Modern and sustainable camping life
This energy efficient Camping Villa was designed as a home for free-spirited owners of sustainable Camping Zeeburg in Amsterdam, who wanted to live in the green and water-rich environment on their own camping grounds.
As owners, they know the beauty of the area very well and they selected an idyllic spot on the edge of the campsite for their Camping Villa, where they can live undisturbed in their small oasis by the water.
Green is key
Camping Zeeburg is a quiet and green area along the IJ River in Amsterdam where outdoor living and nature take center stage. The camping has earned Green Key certification: the first international environmental label for tourist accommodations, and has a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy.
A world within a world
The goal of the project was to create a private world within the public world of the camping.
At the front of the house where camping guests can stroll past, the wooden facade looks sleek and somewhat closed. The ground floor is slightly recessed, creating a private atmosphere of security and intimacy.
The studio space on the side has a quirky asymmetrical strip window at eye level, providing special light and leaving plenty of wall space and focus for working.
The building blends into its green surroundings and is surrounded by trees. On the garden side, the house opens up and there is a natural relationship with the outdoors through an openable glass facade and a path to the additional waterfront terrace.
Being part of nature
The reason this earthy building blends in so well with nature is that it is made entirely of wood: the building structure as well as the facade and parts of the interior. Sustainable CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) wood from an FSC certified forest was used - 80% of this wood is made from fallen trees.
The wood of the facade is untreated Larch of Hollands hout, from Dutch forests.
The layering of the modern facade has been given an organic quirk to ensure that, instead of symmetry and predictable lines, a playful whole is formed that nevertheless blends quite modestly with the natural surroundings.
At the front, the building may look rather angular and business-like, but as soon as you walk toward the garden, the facade moves organically with it through curves in the facade and the windows become larger.
Elements such as windows and doors are always slightly set back from the wooden facade or run off the grid, giving unexpected movement to the whole.
Robust and cozy
The interior seems to have retreated safely and comfortably within the firm embrace of the robust wooden exterior.
The ceilings are cladded with wood, enhancing the feeling of security and coziness. In this way, the dynamic curved lines of the building are additionally highlighted.
The owners were looking for a sustainable, secure, cozy, adventurous atmosphere like that of a Swiss mountain lodge. We translated this into playful floor plans and the use of rugged, earthy materials such as natural stone and a lot of wood.
Spacious rooms alternate with narrow passages to the hall and stairs.
Free as a bird
Upstairs, in addition to the bedrooms, is the study of the campground owner who can look out over the quieter part of the property with the help of a spacious wooden outdoor-working balcony. A place that welcomes nature and offers shelter to birds in the birdhouses that are part of the facade: human and animal sharing a safe space within their natural habitat of the urban wilderness around the IJmeer, Amsterdam.
Photography Hannah Anthonysz