A Stylish and Colorful Apartment with Roof Terrace in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Cabrio Apartment by HUNK design

The transformation of a very common 19th century Rotterdam upstairs apartment into an unique city paradise.

The residents, Bart Cardinaal en Nadine Roos, live already since their student time at this address. With the arrival of their daughter the rented apartment didn’t suffice any more and the residents were on the look out for a home with a (roof)garden. Then the opportunity came along to buy the house for a very good price and it also turned out that it was possible to rebuild the house drastically. As they have their own architectural and design firm, HUNK-design, this became the start of the transformation.

The biggest wish of the owners was to have an outdoor place where their daughter could play and the parents could sunbath, bbq and so on. To realize this, a big part of the original pointed roof had to be demolished. Consequence would be though that the house would become substantially smaller and would this be worth it, considering a roof terrace can only be used when it’s sunny and the Netherlands is not the sunniest country. That’s why the owners made a design for a terrace for sunny days which can be closed when it’s cold or raining. They call it their Cabrio house.

To make this roof terrace, not only had they to take a big part of the roof off, but also did they have to rearrange every room in the house. Where the master bedroom used to be is now the roof terrace. The bedroom moved to where the dining room was. The dining area moved to the top floor, to the spot where previously the bathtub stood. The bathroom and kitchen changed places. The new sitting area used to be a very cold and dark storage room and what used to be the living room is now a spacious play room . The inbetween room (this is a typical 19th Century room in Rotterdam houses, where in the old days people used to sleep) has been converted into a walk-in closet. Only the daughter’s bedroom stayed at the same place.

Photos by: HUNK design & J Collingridge