On a former industrial site close to the historical heart of the renowned Dutch university city of Leiden, emerges one of the biggest urban developments of private-collective dwellings in the Netherlands. In their series of town houses, Rotterdam/Berlin/Munich-based architects pasel.künzel architects present a quite different and altogether exceptional residence with minimalist sensibilities throughout.

V36K0809 is the front end of a terrace that is built on a collective parking garage. The residence, measuring 285 square-metres, comprises two separate dwellings for mother and son, including two spacious and hidden patios. The dark pre-patinated zinc facade with its subtle disposition of seams gives the building a calm yet striking appearance.

Looking from the outside, the house appears rather compact and closed, like an urban fortress. Only by entering the estate through the heavy wooden gate, you become immersed in an utterly different inner world—an oasis of tranquillity, a living space that is generous and open, where inside and outside merge into each other.