RV Architecture has recently built a wooden barnhouse with a gable roof in the Dutch village of Werkhoven. At the cusp of the roof (the ridge), the design team has divided the house into two parts: one part that is kept open and empty up to the ridge; and another part which comprises a closed space that contains the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen.
The architects has divided the triangular plot of the house into a small front yard and a big back yard, situating the building in the middle of the site. On the back of the plot, there is a beautiful free view over the fields and trees. Also, the front yard happened to be situated in the south. So during the day, the shadow of the house falls into the backyard. That’s why RV Architecture decided to situate the barnhouse in the middle of the plot. Using the beautiful view on the back and approaching the front yard as a ‘yard with sun in the afternoon’. It feels like living in the middle of the garden.
Next to the two main elements, the gable-roof and the closed-mass containing the functions, the designers added a wooden, curved element which extends from the garden to the interior, embracing the services of the house: the kitchen cabinet, laundry-room, toilet, cloak-room, storage. The curve ends as a garden-fence dividing the sunny-terrace from the entrance with parking space.
For the construction of the barnhouse, the architects have used four wooden beams, located on top of the side-walls and on the two interior walls between the bedrooms. On one half of the house the roof lies on the walls, while in the empty half of the house, three wooden columns have been placed to support it. The connections of the building parts are kept as pure as possible: besides three wooden sliding window frames, the glass is placed directly into the construction, while there are no fascia’s or finishes.
