Riel Estate House

Inspired by German Insel Hombroich’s pavilions, for this house in a small Dutch village Joris Verhoeven chose traditional materials to obtain an out of the ordinary result.

Completed by Joris Verhoeven Architectuur, the Riel Estate House is located in a new residential development in the small Dutch village of Riel near Tilburg town.

The property conforms with its archetypal main structure and materialization with the rural character of the village and the surrounding countryside; a main building with a lopsided gable roof, rural hand-moulded bricks and heavy oak doors. The materials used are traditional in the Brabant region and were used in the past for typical long farmhouses and castles.

The clients, two architecture lovers, asked for something traditionally build with solid building materials, but out of the ordinary. In the province of Brabant it is customary to enter through the back door. By separating kitchen and living room from each other, a separation is also made between the formal entrance and the informal back door. Also arise a terrace.

The staircase is located in the intermediate zone between kitchen and living room. It rises up along the gentle slope of the roof and ensures a clear connection between the ground floor and upstairs. The presence of this stairs is further emphasized by the skylight above it folding over the roof, which ensures light gliding down the stairs. An asymmetric sculptural play of mass and openness is created by tilting the roof and also with the masonry giving the impression of heavy solid walls. The minimalist detailing of the house reinforces this sensation and provides a powerful clarity. Riel Estate winks with her outspoken styling to the pavilions in the German Insel Hombroich where the house is inspired by.