Charloisse Kerksingel, Rotterdam

Open, Old and New

This 1893 home in Oud-Charlois is a former part-art gallery part-house transformed into a bright, spatial three-story living environment. Designed to balance the constant bustle of family and work life, the house embraces openness across four stories, allowing for collectiveness while accommodating multiple uses.

On the ground floor, the building's past as a workspace is still evident. It once served as a private office, with a meeting room set in a hall lined by large street-facing windows. A bar—made from the half-height wall that the former gallery owners used in their bathroom—anchors the space. Behind this, through a sliding door, lies a quieter work area with a library and a large meeting table that used to be space for eight workstations. Toward the back, the layout has been adapted into a self-contained studio with a kitchenette, bathroom, and sofa.

The first floor forms the heart of the home. Arranged around a central opening, it allows views down below and strengthens the sense of spatial continuity. Here, the kitchen and main living areas are located, where openness brings in daylight and maintains a visual connection between family members, as well as between the indoors and outdoors throughout the day. A partly taken out floor creates space for a loft with a guest room, living room and open bathroom on the first and second floor.

Upstairs on the third floor, the former layout has been reconfigured. What was once a single large bedroom with an open bathroom—separated only by a half-height wall—has been transformed into a more articulated family arrangement, including the children's bedrooms and bedsteads. With parts of the past aiding the renovations of the present, this building fosters a perfect mix of familiarity and modernity in a home.