17 Blum Inspirations As soon as Hanneke and Wouter crossed the threshold they knew they’d found their new home. To the lef t a view of the harbour and r iver and to the r ight the facades of the townhouses of Rot terdam. Ever y inch of the 1,460 sq. f t. (136 sq. metre) flat is flooded with light thanks to the floor-to- ceiling windows. ‘We were completely bowled over by the transparency and flow of the apar tment,’ says Hanneke. It took them just five minutes to decide to buy the place. Schiecentrale on Lloydstraat is par t of a former power plant that was redeveloped by Rober t Winkel from Mei architects and planners. The freelance educationalist and IT consultant had or iginally been look ing for a classic old building – not a raw industr ial lof t with bare concrete walls and ventilation pipes. But then they remembered their first shared apar tment in Gent in Belgium: ‘As soon as we moved in, we removed all the doors because we love the feel of spaciousness! ’ The lof t was a luck y find, of fer ing limitless scope for design. Inter ior designer Mar tijn Sorée channelled the couple’s ideas and needs into a bespoke design. With a small budget but many ingenious ideas, he has created a modern family apar tment that is almost totally open-plan and yet packed with possibilities for pr ivacy. Flexible spaces with thin dividing walls The sleek Finnish pine panels are multi-functional: they structure the floor plan, ser ve as a wall for hanging pictures, create storage space and can even be moved about. The ceiling-high folding doors to the children’s space, for example, run on ceiling tracks. Dur ing the day, the P H O T O G R A P H E R P E T E R K O O I J M A N L O C A T I O N R O T T E R D A M | N E T H E R L A N D S T E X T T I N A S C H N E I D E R - R A D I N G A R C H I T E C T R O B E R T W I N K E L | M E I A R C H I T E C T S A N D P L A N N E R S Fewer rooms, lots of space How can a young family find peace and quiet in a lof t, work undisturbed and at the same time enjoy a lively life together? Hanneke and Wouter’s apar tment on the harbour in Rot terdam is a fine example of bespoke living: with dividing walls, well defined spaces and a great love of order.
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