The Belgian architecture firm B-ILD has done the seemingly impossible, and converted a cramped World War II-era bunker in the nearby Netherlands into a half-subterranean vacation cabin that is ... pretty welcoming. Located on the Fort Huron site, which has served as a defense line for Holland's many waterways since the 18th century, the raw concrete bunker has less than 100 square feet of space inside, and the ceilings are only six-and-a-half feet high. Similar to its distant cousin in Spain, a swanky but much larger micro-home in a cave, this Dutch bunker is inspired by midcentury starchitect Le Corbusier's personal log cabin, Cabanon de Vacances.
There are many tiny, severe, and dilapidated bunkers at Fort Huron, but for some reason, this one had the good fortune to be selected by a Belgian ad agency for an improbable makeover (people could enter a contest to win a vacation there). "We decided to keep the interior stark, since we only wanted to foresee the basic needs for visitors," architect Bruno Despierre told Dezeen. "All furniture can fold or slide away or be pushed up and down."
Visitors enter the bunker through a dark opening, and soon come upon a simple kitchen, which was constructed inside an recess in the monolithic concrete walls. The main space is both a living and sleeping area, with bunk beds that also serve as storage, and stools used as both bedside and coffee tables.
"The design concept was to create a flexible and adjustable interior that could fit four people inside," Despierre told Dezeen. The bunker's "windows," appropriately, are more akin to pinholes. There's also an outdoor terrace made of wooden planks, which is something the World War II-era soldier's certainly never had. Of course, concessions do have to be made for the contemporary holiday-maker. More photos, below.
· B-ILD Architects [Official site]
· Concrete bunker in the Netherlands transformed into a tiny vacation home [Dezeen]
· All Bunkers posts [Curbed National]
· All Globetrotting posts [Curbed National]