Sonneveld HouseSonneveld House

Sonneveld House is a fine example of a modern Gesamtkunstwerk. The architecture, interior design and furnishings form a total concept, carefully tuned to and enhancing each other. The architects Brinkman & Van der Vlugt worked closely with their client, whose lifestyle, wishes and preferences were considered in the design.

The interior is characterised by warm, bright colours: vermillion red, cornflower blue, and canary yellow, combined with light and dark grey and brown. The furnishing fabrics came from Metz & Co., including a range of colours designed by artist Bart van der Leck (1876-1958).

Brinkman & Van der Vlugt was one of the most important and most successful Dutch architecture practices in the inter-war years. Tea, coffee and tobacco manufacturer Van Nelle was Brinkman & Van der Vlugt’s most important client in its early years.

‘More light in the home’ was the advice that architects heard from all sides from the 1920s. The familiar gloom of most interiors was to make way for abundant, indirect light.

Brinkman en Van der Vlugt were among the first architects in the Netherlands to design a garden that complemented their Functionalist building design. The clean lines of Sonneveld House are echoed in the design of the garden.

Despite the opulence of the villas built for the directors of the Van Nelle factory, Functionalism was a socially engaged architectural movement with an interest in social housing and improving living conditions for the working class.

Sonneveld House adheres not only to the principles of Functionalism but also to the five points that Le Corbusier formulated in his book Vers une architecture (1921).

Sonneveld House has a steel skeletal structure and concrete floors, enabling it to dispense with loadbearing walls, thus allowing the spaces to be divided with greater freedom. Walls were used only to separate spaces.

Linoleum was an integral part of Functionalist architecture. It is hygienic, easy to maintain and lies flat and even, without lumps or bumps. At the beginning of the 1930s linoleum was quite expensive. It was used in hospitals but not in private houses.

The staircase winds like a screw through the entire house. The steps are covered with black marble and strips of rubber to dampen the sound. The construction is best appreciated from the first floor.