-Re Adapt

“-Re” Adapt no. 2 – Just one wall

“-Re” House together with “-Re” Adapt are two series part of a project in which I review, refine and redesign residential projects available on the Dutch housing market. “-Re” House touches projects that have been completed after the year 2000 and could have been done more efficiently to begin with, while “-Re” Adapt looks at how to better adapt older residential architecture that was designed in a different cultural and historical context. 


1914 is the year Charlie Chaplin makes his film debut in the comedy short Making a Living. Thus anything we might have to comment on a building completed in that time can only be discussed from a historical perspective. We can discuss on how to adapt it for a better use in present times, and we will, but unlike the “-Re” series where things could have been done smarter to begin with, here that is a moot point.

Original layout:
•  Completed: 1914
Surface: 37m²

• Every time I look at this layout I can’t stop picturing somebody running through the entire space from the bedroom to the bathroom. Can be a cute and fun spectacle. Add a little dancing and you’ve got the beginning of a movie/commercial. However on the other side, you might be having guests, dirty dishes to annoy you, be in a hurry and keep having to dodge the kitchen counter. It can also get rather cramped if one’s cooking and somebody else wants to open the door to the bathroom.
• And that’s kinda it! I don’t have much to say about this layout. I have no way of knowing if this apartment was part of the original division or if it is the result of later adaptation. In its current form it is a pretty OK little apartment.

New layout:
• This is a small space, so it makes no sense to waste space with a large entry hallway or other circulation spaces. It makes more sense to me to double functions where possible. So I moved the kitchen to the middle of the space. This releases the wall to the bedroom and allow its door to be moved much closer to the bathroom.
• Moving the bedroom door and its increase in size (be it tiny) changes the way the layout of the bedroom can be used. The small dimension of the room does not allow anything else besides the bed, so the ideal place for the closets is the the opposite wall, which is now available. We’re not touching windows. We have no clue about the historical status of the building and even then, we’re trying to keep this cheap and easy. 
• There is no space to waste. There is no point in making a TV station in the living room. That would take up too much space and limit its visibility (in this particular space). I thus, really like the idea of a wall mounted TV with limited mobility. This particular location allows it to be visible both from the kitchen as well as from the living room itself. The mobility element makes it much more comfortable when watching from the couch.
• Last but not least, if possible I’d move the washing machine to the storage, if not I’d grudgingly leave it in the kitchen.


Click here for more “-Re” Adapt projects
Click here for more “-Re” House projects


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