Just a handful of materials

Taking its name from the combination of the owners’ first names, MIKA demonstrates how the creative use of a handful of materials can produce a house of playful sophistication that revels in its spatial quirkiness.
Redressing the property’s spatial limitations, an awkward footprint of just 5.5 metres width and a maximum depth of 18 metres, i.s.m.architecten devised an open-plan configuration that unfolds across the entire depth of the house, uniting – in one sweeping gesture – the renovated house at the front, and the new one-storey extension in the back, as well as visually connecting the street front with the back yard.
Subtle differences in floor level and the clever use of complimentary materials establish different zones without the need for partitions, while the use of skylights and mirrors ensure that the house is uniformly bright and airy despite its long depth. The blond natural veining of the wooden wall cladding in the living room is echoed in the wooden ceiling in the kitchen/dining area, its underlying structure whimsically revealed midway, as well as in several pieces of furniture of Scandinavian simplicity, while a lush light pink carpet gives way to a polished concrete floor that continues onto the terrace outside.
Lighter and darker grey tones complement this modest colour palette whose subdued sensibility is jazzed up by the marble used for the countertop and backsplash in the kitchen. Featuring a whirlwind of red and brown highlights, the marble surfaces animate the space with an expression, as well as pick up the earthy hues of the brickwork on the terrace outside.