A Dutch-style conversion

Dutch designer Rob Zeelen is driven by a profound passion for his craft. In both his interiors and product designs, he weaves together history, identity and craftsmanship to evoke a sense of freshness and harmony. Lightness is his guiding principle. With his flexible mindset and an unerring ability to translate concepts into form, Zeelen manages the overarching vision and smallest detail of his projects with equal precision.

This approach is perfectly illustrated by a recently renovated villa in Gennep, a picturesque town straddling the Meuse and Niers rivers in the verdant Limburg region in the south-east of the Netherlands. The building occupies a V-shaped plot at the intersection of two streets – a challenging topographical context. Before the intervention, the façades were a classic example of 1930s Dutch vernacular architecture with pitched roofs and a simple, unadorned brickwork exterior.

“For the LGP project, we retained and restored the roof and the front and side façades, while completely remodelling the rear of the house overlooking the private garden,” Zeelen explains. “Several outbuildings were demolished to create space for a new volume that integrates seamlessly with the property’s original nucleus.” From the new frontage emerges a highly contemporary glass-walled volume that creates an osmotic connection between the interior and the surrounding garden and countryside. The intentionally restrained material palette consists of metal, thermal glazing and sliding doors, a solution that provides seamless access to the garden during the warmer months and ensures transparency and a sense of space.

“One of the client’s non-negotiable requirements was an indoor pool that could be accessed without leaving the house,” says Zeelen. “The new architectural volume was designed specifically to house the pool, by no means a simple task given the V-shaped layout of the plot. We also designed a cantilevered roof with elegant rotating timber slats to create a covered outdoor lounge furnished with Italian-made designer pieces arranged around a suspended, rotating fireplace.”

The redesigned interior layout is minimalist and highly functional. The ground floor houses a living room with sophisticated colour schemes, a dining area with a covered patio and a sculptural pendant light, a kitchen designed by the architect and a spacious bathroom. An elegant ceramic staircase leads to the master suite, consisting of a bedroom, a bespoke study, a sitting room, a second bedroom and a luxurious yet understated bathroom.

Zeelen’s affinity for Italian brands is evident in every space, both indoors and out. Furniture from Flexform, Baxter, Rimadesio and Coro Italia – leaders in terms of quality, originality and environmental commitment – features prominently, while porcelain slabs from Coem were chosen for much of the floors, walls and stairs. “I have the highest regard for Coem’s expertise,” the architect notes. “In particular, we specified the Lagos collection in Light Grey. For bespoke elements such as the kitchen island, vanity unit and fireplace, we used 120×280 cm large-format slabs in the Wide Gres finish. For the floors, the pool cladding and the stairs, we chose the 60×120 cm module, again in the Wide Gres finish, while for the walls we opted for sequences of tiles in the Stripes finish.

For the external terraces and stairs, Zeelen specified 2 cm thick rectified slabs measuring 60.4 x 90.6 cm. These were chosen for their aesthetic appeal and durability, as well as Coem’s commitment to sustainability. The Modena-based group complies with ISO 17889-1 on the sustainability of ceramic tiles and holds an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) for the entire product life cycle in accordance with ISO 14025. Furthermore, Coem’s production processes meet international quality, environmental and safety standards, earning the company recognition for managerial excellence from Certiquality.

With its clean lines, rich materials and commitment to sustainability, Villa LGP stands as a testament to Rob Zeelen’s architectural expertise. It demonstrates his capacity to combine restraint and comfort with functionality and luxury, as well as his unerring ability to surprise and delight his clients.