pasel kunzel architects: V36K08/09

V36K08/09 by pasel.künzel architects all photos by marcel van der burg

on a former industrial site close to the historical heart of the renowned dutch university city of leiden, emerges one of the biggest urban developments of private-collective dwellings in the netherlands.

in their series of eleven town houses, rotterdam based architects pasel.künzel architects have created another residence. V36K08/09 is the front end of a terrace that is built on a collective parking garage. the residence comprises two separate dwellings for mother and son, including two spacious and hidden patios. the dark pre-patinated zinc facade with its subtle disposition of seams gives the building a calm but yet spectacular appearance.

looking from the outside, the house appears rather compact and closed – a fortress in the urban tissue. only by entering the estate through the heavy wooden gate, one gets into an utterly different inner world – an oasis of tranquillity, a living space that is generous and open, where inside and outside merge into each other.

project info: architect: pasel.kuenzel architects location: leiden, the netherlands team: r. pasel, f. künzel, f. sack structural engineer: imd, rotterdam contractor: bouwbedrijf nieuwe maten, wormerveer client: private project area: 285 m2 + 81 m2 roof terrace project year: 2006-10 photographs: marcel van der burg