Main author
Michael BrooksCube Houses
See the Unusual building design of the week series here.
The Cube (or Cubic) Houses are a series of unusual house design located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They were conceived and constructed in the 1970s by architect Piet Blom as a response to the request from town planners for housing to be built on top of a pedestrian bridge. Blom had already built similar houses in the town of Helmand and so chose to repeat the design in Rotterdam.
Blom intended that the triangular peak of each of house would represent the top of a tree, with the asymmetrical design of the 40 cubic houses connected together representing an abstract forest.
The cubes comprise concrete floors and pillars and wooden framing, and sit tilted on a hexagonal base. The interior of the houses are divided into three levels accessed by a narrow staircase.
The walls and windows are angled at 54.7 degrees which provides good views of the surrounding area. However, the houses have been criticised for their lack of available space as, despite a total area of 100 sq. m, the angled structure means that only 25 sq. m is actually usable.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Building of the week series.
- Cabin Straumsnes, Norway
- Calakmul Corporate Building, Mexico.
- Dunmore Pineapple.
- Fallingwater.
- Futuro House.
- Gentle Genius.
- Habitat 67.
- House in the Orchard.
- Loyly, Finland.
- Ministry of Transportation Building, Georgia.
- Nakagin Capsule Tower.
- Unusual building design of the week.
- Upside Down House, Poland.
- Waldspirale.
- Wikkelhouse.
- Y House.
Featured articles and news
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.
Reslating an ancient water mill
A rare opportunity to record, study and repair early vernacular roofs.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2025/26
Construction apprentice from Lincoln Mia Owen wins this years title.
Insulation solutions with less waste for a circular economy
Rob Firman, Technical and Specification Manager, Polyfoam XPS explains.
Recycled waste plastic in construction
Hierarchy, prevention to disposal, plastic types and approaches.
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard V1 published
Free-to-access technical standard to enable robust proof of a decarbonising built environment.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Why talking about prostate cancer matters in construction.
The Architectural Technology podcast: Where it's AT
Catch up for free, subscribe and share with your network.
The Association of Consultant Architects recap
A reintroduction and recap of ACA President; Patrick Inglis' Autumn update.
The Home Energy Model and its wrappers
From SAP to HEM, EPC for MEES and FHS assessment wrappers.
Future Homes Standard Essentials launched
Future Homes Hub launches new campaign to help sector prepare for the implementation of new building standards.
Building Safety recap February, 2026
Our regular run-down of key building safety related events of the month.
Planning reform: draft NPPF and industry responses.
Last chance to comment on proposed changes to the NPPF.
A Regency palace of colour and sensation. Book review.