God's Loft

Dutch studio Leijh, Kappelhof, Seckel, van den Dobbelsteen Architects took a historic church and turned it into a wicked loft living space. Located in Haarlo, The Netherlands, the building was constructed in 1928 and was redesigned for owners who live by their own motto saying: “Cherish your inner child; remain pure, playing, exploring and a little bit naughty!”

It was a conscious choice, not to fill the volume of 1100 m³ completely with as many rooms as possible, but to minimize the demands, in order to retain the spaciousness of the building. The only architectural additions are the mezzanine for the relaxation room  (couch, bed and bath)  and the multifunctional “Stairway to have fun” (stairs,  room divider, closet, build-in-kitchen, acoustic element and exhibition wall). The materials  that were used  are pure, sober, functional and budgetary; concrete on the floor, the original wooden floorboards off the church as cladding for the “Stairway to have fun”, stainless steel kitchen elements, a hard glass partition to retain openness, white stucco (for making the space light inside) and strategically chosen red accents.

This project shows great passion, humour  respect, love and creativity. This is being reflected in the, specially for this project realized, elements like the swing “swinging sister” in the living room, the “KROONluchter” chandelier (inspired by the original organ), the “gate of heaven” flanked by a wall of guardian angels when you enter the house, the bright red “stairway to have fun” stairs to the upper level, the “holy shit” toilet, birdhouses with lamp for strange birds, that have seen the light, hanging on the  and the wooden “lost sheep” in the garden.

The modern garden has large plastered planters, made by left-over-bricks . There is a herb garden, a vegetable garden, a flower garden and an orchard; a contemporary nod to the old monastery gardens. The outside shed with a porch is a 40 ft container, integrated into the wooden fence and equipped with a green roof. By deepening the garden, a private garden is created yet still a view at the church is remained intact. Amen!

| via CONTEMPORIST |