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Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten
These brick-clad apartments in Utrecht, the Netherlands, by Dutch firm Bakers Architecten appear to float above a curtain wall of glazing.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-3.jpg)
Het Zwarte Huis, or The Black House, is spread across three storeys with the upper two, which comprise six apartments, finished in Kolumba bricks.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-4.jpg)
The ground floor, which forms an office, has become the architect's new premises.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-5.jpg)
The block sits on the apex of a curved street with a double-height bay window affording panoramic views.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-6.jpg)
The massing creates an internal courtyard overlooked by a metal-frame walkway.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-7-1.jpg)
A semi-submerged garage is accessed from a car-lift in the courtyard.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-7.jpg)
All photographs are by Maarten Noordijk and Frank Stahl.
Here's some more from the architects:
In Utrecht’s museum quarter, just south of the city centre, there was for many years a vacant plot on the corner of Lange Nieuwstraat and Vrouwjuttenstraat.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-8.jpg)
This site in the midst of historical buildings is now occupied by ‘Het Zwarte Huis’ (The Black House), a complex containing six apartments with semi-underground parking and the new premises of Bakers Architecten.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-9.jpg)
The streetscape is characterized by heterogeneous, lot-by-lot development with distinctive corner buildings.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-10.jpg)
Het Zwarte Huis is a contemporary addition to the existing urban fabric, in which the notion of ‘living above work’ has been accentuated by placing the dwellings in a solid volume on top of a glazed podium.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-11.jpg)
Lange Nieuwstraat begins at Domplein and runs via a gentle curve to the Centraal Museum.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-12.jpg)
The site lies at the mid-point of the curve from where there is an overview of the entire street.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-13.jpg)
This unique vantage point is fully exploited with a large bay window. [bay window]
![Het Zwarte Huis by Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis by Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten_14.jpg)
An internal courtyard has been created by placing the black volume parallel to the Lange Nieuwstraat. This volume also contains the various means of access for the complex as a whole.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-100.gif)
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The semi-underground car park is reached via a car parking lift, while a communal staircase leads to the walkways along which the apartments are situated.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-101.gif)
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The wide walkways also serve as outdoor space for the dwellings. Het Zwarte Huis was constructed using 55-centimetre-long ‘Kolumba’ bricks. The apartments facing Vrouwjuttenstraat have a white rendered facade.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-102.gif)
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The party walls on this side form a cantilever on Vrouwenjuttenstraat, thereby relieving the podium facade of any structural function and allowing it to be entirely of glass.
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-103.gif)
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HET ZWARTE HUIS, UTRECHT
function: atelier+ 6 apartements
location: Utrecht
architect: Bakers Architecten
project team: Jan Bakers, Martijn Boer, Erik Feenstra, Noor van de Loo, Remko Verkaar
client:Bakers Architecten bv, Utrecht & Van Bekkum Projecten bv, Hooglanderveen
structural engineering: CIHR bv, Delft
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-104.gif)
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consultant: Campus Installatie Techniek BV, Barneveld IVL, Wijk bij Duurstede
lighting consultant: Maikel van Burik
contractor: Bouwonderneming Van Bekkum Houten, Houten
project area: 1100 m2
project year: 2010
Photographs:: Maarten Noordijk, Frank Stahl
![Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten Het Zwarte Huis Bakers Architecten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/10/dzn_Het-Zwarte-Huis-Bakers-Architecten-106.gif)
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See also:
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