DIY Rural House
DIY Rural House is a project by Broekhof Schuit Architecten in Almere Oosterwold. Typology: Family house. Status: Built. Photography: Broekhof Schuit + Jordi Huisman.
A stretched single-storey home with contrasting facades and long organising views.
The house divides living and sleeping into two perpendicular wings. Its road side stays calm and closed, while the garden side opens beneath a cantilevered roof. Three internal elements connect the plan through long views: the technical core, bathroom and fireplace.
Rules of Oosterwold
The low-density district links house size to plot size, asks owners to organise their own roads and sanitation, and reserves half of every plot for urban farming. The clients added three ambitions: a single-storey home, reclaimed oak structures and the spirit of the Case Study Houses.
Two wings, two suns
Living and sleeping occupy perpendicular volumes. Bedrooms meet the morning sun, while the living wing turns to the evening. A closed road facade makes arrival through the generous entrance feel deliberately different from the open, light-filled garden side.
An adaptable structure
The Case Study House reference led to a plan without internal load-bearing walls. A technical core, main bathroom and fireplace organise use and privacy while long vistas connect every part of the house to the garden.
Revised, not abandoned
Reusing the oak structures proved incompatible with construction methods and budget, but the spatial concept remained. The final structure was prefabricated in Germany, assembled on site in one week and finished inside and out by the clients themselves.
Project team
- Photography
- Broekhof Schuit + Jordi Huisman
- Structural engineer
- De Ingenieursgroep
Photography by Broekhof Schuit + Jordi Huisman View source project