Rotterdam house is a sustainable home with a defining timber roof
Terphouse is a green Rotterdam house by Studio AAAN, featuring a distinctive low-slung, timber roof

Located within a system of dikes and small islands, this Rotterdam house appears serene and idyllic; yet it was designed to withstand harsh weather conditions and works cleverly and hard towards a sustainable architecture result. The brainchild of local architecture practice Studio AAAN, Terphouse, as the project was titled, balances contemporary architecture and environmental friendliness, set upon a low mound engulfed in low greenery and flowers.
A modern Rotterdam house: Terphouse
Terphouse is situated in the suburbs of the city of Rotterdam, within an environment that brings together nature and constructed context – both in terms of buildings and humanmade landscape. ‘The house is dug in the artificial mound on the island, situating the living spaces on the first level and the bedrooms and secondary rooms underground. This means that from the living spaces the open landscape is perceived over the dikes. By folding the landscape around the house, a connection with the garden is made possible and the house is perceived as a modest solid in the landscape,' the architects write.
While its setting heavily informed its overall design, the architects took care to ensure Terphouse looks suitably modern too, featuring low, clean volumes made of brick walls, large expanses of glazing and a distinctive, flat timber roof. A range of patios, both external and internal, dot the arrangement, offering open spaces and connections to the outdoors at every turn.
The wooden roof and its low slung, linear nature was definitive in the design's overall impression. The architecture team, headed by studio founders Hilbrand Wanders, Luuk Stoltenborg and Rik de Ruiter, explain: 'The pronounced wooden beam structure is continuous from the interior to the exterior and forms a canopy on the south façade. As a result, the boundary between the living room, veranda, outdoor rooms and the patio becomes indistinct and the landscape flows into the house.'
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Discover midcentury treasures in Marylebone with Álvaro by Appointment
London is full of sequestered design havens, and Wallpaper* knows them all. Allow us to point you in the direction of Álvaro González’s shop window on Nottingham Place, home to a bonanza of beautiful 20th-century antiques
-
Beach chic: the all-new Citroën Ami gets an acid-tinged, open-air Buggy variant
Citroën have brought a dose of polychromatic playfulness to their new generation Ami microcar, the cult all-ages electric quadricycle that channels the spirit of the 2CV for the modern age
-
Portlantis is a new Rotterdam visitor centre connecting guests with its rich maritime spirit
Rotterdam visitor centre Portlantis is an immersive experience exploring the rich history of Europe’s largest port; we preview what the building has to offer and the story behind its playfully stacked design
-
Rotterdam’s urban rethink makes it the city of 2025
We travel to Rotterdam, honoured in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025, and look at the urban action the Dutch city is taking to future-proof its environment for people and nature
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: celebrating architectural projects that restore, rebalance and renew
As we welcome 2025, the Wallpaper* Architecture Awards look back, and to the future, on how our attitudes change; and celebrate how nature, wellbeing and sustainability take centre stage
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in Amsterdam
Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
-
A peek inside the Nederlands Fotomuseum as it prepares for its 2025 opening
The home for the Nederlands Fotomuseum, set on the Rotterdam waterfront, is one step closer to its 2025 opening
-
A nest house in the Netherlands immerses residents in nature
Buitenverblijf Nest house by i29 offers a bird-inspired forest folly for romantic woodland escapes in the Netherlands
-
The House Under the Ground is a Dutch home surrounded in wildflowers and green meadow
The House Under the Ground by WillemsenU is a unique Dutch house blending in its green field
-
Open Park Villa is a minimalist Dutch home embracing its parkland setting
Open Park Villa by i29 architects offers a green residential oasis in a formerly military-owned plot turned parkland