A Sculptural Brass House Glows Like a Jewel in Amsterdam

Boasting a bold brass facade, this striking family home embraces contemporary design with a sustainable approach.

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In the rapidly developing IJburg neighborhood—a unique district in Amsterdam built on artificial islands—the Brass House stands apart from its traditional brick-clad neighbors with its modern and sculptural form. Clad with angular brass elements on both its front and rear elevations, this striking 2,260-square-foot home is the work of local practice MOPET architecten.

Sandwiched between two brick-clad homes, the Brass House on Haveneiland-Oost catches the eye with its angled brass facade that changes color from gold to brown in the light.

Although the firm faced many building restrictions in IJburg, they encountered no regulation hurdles in using a sculptural brass facade.

The clients, a young family with a child, tapped the firm for an energy-efficient home with a spacious and serene atmosphere.

The split-level area separates the eat-in kitchen in the front of the home from the intimate lounge that opens up to a spacious backyard.

To that end, the architects installed six sets of full-height glazed sliding doors to bring the outdoors in, and combined a streamlined material palette with minimalist detailing to create an airy and tranquil indoor environment.

"Integrated solutions are designed for maximum openness in the house: The entrance hall, toilet, staircase, doors and kitchen are combined in a long wall cabinet that runs from the front to the rear," note the architects. "It narrows and widens, creating places with a variation in atmosphere and perspective."

A minimalist material palette of oak, concrete, black steel, and white stucco creates an airy and serene interior.

A strategically placed skylight floods the stairway core of the home with natural light.

In keeping with a minimalist approach, the recyclable brass facade not only serves as eye-catching cladding, but is also engineered to protect the triple-glazed openings from unwanted solar gain.

"Balconies on the front and rear facades ensure a coherence between inside and outside. Its geometric expression strengthens the plasticity of the facades," adds the firm.

"Brass is a 100-percent recycled product, an alloy of copper and zinc from old church-roofs, money, and musical instruments," explain the architects of their choice of brass. "The material doesn’t lose its value, and gets a beautiful patina in time. We think it’s one of the few materials that ages nicely or even becomes more beautiful."

The fenced-in backyard includes outdoor dining and a small green-roofed storage unit.

Uplighting makes the brass facade glow gold at night.

The architects continue: "The material makes sharp, edged surfaces possible—each surface reflects the daylight in a different way, which creates a very dynamic facade, in contrast to the mostly masonry houses in the neighborhood. It shows and makes you realize the craftsmanship of the making; that’s rare in this time of speed we all live in. If you consider all that when you approach the home, it gives a sense of existence."