Casa Kwantes的设计基于业主对隐居和私密性的需求，同时将日照与开放的起居空间最大化。从街道看去，透过外砖墙立面的开口，只能瞥见一部分室内空间和私密的家庭生活 - 精巧而微妙的缩进式入口，引入一个封闭无光的入口门厅。与之相反，住宅的背面完全朝南打开，流线型的落地玻璃窗与玻璃幕墙一同环绕着中心的橄榄树。

由MVRDV设计的480平方米私人住宅有着独特的日夜分隔，它位于鹿特丹一所旧医院的拐角区域。带有Celosia砖墙细部风格的外立面平整而神秘，隐约可见一个曲面缩进的入口，造访者由此进入门厅。走进住宅，视线突然开阔，采光极好的流线型起居空间在眼前展开。这堵延伸的墙也成为通往车库和楼梯的入口，平层的其他室内空间都用作起居和书房，包裹着中心曲线型的庭院，以及住宅的焦点：橄榄树。起居室的脊柱是一个长型定制的木质壁橱，隐藏着各种室内功能，如地下室、入口、客用洗手间、橱柜和食品储藏。室内铺地延伸至室外，使庭院变成住宅的延伸，如同一个室外的房间。这里有一个小型地下室用作额外的储存空间，并且在庭院一侧有一个阳光充裕的天井，也可作为烧烤区域，邀请亲友一同享受荷兰的夏天。

“上下两层的室内立面都采用流线型的曲面玻璃幕墙，使视野从一个房间延续到另一个房间。不仅仅是视觉上的联系，室外阳台也提供了一个延续的路径，可以不受阻碍地从一个空间走向另一个空间。随着在住宅中走动而产生的不同视角，可看见橄榄树在玻璃上的倒影也不断变化和跳跃。”MVRDV的创始人Jacob van Rijs说道。

为了维持良好的环保足迹，住宅谨慎地安置了地热泵、热传导系统和屋顶太阳能板。太阳能板抵消了住宅玻璃损失的能源，并且生产了足够的能源供给电力。Casa Kwante有潜力成为一个完全自给自足的建筑，所有这些设备都将在明年逐步开始测试使用。起居空间吸收大量日照，但在夏天的几个月里，因上层轻微的悬挑也有阴凉处。住宅的设计过程紧密地依照MVRDV的一向设计态度，与业主紧密的合作，几乎每天都有沟通交流，以求打造一个尽可能量身定制的家。

住宅平衡了市政当局的怀旧主义建筑要求，成为一个带有1930年代现代主义的当代解读，以其长型、乳白色的浅砖，落地玻璃立面，以及反差性地整合了平直和流线，开放与封闭，灵活与固定。附近新建的住宅都以各自现代而本土化的方式处理，是否要有一个更加前卫的建筑，曾是与市政当局讨论的主题。

Casa Kwantes bases itself around the clients’ desire for seclusion and privacy, whilst having a maximum of daylight and open living spaces. From the road, the bare brick wall offers only a partial glimpse into the property and family life through an opening of the white brickwork façade -  a subtle indented entrance leading into an initially dark and enclosed entrance hall. In contrast, the reverse of the property completely opens up to the south with curved windows following the entire winding façade wrapped around a central olive tree. 

The 480m2 private home designed by MVRDV has a distinct night-daytime separation. It is located west of Rotterdam on a corner plot of the site of an old hospital. On entering through a curved indent in an otherwise flat and mysterious façade with Celosia brickwork detail, visitors are led into the entrance hall. Stepping into the property, it suddenly opens into the well-lit living spaces of its curved and fluid interior. This continuous wall also serves as an entrance to the garage and staircase. The living room and library take up the rest of the space, wrapped around a curvaceous and carved out courtyard that frames the focal point of the house, the tree. The living room’s backbone is a long fitted closet of wood hiding all domestic functions including the basement, entrance, guest toilet, kitchen cabinets and pantry. The flooring from inside continues outside and essentially turns the courtyard into an extension of the house i.e. as an exterior room. There is a small basement for extra storage, and in addition, a sun trap patio at the bottom of the garden which provides an extra paved barbeque space for Dutch summer days.

“The curved glass continuously wraps its way around the interior façade on both levels creating continuous views from one room to another. As well as a visual connection, an exterior balcony also creates the opportunity to easily walk from one space to the next without disruption. The glass reflections of the central tree continuously change and bounce around as one moves throughout the house and changes their perspective”, says MVRDV co-founder, Jacob van Rijs.

In order to maintain a responsible environmental footprint, the house has discreetly installed a ground source heat pump, heat exchange system and a roof with solar panels. The solar panels compensate for energy lost from the house’s glazing producing enough energy for it to run entirely on electricity. Casa Kwantes has the potential to become entirely self-sufficient and these installations will be tested in the course of the next year. The living spaces absorb the most sunlight yet for summer months, they have sun shading due to floors cantilevering out slightly. The design process of the home closely followed MVRDV’s commitment to working closely with clients throughout. With almost daily communications, the end result comes as close to a tailor-made home as possible.

When balancing municipality requirements for a retro style architecture, the home became a contemporary take on 1930s modernism with its long, cream, shallow brickwork, full-height glazing, and the contrasting integration of the flat and fluid, open and enclosed, flexible and defined. As the newly built homes in the vicinity are more vernacular in their modernist approach, this variation on a more avant-garde architecture has been the subject of discussions with the municipality.