Hasta La Ideas

A continuous flight of steps covers the roof of this home in Chile by Max Núñez Arquitectos, which runs parallel to the site’s steep slope down to the Pacific Ocean.

Casa Ghat is located in the region of Cachagua, roughly two hours north of Santiago. It is sited on a dramatic incline overlooking the ocean, a feature that helped inform the architecture firm’s design.

“Its design, structure, internal organisation, and the lifestyle proposed within it, were determined by the pre-existing conditions of the topography,” said Max Núñez Arquitectos, a studio based in Santiago.

Fifteen columns of different dimensions support an expansive roof that follows the slope of the site. “Below this oblique plane, a diagonal interior space contains the different programs of the house,” the firm said.

Wooden volumes enclose private areas of the home, which encompasses 340 square metres in total. These contrast the exposed concrete that forms the structure and common spaces.

“Three of these volumes contain the private rooms, and the fourth, smaller in dimensions, contains a direct access to the roof from the inside,” they said.

The upper level contains four bedrooms, in addition to a small lounge area. This floor also has access to the rooftop via a concrete staircase.

Another oversized set of stairs leads down to the public areas, which overlook the ocean through floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides. Here, the architects included furniture that matches the wood grain found in the private volumes.

An additional bedroom is located at the back of the house, behind the kitchen. A separate entrance allows guests to come and go without passing through the rest of the home.

The architects intentionally used a regular structural grid, to highlight the irregularity of the site. “The monotony of the free plan is redefined by the slope, creating an interior topography of varying levels with different sizes and heights,” the studio said.

Chile’s western coast stretches more than 6,000 kilometres along the Pacific Ocean, providing ample dramatic locations for clifftop homes and beachside dwellings. Some examples of buildings that take full advantage include a blackened timber house by 2DM, a concrete residence by Felipe Assadi Architects and a Le Corbusier-influenced retreat by Gubbins Arquitectos.

Photography is by Roland Halbe.

Project credits:

Architects: Max Núñez
Associate architect: Stefano Rolla
Structural engineer: Mauricio Ahumada
Building contractor: Francisco Alvarez
Landcape design: Alejandra Marambio
Technical Inspection: Alfonso Bravo
Lighting design: Estudio Par

The post Concrete roof matches steep gradient of Chilean home by Max Núñez Arquitectos appeared first on Dezeen.

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La photographe Libby Oliver a réalisé une série de portraits où ses modèles sont ensevelis sous une montagne de vêtements, qui constituaient leur dressing. Le but ? Représenter visuellement leur personnalité à travers les vêtements et se concentrer sur le pouvoir de leur consommation. Cachés sous des foulards, pantalons, t-shirts, il est parfois presque impossible d’apercevoir le sujet photographié. Le projet est à découvrir sur son site et sur Instagram.

William Tozer Associates has completed an extension to a house in Auckland, comprising a series of blocks clad in wooden shingles and vertical boards that enhance the connection with various gardens and decked terraces.

The Victorian villa in the New Zealand city’s Mount Eden suburb is now loosely enclosed by the cluster of pavilions, which increase its total floor area to 345 square metres.

The new additions are designed to reference the scale, proportions and materiality of the existing house, while their simple, clean-lined forms mark them out as modern interventions.

“The pavilions are articulated as autonomous rectilinear sculptural volumes, but in turn frame views back to the villa, refocusing attention on its form and details,” said the studio, which is headquartered in London but also has offices in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

The new spaces include a garage situated towards the front of the villa, and a rear extension accommodating an open-plan lounge, kitchen and dining space.

The main living area is connected to a single-storey wing accommodating a room that can be used as an additional lounge or games room.

“The open-plan spaces of the interior are loosely divided into zones of use by rectilinear volumes and planes, changes of level, and skylights,” said the architects.

A staircase slotted in between the new rooms at the rear of the house ascends to a master bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the garden.

The new structures are predominantly clad in wooden shingles and vertical slats, which were chosen to reference the use of similar materials on parts of the original villa.

The limited material palette gives the extensions a unified aesthetic and provides a warm and natural contrast to sections of white-rendered walls and glazing.

The dining area and kitchen is lined with sliding glazed doors that open onto a decked patio, while a space between the new games room and garage at the side of the house contains a smaller deck and lawn.

The dimensions of the outdoor spaces and their positioning between the new buildings are intended to lend them a domestic scale, as if they are additional rooms connected to the rest of the interior.

“This approach is informed by the practice’s many years of experience working on terraced and semi-detached housing in London,” said the studio, “where tight space constraints mean that courtyards are the full extent of many clients’ outdoor space.”

The need to consider the outdoor areas as extensions of the architectural spaces also influenced the design of the swimming pool and surrounding landscaping.

William Tozer Associates applied similar principles to a refurbished Victorian house in London that opens onto a compact courtyard garden, while its renovation of another London property involved introducing integrated storage elements to separate some of the spaces.

Photography is by Carme Aguayo.

Project credits:

Architecture: William Tozer Associates
Consultants: DHC Consulting
Landscape: Xanthe White Design
Surveying and drainage: Envivo
Contractor: Building Elements

The post Gardens and terraces slot around timber-clad extensions to Auckland house appeared first on Dezeen.

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