rescue oasis

Hiroki Matsuura is a great professional in the field of landscape design. He devoted many of his works to the creation of saving oases in the urban environment, which, in his opinion, are so necessary for modern residents. "Compared to the growth rate of any vegetation, cutting it down takes a few minutes. This is simply a global reality of our planet, wherever you are. And the decision-making system plays the most important role in terms of the frequency of green cutting. In the case of the Netherlands, greenery is strictly protected both by law and by public opinion," notes the architect. The creation of islands of wildlife in the middle of the urban structure is a way to restore inner harmony and strength to a person, therefore, for Hiroka, landscaping is an important component in the creation of any space.

The Villa West project was no exception. The adjacent territory of the house cannot be called spacious for its own garden, however, the architects took care of landscaping the plot and made the villa a secluded, cozy place, formed a buffer between the building and neighboring plots of five-meter thickets of bamboo, and large plants inside the house became a wonderful addition to the interior.

Project managers: Hiroki Matsuura, Rene Sangers

Landscape design: MADMA urbanism+landscape

Plot area: 1340 sq. m

Building area: 605 sq. m

Photo: Tim Van de Velde

Text: Maria Golubka