Rotterdam is famous for its contemporary approach to architecture. But of all the buildings in the city, there are few as popular as the cube houses in Rotterdam!

The Cube Houses in Rotterdam

Walking with friends of mine through Rotterdam, they pointed my attention to the weirdest compilation of apartments I had ever seen in my life.

We were looking up at the Cube Houses, designed by Piet Blom and intended to reflect the natural environment. Each house is a ‘tree’, complete with a trunk! And the whole construction is meant to represent an urban forest.

On my first look, I was seriously affected by seasickness.

It didn’t make any sense! How…? And why…? And surely not…!

Of course, I had to get inside! But we had stumbled on the Cube Houses just before the ‘show house’ was closed so I returned again in the morning to check out these curious homes.

The Kijk-Kubus: The Show Cube of The Cube Houses in Rotterdam

The Kijk-Kubus (Show-Cube in Dutch) is a show home designed to give visitors an idea of how the cube houses in Rotterdam look from the inside.

But even after visiting the Kijk-Kubus, I still can’t quite get my head around how Piet Blom managed it! The cube houses are actually incredibly spacious. Put it this way, I’ve definitely seen smaller flats.

With three floors, not only is there the necessary bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. But there was also an office complete with a desk, and plenty of lounge areas to sit back in and read.

In fact, the office was so spacious and light it’s a place I would love to work in! With very little else in the room to make it look too busy, there was also plenty of floor space making the whole area seem really inviting as an office.

By far my favourite part of the cube houses is the little roof conservatory that sits atop each one. While I had visited on a dark day, you could imagine the way in which the light would stream in from the many windows, illuminating the pages of your book as you put your feet up amongst the cacti.

The Kijk-Kubus Opening Hours

The show room for the Cube Houses Rotterdam was only €3 to enter, and the opening hours are 11am-5pm every day of the week so I would definitely take a peek inside – especially if you are as baffled as I was when I first saw them from the outside!

Also, while I was staying in a different hostel, I took a sneak peak inside the Stayokay Hostel Rotterdam which is actually housed inside two renovated cube houses! From their website, it looks as if rooms in a dorm start from about €16. It was a little quiet when I popped my head in, but it was around

It was a little quiet when I popped my head in, but it was around 5 pm so I can’t give an accurate account of the atmosphere is like in this hostel…maybe next time I’m in Rotterdam!