House on the Hill
House on the Hill is a project by Broekhof Schuit Architecten in Amersfoort. Typology: Detached house. Status: Built.
A modest house frames its surroundings above ground and conceals a ninety-degree turn beneath the sloping site.
The former hospital grounds on the Amersfoortse Berg are known as Little Switzerland for height differences that are rare in the Netherlands. Designed from the inside out, the house uses the entire slope to create a sequence of framed views, changing atmospheres and an unexpected garden level.
House on the Hill in numbers: 12 m garden facade, 90° rotation below ground and 3 connected atmospheres.
12 mgarden facade
90°rotation below ground
3connected atmospheres
Views in opposite corners
Each floor of the main volume has two opposing corner windows. Upstairs they frame the church tower and nearby forest; at entrance level they connect driveway and garden.
The hidden rotation
From the street, the building appears as a familiar two-storey house with a gabled roof and carport. The central stair descends to a garden floor rotated beneath the rear house and carport, opening through twelve metres of glass.
A continuous diagonal
A shifting stair landing creates a diagonal view from top to bottom and a different atmosphere on each floor. Around the upper bathroom, a circular route connects the main bedroom and walk-in wardrobe while new windows continually reveal the landscape.
