Located on the Blaricum heathland of The Netherlands, Dutch design practice Studio Massimo has crafted a remote, 12,000-square-foot office embedded in nature. Designed to withdraw from its surroundings, the office supports the visual continuity of nature as it shapes the architectural form of the cross-laminated timber structure. “Working entirely in solid wood construction let us shape an office that feels closer to something grown than something built. The timber carries the structure, shapes the daylight, and gives the interior its warmth and quiet, while the poplar bark facade keeps the building tied to the landscape it sits in,” says Studio Massimo architect Max Verhoeven. “What stays with me most about the finished project is how calm it is to be inside.”
Conceived as a contemporary reinterpretation of plaggenhuts, the modest historic dwellings once common in the region with sod-covered roofing, the office is topped with a 30-centimeter substrate layer deep enough for a diverse mix of heathland vegetation to root and grow. Equipped with tapered walls on the north side, the structure is even calculated for the load of wet sheep straying over from the nearby sheepfold. Warm and refined interiors are outfitted with laminated frames and columns of Red Grandis and spruce cross-laminated timber walls. Built-in furniture, window frames, and joinery further accent the space. Ventilation slots are milled into wood surfaces in place of grilles, while curved walls and an enfilade-like sequence compose expansive sightlines throughout the building. A solid wood spiral staircase is equipped with a curved balustrade to link both floors with a unified architectural language as well.
