Maastricht
HOUSE IN MAASTRICHT
2021 / 2022
The starting point for this project was the newly purchased house in Maastricht, where an international couple had just moved in. The Dutch and Italian flavours and cultural backgrounds of Jan Willem and Rosa beautifully blended in and produced the ingredients which gave birth and inspiration to the redesign of the house.
Initially started from a pragmatic need - including a psychology practice for Rosa, at home - the refurbishment was taken a step further by reorganising the rest of the space on the whole ground floor.
The kitchen - the place of conviviality and expression of hospitality - was going to be the central area and the main point of connection (literally and figuratively) in life, and between the different spaces. It needed to be redesigned to be more practical, easy to move around, beautiful and efficient.
The "night area" (which included a Master bedroom and a bathroom) was located in the most private area at the back of the house on the ground floor. The bedroom had a beautiful view on the garden. But it lacked space for a large wardrobe. The existing bathroom was dark (no window) and had limited accessibility (no wheelchair accessibility). The "night area” was transformed by extending the bathroom towards the outer facade and by creating a large window towards the garden. A walk-in closet, attached to the bedroom, was created by transforming an outside storage room into an extension of the bedroom.
Regarding colours and materials: these needed to be uplifting and re-interpret the colours and flavours of the talian island of Sardinia: earth, sand, see and sky were chosen for the bathroom; olive wood and green, were the finishing colours for the kitchen. Natural and reassuring, earth colours were chosen for the psychology practice. A project where the identity and natural inclination of the commissioners were gently reinterpreted in the design.
