Spacious modern loft used to be a school gym

This airy loft used to be a school gym, though it’s awfully hard to tell. In the place of echoes and screeching children are stark white walls, soaring ceilings, and some very cool stairs.

Designed by Dutch architecture studio Eklund Terbeek, the “Gym Loft,” was renovated for a family of four, including a mother whose choreography practice required open space for rehearsing. The architects transformed the large space into an open plan layout that takes advantage of the building’s atypically oversized proportions.

Photo: René de Wit

Photo: René de Wit

Photo: René de Wit

The Rotterdam home centers around the living room, where four arched windows let in plenty of natural light. Below the windows, the architects designed a large platform that’s used for hanging out (and likely the occasional performance). “The exceptional dimensions of the space required a few large gestures,” the architects told Dezeen.

Photo: René de Wit

The living room flows into the kitchen and dining room where built-in wood cabinets give a warmth to the all-white surroundings. A set of striking, oversized wooden steps with a gentle incline float against the wall and lead to the upstairs where the mezzanine overlooks the bottom floor of the sprawling home.