![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_hero-1-852x479.jpg)
Ruud Visser Architects completes house in Holland that looks like a giant A
The house by Ruud Visser Architects features a brick facade that looks like a huge letter A, while its rear is a three-storey wall of windows.
The house is located in the village of Meerkerk, South Holland, on a historic street called the Tolstraat, which is lined with buildings from the early 1900s.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x569.jpg)
In response, Ruud Visser Architects designed the front of the building to match the masonry of its traditional neighbours. But a glazed rear facade was added to offer views of a nature reserve behind.
"The main challenge was to blend a new, contemporary, house into this complex historic setting. We decided to adapt the local 'messiness' into our design," explained the studio, which is based in nearby Lexmond.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_10-852x558.jpg)
Called House in Meerkerk, the two-storey property provides a home for a retired couple, one of whom grew up in a house that stood on the site before.
Dark brickwork provides the building's frontage, while pale bricks highlight the A shape, by framing the outline of the wall, as well as the entranceway and a first-floor window.
This simplified articulation offers a contemporary contrast to the rest of the Tolstraat – a formal streetscape with a disorderly feel, thanks to a mishmash of building elements including annexes, sheds and varying types of roofs and fascias.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_3-852x569.jpg)
However other parts of the building were treated very differently, so that the building wouldn't stand out too much.
Behind the brickwork facade, a white plastered wall extends along the side of the building. This elevation incorporates minimally framed windows, including a translucent pane that allows daylight to filter through to a stairwell.
And at the rear, a three-storey-high window wall sits beneath a folded slate-covered roof, which extends up high enough to be seen from the front of the building.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_4-852x1277.jpg)
"We decided to work with the local village character of the street by not approaching the house as a single stand-alone object," aded the studio.
"We divided the body of the house into three distinct parts. Every part is made of a different material, each already to be found in the adjacent facades in the Tolstraat."
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x569.jpg)
This expanse of glazing offers a view towards a 700-year-old excavated water reservoir that is now a nature reserve. This view holds happy memories for the client, so was important to emphasise in the design.
The building is entered from the street through a front door leading to an entrance hall that extends along the side of a storage area. This space can be used for storing bikes and opens directly onto a path connecting to the street.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_7-852x569.jpg)
Inside the main house, the ground floor also accommodates a laundry area, toilet and a lounge at the rear that can be opened up to the paved patio.
A lift and a spiralling metal and wood staircase provide access to the upper storeys. The first floor contains a living area at the front of the house, with a kitchen and dining space at the rear.
![Ruud Visser Architects designs House Meerkerk on traditional Dutch street](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/07/house-meerkerk-ruud-visser-architects-architecture_dezeen_2364_col_6-852x569.jpg)
The bedroom on the top floor features a slanted wall and ceiling that follow the form of the folded roof.
Ruud Visser Architects has previously slotted a modern house inside the wood-panelled walls of a 1930s church in Rotterdam and extended a townhouse in The Hague, adding a large window with a cross-shaped wooden frame.
Photography is by René de Wit.