Design a temporary infill of the commandant’s house of camp Westerbork. The infill should do justice to the historical significance of the camp and the house and should fall within the historical and current themes related to it.

The house is in poor condition and visitors are not welcome. So we designed a pavilion, a reduced and abstracted copy of the commandant’s house. An open, transparent space where information about the house can be found in words and pictures. With a view of the camp and the original commandant’s house.

After seeing a proposal for vertical parking on a vacant lot, we wanted to explore a solution that would not only benefit car owners.

By using the blind wall as a structural element, an extension can be created to accommodate various functions: a vertical parking space, a green wall, solar panels and a balcony for residents of the building behind.

In another variant, cars can be parked on the ground floor only and the space above is used as outdoor space for residents, greenery and for flexible housing units for students and starters.

Much office space in the Netherlands is vacant, in Rotterdam alone 1 million square metres (2012). At the same time, there is increasing pressure on the housing market to accommodate refugees.

Urban Village brings supply and demand together. The flexible housing units can quickly and cheaply make empty offices suitable for – temporary – decent housing. The offices require little or no modification; the units are largely self-contained. If necessary, they can easily be dismantled and rebuilt in another location.

In 2012, Urban Village won second prize in the ASN Bank competition For the World of Tomorrow.

Presentation [PDF]

A new bedroom for a cool 10-year-old girl. The relatively small bedroom is made the most of by the extra-wide bunk bed (120 cm). The lower part is designed as a comfortable lounge corner. This is also the guest bed. A desk with integrated bookshelves has been created in front of the window.

There is no standard wardrobe, but there are low shelves and an open hanging area. Everything is made of plywood and black scaffold tube to achieve the desired cool effect.

Łódź, Poland’s third largest city and a former textile centre, has a lot of poverty, vacancy and overdue maintenance. Using our design philosophy Permanent Impermanence as a starting point, studioMERZ developed some concepts that help the city in its transformation in a consistently flexible way.

By viewing the concept of the interim time not as a problem but as a solution, Łódź can continue to adapt to the ever-changing demands placed on a modern city.

The concepts are the result of a workshop in Łódź with architect Henk Luttje.

Permanent Impermanence [PDF]

studioMERZ designed a simple and functional kitchen in Rotterdam. Made entirely of OSB, the kitchen fills a niche in the living room as a floating object.

The design follows studioMERZ’s design philosophy, Permanent Impermanence, and our motto: Only the wrong material used in the wrong way gives the right image if you look at it from the right perspective…. or from the wrong perspective – Kurt Schwitters

Read the article on www.kuechenjournal.com

studioMERZ realised an (extra) bathroom in a house consisting of two connected apartments. The existing kitchen was removed and replaced by a complete OSB object: the new bathroom. The object fills the niche and gives it a new function. When the occupants move out, the bathroom can easily be removed and a kitchen reinstalled.

This is in line with studioMERZ’s design principle: Permanent Temporality. Using what is already there and enriching it so that the function changes. Without taking away from the existing structure, so that it can be given a new function again and again. Because everything is temporary.

OSB is not a logical choice as a material for a bathroom, but when treated with care it reinforces the image of a temporary object.

In line with studioMERZ’s other projects, a kitchen was designed as a free-standing object. Existing elements are visible and enhance the contrast between old and new.

The walls, top and floor are made of underlayment and transparently lacquered. The cooker is in a niche in front of the window and is mobile. This makes optimal use of the space, while respecting the past.

We designed a kitchen for a couple who love cooking and love good food.

The kitchen has a concrete worktop, unique CNC-milled handles and integrated LED lighting. The design is deliberately simple and consistent, and with a touch of Bauhaus.