Barnhouse - Boxtel (NL)

Architectural sliding panels with a ‘nod’ to the surrounding area

In the North Brabant village of Liempde we find a barn house. Designed by Wenink Holtkamp Architects, the house's black roof and cladding immediately catch the eye. Their inspiration? The farmers’ barns in the area which are traditionally finished with black wooden slats. The aluminium sliding panels by solar shading specialist DUCO are reminiscent of the sliding doors on traditional barns.

The barn house in the village of Liempde stands out clearly in the green landscape and forms a unity with barns in the surrounding area. “The house has been designed to last a lifetime,” says Jan-Peter Wenink of the architectural firm Wenink Holtkamp. “All functions, including an integrated garage, are situated on the ground floor.  By including an integrated garage it was possible to keep the barn as archetypical as possible, without having outbuildings that would negate the barn typology.”

Black cladding

The choice of black timber cladding was partly inspired by traditional farmhouses finished with black wooden slats,” explains Wenink. “The newer barns in the area are often made of corrugated steel. At the same time, the use of black stained wooden planks as cladding and an anthracite corrugated steel roof establish a relationship with the existing barn typologies in the immediate vicinity.”

Natural daylight

“Creating the right atmosphere is a key principle behind our designs,” Wenink adds. “Natural daylight plays an important role here. Does a room need direct daylight for functional use, or filtered light to create a warm and intimate atmosphere? These are all questions that we address during the design process.”

“Thanks to the open location, we were able to bring in natural daylight from all directions. There were opportunities to play with direct and indirect light in all sorts of interesting ways. Due to the orientation of the sun, the light conditions vary throughout the day, so that the atmosphere of the space is ever changing. We added solar shading in the form of aluminium sliding panels to prevent overheating caused by direct sunlight.”

Architectural sliding panels

“These louvred sliding panels filter the light inside the house beautifully on sunny days,” Wenink explains. “They also keep heat out, thereby reducing the cooling load by up to 63%. At the same time, they allow maximum privacy. The sliding shutters are designed just like the sliding doors that were often used in traditional barns. The result? An alternation of textures. The vertical wooden slats, the horizontal slats of the sun blinds and the corrugations of the anthracite steel corrugated sheets are designed within the same colour palette. Due to the alternation of texture and orientation, sunlight is absorbed or reflected in many different ways. It’s a project we look back on with pleasure.”