House in a church in Rotterdam, Netherlands

November 18, 2010 Category: House, Residential

Located in Rotterdam, Netherlands, House in a church, was designed by Ruud Visser Architects, Once the focus of local worship, a wooden church on the banks of the river De Rotte in Rotterdam boasts a history that reaches back to the 1930s. Over the last few decades, the religious sentiment slipped away and metal plates were attached to the facades as the church was adapted for use as a garage. Ruud Visser Architects and Peter Boer were recently approached by a family of four who wished to transform the structure once again, this time into a ‘luxurious house of normal measurements’.

The final outcome retains the church’s transept – where the pulpit once stood lightened by the original ‘leaded light’ windows – which has been kept as an ‘immense void, where the original church can be seen in the whole’. Towards the rear of the property the architects have constructed a modern volume to replace the dilapidated 7m deep church-choir space, inserting floor-to-roof windows to provide scenic views across the surrounding landscape. All original facades have been preserved or replaced where possible.

House in a church design by Ruud Visser Architects