The Super Cube by Personal Architecture

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

last updated 18 August 2022

in Features

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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’

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

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

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

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).