Santpoort Rail House by Zecc Architects
Dutch Zecc Architects remodelled and extended a historical railway cottage in Santpoort-Noord, a town in the Dutch province of North Holland.
Description by Zecc Architects
The project involves the transformation and expansion of a railway cottage next to station Santpoort-Noord. The railway house is on one side bordered by the railway line between Amsterdam and IJmuiden and on the other side by the National Park South Kennemerland. The contrast between the straight metal rails and the softness of the dunes is the basic idea for the metamorphosis of this railway house. The hardness of steel, concrete and glass across waving grass, shells and wood.
The picturesque railway house is almost brutally shot through with a large Cortensteel volume.
On two sides an extension is achieved with hard lines and large glass surfaces, which focuses on the surrounding greenery. The small railway house literally breaks through its ancient walls outside and provides new insight into the landscape. The old railway cottage is on the inside almost unchanged.
The remains of numerous alterations have been removed, leaving a pure and characteristic brick cottage. This old section provides security and simultaneously connects all contiguous open spaces of the house. From the middle of the house you will experience long sightlines and a waterfall staircase connecting the various floors.
On the east side a volume is added to the entrance and the living room. In the basement of this volume there is the sleeping area with bathroom. By making the extension narrow and elongated an intimate patio is created on the south side, covered with shells. On the west side the expansion is oriented in the width. This dining room is linked to the kitchen in the old railway house.
In the railway house exciting reversals between inside and outside arise. The outside of the railway house is the interior for the dining room and the patio looks mostly an interior space. Old elements and new additions alternate each other surprisingly. Hard materials meet the gentle atmosphere of the old house. In the interior this variety continues. Design classics combined with found objects, a persian carpet on the hard untreated concrete, a surfboard next to the dining table and a series of remarkable plants throughout the railway house…
