SUPERUSED HOME
Project by Superuse on site
Photography © Denis Guzzo | Digital 5500px available
INTRODUCTION
“It is made with the waste of the waste of the waste.”
Quote from the interview with Césare Peeren, June 2019.
After a long restoration, we proudly present the result of Superuse co-founder Césare Peeren’s home. This is a beautiful example of how our cities could evolve, re-using pre-existing housing and local material flows. Starting from the ’90s, thanks to cooperation between the municipality and private owners, the street’s new inhabitants managed to save the whole housing complex.
Césare’s house has resulted in an organic assembling of elements and materials from other Superuse ‘s projects realized during the following two decades, implementing flows of re-used materials into the renovation process.
The tall back door also provides daylight for the desk on the first floor, which is also transparent. In the summer months, the reflecting thermal curtains are kept closed during the daytime to limit the heat entering the house.
Same as in the first floor' bathroom, the kitchen floor was composed using 'dead stock ceramic tiles.
SECOND FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
A short stair connects the entrance to both the ground and the first floor.
The first floor also has a layered sandglass that provides daylight from the street's side. Two old aeroplane seats provide a comfortable corner for reading.
A small GRREN guest room has been created on the garden side, which has an overview of both the garden and dining room.
To cite one of the materials used for the house: the garden’s facade’s insulation has been realised by upcycling Trespa plates leftover from the other two projects.
Initially, the grey panels were office desks dismantled from a bank in Rotterdam in 2009. Upcycling materials, in this case, is done by giving new aesthetic value and adding functions simultaneously. After drilling the anti-slip stripes, the material was mainly reused for the DordtYart project as flooring.
Image slider below [phone pics] : cosy vibes at the SUPERUSED HOME during a summer night
THIRD FLOOR
Roof and balcony to harvest water, energy and grow food
Below image slider: horizontal views of the first floor
Reused and upcycled roof materials
Respecting the historical aesthetics and local regulations, the house has been maintained in its original look on the street side, while it has been modernized on the garden’s side.
With the same approach, the roof has been regenerated by re-using the old shingles by composing the house’s number ’98’ in its front facade.
Superused Home is intended to be able to host many people within a community-based living style. On the third floor, the attic is designed as an open space living unit, connected by a long stair to the ground floor.
Rainwater is a precious resource in terms of food production and house-holding. Furthermore the Netherlands is facing today unprecedented water shortage.
Also thanks to the clean surface chosen for the roof, a relevant amount of rain water can be collected for gardening. The house is provided with three collecting PVC silos: one on the balcony and further diverted downstair to the water storage on the garden floor.
Combining older-generation solar panels with new ones, energy is harvested from the roof and the balcony installations.
The attic’s living unit can run almost entirely driven by solar energy and passive climatic solutions, thanks to low-consumption home appliances.
The solar panels on the new structure harvest sunlight while shading the interiors and protecting the door and windows from direct rain.
Production for CBK Rotterdam of the short documentary dedicated to the process of place-making of the new monument for sexual diversity. Designed by Superuse Studios and reprinted by Mr June. #BladeMade
The whole housing complex along the east side of the Gerald Scholtenstraat in Rotterdam resumes three decades of community efforts, where inhabitants joined forces to save the heritage value of the street.
The communal approach is also expressed in the collaboration between Césare, Mel and their neighbour Hugo, a master of crafts in building and wood crafts, who represent an essential ingredient to complete the restoration, sharing both efforts, knowledge, and investments.
Being the roof shared by two families, the restoration process and design have been implemented commonly. Next to the aesthetics approach, the larger insulation layer widely improves the insulation for the whole surface of the building.
Below image slider: details of the GREEN ROOM next to the first floor' desk
EXTERIOR VIEWS
Asmall stair leads to the second floor, shared by two sleeping room, the bathroom and the laundry, which functions also as light source for the RED ROOM.
In the bathroom, the sink's drainage pipe is not connected to the system, but is used with a bucked placed underneath, so water is always reused to flush the toilet.
In terms of artificial light, the printed plexiglass is a recurrent material in Superuse's projects.
A large quantity of these panels was recovered by SUPERUSE when discarded by Bodyshop.
You can see the dedicated portfolio OBJECT ROTTERDAM.
Below image slider: the REDROOM at the garden's side
A shatterproof glass window repurposed as an integral part of the laundry room’s floor: definitely the scariest but also most fascinating detail of the house.
It allows most of the light gained by the upper windows to illuminate the lower floors, with a focus on the office’s table on the first floor, positioned to overview the huge back door with a view at the garden.
Below image slider: the BLUE ROOM at the Street 's side
SUPERUSED HOME is conceived as a building able to host a community. The Third-floor host an independent, open space living unit, connected through a long stair to the second and the ground floor. Being the attic not completed, the series is not yet available, while you can already see the finished balcony.
To improve the climatic performance during the winter season, the entrance wall has been opened, connecting internally the two living units also on the ground floor.
Film still: Cèsare Peeren drilling the wall on the ground floor to eliminate the need for a second front door.
SUPERUSED HOME represents a remarkable case study that proves how it is possible to upgrade our cities starting with what we have, without having to rebuild anything new.
A century-old house has been crafted to fit an entire community with a very low energy footprint, without renouncing comforts but still with the charm of a historic building.
Photo: Mel Fedmuller controls the electricity output given by the solar panels.
GROUND FLOOR
PLEASE NOTE: while this portfolio includes a selection of photographs, you might want to see the extended preview.
