Inner Block House - Hidden residential transformation in Rotterdam Noord

Tucked discreetly behind a continuous row of residential housing in Rotterdam Noord, this project reclaims an overlooked inner-block condition and transforms it into a contemporary urban retreat. Invisible from the street, the building reveals itself only once entered, shifting the experience from public anonymity to private discovery.
Originally conceived as a large storage facility, the structure has been radically reimagined as a hidden villa—an introverted yet richly layered domestic landscape. The intervention prioritizes spatial depth, light, and intimacy, turning a utilitarian shell into a sequence of interconnected living environments.

The program is organized around a central living spine, with the living room, kitchen, and dining area functioning as the social and spatial connectors of the house. Around this core, four studio units with mezzanines are carefully integrated, alongside a master bedroom, office spaces, a cinema room, and play areas, balancing collective life with moments of retreat.

A defining feature of the project is its system of pocket gardens. These outdoor rooms are interwoven throughout the architecture, dissolving boundaries between interior and exterior while allowing landscape to penetrate deep into the building. Each garden offers a distinct atmosphere, collectively wrapping and connecting the house into a continuous green experience.

The largest pocket garden opens directly from the living space, becoming the heart of the home. Here, an outdoor pool extends domestic life beyond the walls, seamlessly connected to an interior wellness zone comprising a sauna and gym. This fluid relationship between landscape, leisure, and living reinforces the project’s ambition: to create a private sanctuary within the dense urban fabric.

Sustainability is embedded at the scale of the building envelope. The entire roof surface is covered with photovoltaic panels, forming one of the largest residential solar installations in Rotterdam. This expansive solar canopy transforms the roof into an active energy-producing landscape, significantly reducing the building’s environmental footprint while reinforcing its autonomous and future-oriented character.

The result is a hidden domestic world, quiet, layered, and inward-looking, where architecture, landscape, program, and energy production merge to redefine urban living from within.