Exterior view of Rotterdam's Cube Houses during the day. The houses are yellow and grey cubes that are tilted 45 degrees. There are trees and a road outside
Dutch practice Personal Architecture has transformed part of Rotterdam's iconic Cube Houses into a design-led home for young convicts in their final stages of rehabilitation. Photography: René de Wit
(Image credit: René de Wit)
By Ellie Stathaki
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Close up exterior view of Rotterdam's Cube Houses during the day. The houses are yellow and grey cubes that are tilted 45 degrees. There is a patterned multicoloured floor outside and green plants in pots

The housing complex was originally designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom in the 1970s (and completed in 1984)

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the Super Cube featuring white, brown and wood covered walls, light coloured flooring, a pendant light, art, a light grey cupboard and wooden stairs

Aptly dubbed the Super Cube, Personal Architecture's newly redesigned space takes over one of the larger cubic constellations on site, containing residential units on the intermediate levels and facilities on the top

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Alternative interior view of the Super Cube featuring white, brown and wood covered walls, light coloured flooring, a pendant light, a long desk with computers and a printer on top and four dark grey chairs

Instead of dividing the common amenities into separate rooms, the architects have combined them into an open-plan living area on the fourth floor that includes the kitchen, computer station and dining room on a central island

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the kitchen area housed in a light and dark coloured unit at the Super Cube. The kitchen features light coloured flooring, white cupboards, a sink, a suspended metal shelf with pots and pans and spotlights

The central cooking unit

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the fourth storey at the Super Cube featuring white walls, light coloured flooring, a skylight, seating, green plants in white pots and a low dark coloured partition wall by the stairs. There is a man by the wall and a person going down the stairs

The fourth storey of the building benefits from a ceiling height of over 11 metres. The rafters are also fully glazed, allowing an abundance of natural light to pour into the cube

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Alternative interior view of the kitchen area housed in a light and dark coloured unit at the Super Cube. The kitchen features white cupboards, a suspended metal shelf with pots and pans, appliances and spotlights. Outside the kitchen area are pendant lights and a white pillar

The Super Cube was restructured into a single design scheme spanning 1200 sq m, with careful respect to the original interior

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the Super Cube featuring white walls, a blue chair, wooden stairs, handrails, mesh and a shaft in the centre

At the heart of the Super Cube is an open shaft that connects all the floors visually

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view from below of the shaft at the Super Cube through mesh. The space features white walls, wooden stairs and spotlights

Says Personal Architecture: ‘The void highlights the transparency and coherence of the building and adds a great deal of sunlight from the top to the levels underneath’

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the Super Cube featuring dark coloured walls around the shaft, spotlights, mesh, a blue chair and wooden stairs

The central shaft also plays a part in the building’s thermal regulation by creating a ‘chimney effect’, which allows air to circulate and push warmth upwards

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of the reception area, recessed storage area and wooden stairs at the Super Cube. The space features white walls, light grey flooring, a pillar and strip lights. The reception and stairs sit within a dark coloured unit

The ground floor includes a reception, shop and archive

(Image credit: René de Wit)

Interior view of a cooking area at the Super Cube featuring white walls and white drawers and cupboards with a sink and hob on top. A workspace can also be seen in a separate area along with an upper level that is sectioned off by mesh

The Super Cube's loft-like layout increases the transparency and readability of the building, helping to shed surplus light onto the lower floors

(Image credit: René de Wit)
Ellie Stathaki

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).

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