Villa 1, a woodland house in the Veluwe Zoom area near Arnhem in the Netherlands designed by architects Powerhouse Company, has been nominated for the Dutch Design Awards, which will be announced this weekend.

Beneath the glazed top floor is a sub-terranean living space in the basement.

The project has been nominated for the AM NAi prize 2008 and the ´best private interior´category of the Dutch Design Awards.

The following information is from Powerhouse Company:

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Powerhouse Company's Villa 1 nominated for two design awards

Villa 1 of the Powerhouse Company has received nominations for two important Dutch Design awards; the AM NAi prize 2008 and the Dutch Design Award 2008.

Villa 1 was Powerhouse Company's first commission after its foundation in 2005. The villa was completed at the beginning of this year. Powerhouse Company also designed the garden, the interior and a couple of furniture pieces.

Set in the woodlands of Holland, the program of Villa 1 is oriented optimal towards the views on the terrain and the sun. Half of the program is pushed below ground to meet local zoning regulations. This creates a clear dichotomy in the spatial experience of the house - a glass box ground floor where all mass is concentrated in furniture elements and a ‘medieval’ basement, where the spaces are carved out of the mass.

AM NAi prize 2008

The AM NAi price is rewarded biannually for the best building of a young dutch architect, by a jury under the direction of Ole Bouman (director of the NAi). The prize is an initiative of the Dutch Architectural Institute in Rotterdam ( NAi) and developing enterprise AM. The villa was selected, together with three other designs, from a total of 76 submissions. On the website the jury praises the design as “exquisitely expressive without becoming ruthless” and “conceptually and scenic a convincing design”. The winner of the money prize of 10.000 Euro will be announced on the 8th of November 2008. The event also includes the presentation of the book “Facts & Forms” from NAi publishers, which elaborately covers all the nominated buildings.

Dutch Design Award

The interior of Villa 1 is additionally nominated for the category ´best private interior´ of the Dutch Design Award. The villa is said to “ruthlessly position itself within the tradition of modern (interior) architecture”. The award will be granted on the 18th of October 2008, during the Dutch Design Week, in Eindhoven.

The Powerhouse company was founded in 2005 by architects Charles Bessard (1976, France) and Nanne de Ru (1976, The Netherlands). The office is specialized in architecture, urban design and urban research and has completed projects in The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Russia and Thailand. It is based in Rotterdam and Copenhagen.