Utrecht-based architecture studio Riche?l Lubbers Architecten has added an angular extension to a residence that sits on the site of an old monastery.
Located in a leafy neighborhood of the city, the owners wanted to create an extension to their home that could be used as guest quarters with the possibility of turning it into a self-contained retirement annex in the future.

The solution included refurbishing the existing property and adding a single-storey timber-clad pavilion with a mezzanine level and sloping roof that sweeps out into the garden. The project began in spring 2016 and was completed by the autumn.
Accessed via a glass window-lined corridor that houses a pantry, the extension comprises a garden room, bathroom and sauna on the ground floor and a bedroom on the mezanine. The interior is sparsely finished with plywood walls and polished concrete floors. Wooden batons that line the walls reach up to exposed ceiling beams. The exterior is clad in a specially treated sustainable timber called Platowood.

To create the angular extension, Riche?l Lubbers Architecten took advantage of the Netherlands' new rules on license-free construction that were introduced on in November 2014. The law allows a homeowner to build an extension behind their house without the need of a building permit.
However the extension's roof must be no more than 25 centimetres above the level of the first floor of the original building, unless it is more than four metres behind the original ...