This house with office on the Amstel is designed as a contemporary interpretation of the Amsterdam canal house. The painstaking study of essential characteristics of this specific building type finds expression in the vertical organization of residential and work spaces and the treatment of the facade as a thin shell, a non-bearing construction that intermediates between the interior and the urban space.

The facade partitioning of the house is inspired by the proportions that characterize the traditional canal-side facade. This division reflects the arrangement of the building: a lower house with an office portion linked to the street, and living quarters on the upper floors.

The construction in steel, glass and stacked, glazed bricks underscores the function of the facade as a non-structural skin, at least in the sense of bearing weight. The modern design of the building details, such as the treatment of the front door, the cornice and the hoisting beam, are also traditional in origin. Thus a filigree half-timbered construction serves as the hoisting beam and the cornice is composed of standardized industrial elements, a steel tube and a concrete prefabricated penthouse. The cornice simultaneously functions as a balustrade for the balcony of the glassed-in upper storey.