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The exterior of the “dune house”, designed by architect Paul de Ruiter, with garden design by Andrew van Egmond. -
The garden design ensures that the relationship between landscape and architecture is experienced more strongly. The home’s prominent diagonal lines emphasise the forest edge, with taut steel marking the difference in height and the transition from lawn to woods. The long wall consists of concrete blocks, which seem to float above the forest level. -
The garden design ensures that the relationship between landscape and architecture is experienced more strongly. The home’s prominent diagonal lines emphasise the forest edge, with taut steel marking the difference in height and the transition from lawn to woods. The long wall consists of concrete blocks, which seem to float above the forest level. -
The living room expresses its connection to the outdoors via floor-to-ceiling windows and sliders that lead out to a terrace furnished with a Leen Bakker coffee table and chairs. The bronze Nugget chair, Nugget stool and curved lamp are by Dutch artist Judith Wiersma. -
A comfortable Grand Suite sofa by EOOS for Walter Knoll provides the ideal spot to enjoy the garden views and the wider landscape. -
A comfortable Grand Suite sofa by EOOS for Walter Knoll provides the ideal spot to enjoy the garden views and the wider landscape. -
The kitchen, designed in solid wood and marble by Amsterdam- based X+L Studio, flows into a cosy dining space. The solid-oak Tadeo table by EOOS and leather banquette bench are from Walter Knoll, with vintage Thonet chairs offering additional seating. The monochromatic palette continues in the Gourd pendants by X+L Studio and HASE wood burner, providing contrast against the concrete walls. -
The kitchen, designed in solid wood and marble by Amsterdam- based X+L Studio, flows into a cosy dining space. The solid-oak Tadeo table by EOOS and leather banquette bench are from Walter Knoll, with vintage Thonet chairs offering additional seating. The monochromatic palette continues in the Gourd pendants by X+L Studio and HASE wood burner, providing contrast against the concrete walls. -
The kitchen, designed in solid wood and marble by Amsterdam- based X+L Studio, flows into a cosy dining space. The solid-oak Tadeo table by EOOS and leather banquette bench are from Walter Knoll, with vintage Thonet chairs offering additional seating. The monochromatic palette continues in the Gourd pendants by X+L Studio and HASE wood burner, providing contrast against the concrete walls. -
Despite being below ground and topped by concrete, the entrance hall is a light-filled introduction to the home’s relationship with the landscape. The passage connects to the bedrooms, while the wooden staircase, designed by homeowner Harmen, leads to the living spaces upstairs. A Tufty-Time sofa by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia and an artwork by X+L Studio echo the warm wood of the joinery -
Despite being below ground and topped by concrete, the entrance hall is a light-filled introduction to the home’s relationship with the landscape. The passage connects to the bedrooms, while the wooden staircase, designed by homeowner Harmen, leads to the living spaces upstairs. A Tufty-Time sofa by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia and an artwork by X+L Studio echo the warm wood of the joinery -
The bedroom belonging to the couple’s son, Storm, features an orange Tufty-Time sofa and wallpaper from the Utopia collection by Holden. -
The main en suite bathroom is centred around a Bette bathtub. -
The room belonging to Julia and Harmen’s other son, Wolf – also adorned with wallpaper from the Utopia collection – features an artist’s setup. -
From this angle, the minimalism of material and colour in the main bathroom becomes clear.
WORDS AND PRODUCTION Marc Heldens STYLING Lisa van der Kolk PHOTOS Alan Jensen
Nestled behind the dunes of an expansive nature reserve is a spectacular family home that not only honours but also adds to the surrounding landscape.
In terms of windswept coastal beauty, it doesn’t get much better than this 7 300-hectare dune field in Noord-Holland – one of the largest nature reserves in the Netherlands. And it’s here that Harmen Lodewijk and Julia Fagel chose to build their home, on a slightly elevated location where dunes merge into polder landscape, with the house and its garden forming a connection between the village of Schoorl and the dunes.
Given the landscape, the choice of architect was a key consideration for the couple – they needed a discerning design that would accommodate their need for tranquillity, space and functionality, along with a sensitivity to the surroundings. Paul de Ruiter of Paul de Ruiter Architects in Amsterdam was commissioned – and the result is a home with an elongated black volume, large glass sections and pointed shed roofs, with part of the building hidden underground. “The flowing transition to the green rural environment was the most important starting point for this design,” says Paul. “The subtly hidden house has been built with as many natural materials and sustainable techniques as possible.”
The greenhouse shape of the three-part roof catches the eye from afar, its appearance the result of both the desired orientation towards the sun and local building aesthetics. “The surroundings of the villa are characterised by historic allotments, watercourses and roads, mills and farms,” says Paul. “There are few contemporary homes in the empty polder landscape, so we needed to incorporate the house’s appearance into the wider environment.”
The materials used in this architectural design are therefore sturdy, but refined. The concrete finishes will age beautifully and, from a functional point of view, the three-part sawtooth roof blocks the bright sunlight. Volume is created by floor-to- ceiling windows and vertical black columns mounted between two steel bands. The sharp steel lines define the height differences in the garden, reinforcing the contrast between nature and architecture.
An added benefit of the exterior’s dark-grey tones is that they accentuate the surrounding greenery, and the way the garden embraces the landscape is an essential part of the project. The house sits on a hill, so in the kitchen and living room, you are elevated above this landscape. Expansive glass walls afford long lines of sight, and the garden appears to continue past the property’s boundary and into the meadow.
While the living spaces are above ground, the bedrooms are below it, with a centrally located patio over two levels providing natural light. “With the main part of the house just below ground level, its visual influence on the landscape is limited,” says Paul. “The original empty polder landscape still exists here, so it was essential that our design was synchronous with the natural context, but that it could also transcend that context in an authentic way.”
Xander Vervoort and Leon van Boxtel of X+L Studio in Amsterdam were briefed to create interiors that embraced the structure’s landscape-focused lines of sight while still evoking warmth and intimacy. All interior elements – from the living room and kitchen to the dining area and patio – are therefore elongated, with clean straight lines that reference the Schoorl horizon. The colour and materials palette includes black-stained wood, sturdy grey concrete and warm wooden accents.
Located behind wide dunes, the home allows its owners to both experience the sea and feel the proximity of the horizon. “In the evenings, the light of the descending sun on the dunes projects a kind of aura over the dark forest,” says Julia. “It illuminates any open landscape space. It’s almost magical. We wanted to connect the house to the environment, but the internal spaces have themselves become connected – and through them, our daily family life.”
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