indoor and outdoor spaces alternate in 'villa fifty-fifty' by studioninedots in eindhoven

studioninedots has built ‘villa fifty-fifty’, a family house in eindhoven, the netherlands, where indoor and outdoor spaces alternate, blurring the boundaries between their functions. the pavilion-like dwelling unfolds across the garden, while living functions and outdoor areas are fluidly interwoven throughout the house. each function has its own volume, organised on the plot like pieces on a chessboard and contained between two floating concrete slabs.all images by frans parthesius

studioninedots has designed ‘villa fifty-fifty’ according to the clients’ request, who asked to live more with nature and expressed a desire for a more minimalist lifestyle. situated on the green edge of ‘strijp R’ in eindhoven, the project is developed as half house, half garden in one single volume. the living functions and outdoor areas are both equally important, while every function has its own volume – open or enclosed, covered or exposed – and its own atmosphere and material.

‘we set ourselves the challenge to design beyond maximising transparency – instead we treated all functions with equal importance, regardless of their location indoors or outdoors,’ explains studioninedots. the different volumes are randomly connected, creating ‘a patchwork of relationships’ between the building and the landscape, private and public, and inside and outside.

‘in our quest to maximise interaction, we defined the individual living and outdoor functions, avoided their obvious locations and then rearranged them, making sure they remained equally important,’ adds the amsterdam-based studio. ‘we stretched the building envelope as far as we could to the edge of the site. the plan is conceived as a chequerboard where all the functions have an ideal position and their own volume.’

the pavilion-like house comprises a series of separate volumes enclosed between two horizontal planes. the vertical timber structure of the tower protrudes through the concrete floor and steel roof. shared family areas and the parents’ spaces are located on the ground floor, while the children have their own rooms in the tower, which is designed to be self-contained.

the material palette of the villa includes glass, which naturally dominates the design to blur the boundaries between inside and outside. the master bathroom volume is clad in flagstones, while glazed bathroom tiles adorn the walls in the bedroom and office. the round shed is wrapped in semi-transparent corrugated polycarbonate, while the tower features polished aluminium on its exterior, which subtly mirrors the landscape, creating an almost camouflaged surface that reflects the changing seasons and weather.

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project info:

name: villa fifty-fifty

architect: studioninedots

floor area: 240 m2

location: eindhoven, the netherlands

team: albert herder, vincent van der klei, arie van der neut, metin van zijl, jurjen van der horst, leire baraja rodriguez, ruben visser, laura berasaluce

partners: breedID, buytels bouwbedrijf, jolanda tielens