In the Dutch hamlet of Giethmen, Amsterdam–based practice Woonpioniers has completed Indigo, a prefabricated home and studio, for sculptor Lia Harmsen. The custom, 861-square-foot, modular home has fully glazed walls on the front and back, allowing natural light to fill the entire space. A central wooden volume contains the kitchenette, bathroom, and shower, and a set of steps with built-in drawers lead up to a spacious sleeping loft.

On the studio side to the north, the wooden volume provides space for stonework tools and a kitchen countertop. In the living room to the south, the volume accommodates a small kitchen and leads to the bathroom, which sits under the lofted bedroom.

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All the interior walls are finished with three-layered wooden sheets made from pinewood. The floor is Profidecke solid timber finished with a transparent coating. Poured pigmented concrete was used for the floor on the ground level and bathroom.

“The curved connections between the top of the wall and ceiling allow the Indigo to  withstand the high structural forces occurring at this bending point without other structural support features,” says Woonpionier architect and cofounder Daniël Venneman. “This gives us complete freedom for the interior layout.”

Finding a wooden sheet that could be bent, however, proved a challenge. “Two weeks before we started building, the factory that made the wooden sheets we wanted suddenly stopped producing them. Thankfully, we managed to solve the problem by making small incisions in the back of three-layered wooden sheets, which made them bendable to suit our purposes,” he says.

Related Reading: A Patagonian Prefab Cabin Is Built to Withstand Volatile Climates

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Woonpioniers / @woonpioniers

Builder: Woodteq Houtconstructies

Structural Engineer: BSG Bouwadvies

Cabinetry Maker: Blind Interieur

Sustainable Energy Consultants: Coen Energieadvies

Sustainable Product Installations: Studio ECO

Photography: Henny van Belkom

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