After they put in a huge amount of work into it, a house bought by a young couple from the Netherlands has become a real gem. Variotherm is now making their home on the town canal in Breda especially cosy with a floor heating system.
The house in Breda, to the south of Rotterdam, was in a terrible condition when Sander de Bruin and his girlfriend Milja bought it in January 2020. The young couple didn’t let themselves be put off, though – in fact, it was quite the opposite. They recognised the enormous potential of the house, which is situated on the bank of a canal that flows around the historic town centre of Breda.
When you look at who they are, it’s no surprise that these two young people devoted their time and energy to restoring an old and dilapidated house. Milja is a project manager in real estate development while Sander is an architect at BiermanHenket, a Dutch company that specialises in restoring and repurposing historic buildings. Drawing on their professional experience, and with an eye for special projects, the couple set to work to realise their dream of having their own home, taking great pains over the detail and making meticulous plans, with a solid hands-on approach.
From the roof, which had to be replaced, down to the Variotherm floor heating, Sander and Milja left nothing to chance, and opted for sensitive restoration and the highest-quality products.
Setting a great example using their own initiative
For Sander and Milja, it was clear that they wanted to turn the 120-year-old house on the water, which had been subjected to multiple adaptations and changes of use over the years, into their own very special home. However, this required a great deal of planning skill. After all, the building is just 4 metres wide and 17 metres deep, has two storeys and a living space of 141 m2 in total.
To ensure that they had enough daylight, including in the lower storeys, they decided to have long windows inserted into the roof. This meant that function and form were perfectly combined. Sander and Milja’s home is a designer gem throughout. A large kitchen and dining area on the lower storey, together with a living room with a beautiful view onto the water, make the house an outstanding example of how historical buildings can be given a fresh, modern aesthetic.
The perfect solution for restoration projects
To ensure that the house not only met their high standards on the surface, but was also a cosy and comfortable place to live, Sander and Milja opted to install Variotherm floor heating. As well as in the living room, the VarioComp modular floor heating system was also laid in the kitchen and dining area downstairs, so that the couple could enjoy the cosy warmth there, too.
The super-slim structure of the Variotherm product was another reason for choosing it. The VarioComp modular floor heating system, with a construction height of just 20 millimetres, is perfect for all restoration projects where there is no space for screed – as was the case with Sander and Milja’s house. They also wanted to have a low-temperature system to be able to heat as energy-efficiently as possible.
With the Variotherm floor heating, rooms are heated over the entire surface. This not only saves 25% of energy costs compared to conventional heating systems, but also warms up cold floors within a very short space of time. Also, thanks to the floor heating, no radiators are required, which would interfere with the overall aesthetics of the house. This gave Sander and Milja complete creative freedom to realise their Dutch dream designer home.
Key Facts:
- VarioComp ModularFloor Heating: 141 m2
Our Variotherm Partner in Netherlands
- Technea - www.technea.nl
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