Dutch architecture firm Studio OxL trasformed an old carpenter’s workshop located in Arnhem, The Netherlands, into a daylight-filled loft that features a space for the owner’s electric sportscar. Anybody who thinks that it is not possible to live, energy efficiently, in an old concealed workshop will be shown otherwise.
“It was important for the client to integrate his electrical sports car in the design and he asked us to introduce a large amount of daylight” explain architects. “Our aim was to keep the industrial nature of the building and introduce an outdoor space that would spread daylight and fresh air into the loft.” The workshop could not be equipped with façade windows because it is flanked on all sides by a late 19th-century factory building.
Studio-OxL transformed this former carpenter’s workshop into an energy efficient home loft by introducing a big patio with double layered glass, a heat pump and floor heating throughout the whole space. The design respects the old industrial doors and building structure, but isolates the inside from the rest of the building. The patio works as a lantern, supplying its surrounding spaces with daylight. It also divides the house into a more public area that contains the kitchen and the living room and the more private area houses the studio and the bedrooms.
The 30 metre deep space is now bathed in daylight and has become a comfortable place to live in. Energy efficiency was a very important issue. Architects decided to park the electric sports car inside the living room. Securing a prime parking spot in the middle of the hip and crowded fashion district of Arnhem’s city centre. This transforms the concept of a home loft into a garage loft. A perfect concept that facilitates the experience of comfort in an environmentally friendly way.
all images courtesy of STUDIO OxL