Dennis Fukai on Dutch style

Some day I really want to go to Holland - Dutch design is so interesting, and PRACTICAL.  Take the following post that Dennis Fukai made to the Yahoo! Group smallhousesocietyonline:

It is true that everyone (it seems) is riding a bicycle in the
Netherlands, very young and very old.  What's really amazing is how
many are now riding nonchalantly while talking on their cell phones.
It's a cultural fete of grace that I think only the true Dutch could
master.

I also watched one very elderly Dutch gentleman park his motorized
bicycle and proceed to unload his groceries (including a case of beer)
into a hallway that lead to a very steep stair. 

What's interesting about these stairs is that they are geometrically
shaped to give a person both a hand hold as well as a step, coming
down offers the same convenience, except that now your butt sits at
step level. In an odd way, going up and down them is easier and safer
than a typical USA code regulated stair (where only your legs do all
the work).

Of course, I seemed to be the only one to notice this feature.
Everyone else, including people much older than my 62 years seemed to
bound up and down the stairs with no problem.  I improved over time. 

Maybe the wide open spaces of our country, coupled with the ability to
spread out on a large lot and live with our cars and garages is the
reason it's so darn hard to live small….?

Do I need to explain here that Dennis Fukai is not just any 62-yr-old who notices stairs, but an architect who thinks critically about housing and blesses the rest of us by writing books?  Well, he does.  I have both Living Small and Building Simple on my Amazon Wishlist...check out his website Insitebuilders.com.  Definitely on my heroes list.  I feel very lucky that he's contributing to a discussion group that I follow.  (Not that I ever feel like I have much to say there.)

Here's some more of what Dennis has to say:

            I know this is a long post, but I thought I'd share a few lessons
learned in our research for a new book that might help some members
think about the design and construction of their own small house projects.

1. Many of the housing developments and towns we visited were like
islands in the landscape. Isolation and mixed land-use created a
physical setting for a community where small shops could be installed
on the ground level of homes (cheese, fish, wine, butchers, cafes,
pubs, hardware, studios, etc). The community then centers on these
small stores reducing the need to commute.

2. For both new construction and existing (often historic) buildings,
the developer frequently sells development rights for the interior
volume only.  The outer walls are referred to as the "stone" or shell
of the project. This separation of shell and interior means the
facades or outside walls are sometimes leased and not even sold.
Interiors are owned by the tenant and can be improved and rented or
resold to another party. This creates a layered tenancy, an implied
partnership, and reduces the cost of producing low cost housing. 

3. Construction techniques parallel ship building and include details
similar to the frame of a ship's hull -- as the shell of the house.
The frame eliminates the structural need for interior partitions,
including upper floors, and reduces both labor and material.  The
concept is similar to traditional loft construction in the US where
interior volumes are sold for owners to improve after their purchase
of a space.  The difference here is that this space is finished and
ready to occupy. 

4. The resulting house form is a kind of three-dimensional mini-loft
with open gable ceilings, large window walls at each end, and a very
small footprint (~300 – 400sf).  Gable ends are full window walls and
the side walls are left solid for storage, cabinets, fireplace,
stairs, furnishings, etc.  These solid walls are important because
windows interfere with the functional use of a small space. 

5. Tenants or interior owners install their own dividers (not walls)
often leaving the space open for multiple uses. The ground level is
used for living/study/ dining/work, with a kitchen/service area at the
rear of the house, almost always opening to a garden.  Upper floors
are for sleeping with the top most floor (attic) used for storage (or
guests..;-).  These levels are possible in a small floor plan because
of very steep stairs – ship's ladders really, again following the
traditions of ship building. 

5. The result is a low cost way to build a small house or produce a
cluster of tiny houses on a small lot.  The idea is to first gather
houses together to form a village (community) of mixed uses, then to
build the shell that encloses the open space for each small house.
Because this shell is tall and vertical, owners have a
three-dimensional volume of space to fill according to their own needs
(and finances) over time. 

Important is that the separation of construction reduced costs,
lowering the threshold for homeownership. My thought is that this an
interesting way to produce low cost housing at least in our area.

Comments

[Kitt]

Interesting! I was curious about the stair description, so I went Googling and found these:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wackocatho/81576442/

[Kaethe]

Cool. I dig the stairs, too, although they raise a question: how many seniors are able to age-in-place in the Netherlands? What about people with disabilities (short or long-term)?

My dream house will be universally adaptable, as well as efficient, and as small as possible.