BENTINCK
The project initiates our work of highlighting 1960s heritage. It aims to redesign an apartment on the 7th floor of a gallery-flat in Rotterdam, designed by Harry Nefkens in 1958. While the real estate market was very tight, the owners had no difficulty acquiring it because this type of property is often neglected in favor of nearby buildings, which are older and imagined to be more charming.
Yet, this building typology, where all apartments are double-sided, where the only load-bearing elements are between the apartments, and where the facades are generally free, lends itself to great interior flexibility and therefore to the freedom of layout.
The existing structure is seen as a carrier of new ambitions, a potential for use.
The project is based on an analysis of the existing structure and its qualities, as well as contemporary livability criteria. For the first, the views take precedence, followed by an analysis of the floor plans, which reveal the vast possibilities within the structure. For the second, the goal was to create as much openness as possible and increase the surface of each room.
Using the potential of this blank slate, we redistributed the entire space, forcing ones to walk greater distances within the apartment, which made the space feel even larger.
The expansive landscape is now part of the apartment, and the distant view is omnipresent as one moves through it.
This work also allowed us to enlarge each of the rooms, minimizing circulation (hallways).
From the living room to the bathroom, everything became bigger.
Everyone needs a minimum of personal space, a place of privacy, calm, and balance. Whether we found our own anchor in a bedroom, a kitchen, or a living room, we need some empty space to truly settle in.
An essential lever in the project was adding maximum storage, including the creation of a 8-meter-long «mur utile».
This greatly reduced the clients’ need for furniture, thus preventing the living space from becoming cluttered.
The project provides space to ensure the possibility of emptiness.
Materials are picked, reused or revealed carefully to highlight the choices made for the space: simple and expressive features. There are as little elements as possible: one floor type, one tiling, a concrete ceiling, built-in furniture in wood or reused from existing in the bathroom and the kitchen.
