A garden snakes between the cedar-clad walls of this house in Osaka by Japanese architects Arbol Design (+ slideshow).
Arbol Design chose to enclose the garden within the high walls that surround the property to keep the spaces out of view from tall apartment buildings close by.
“There was concern about overlooking from the park and the apartments nearby, plus views within the site to the buildings outside,” said the architects. “We solved it by encircling the entire house with a wall.”
Designed for a retired couple, the single-storey wooden home stands out from the rendered concrete multi-storey apartment blocks in the Nishimikuni district of central Osaka.
The gravel garden planted with small trees winds around the bedroom at the front of the property, passes the dining room and tatami area then ends beside the bathroom at the back.
Its path is broken by a small portion of corridor in the centre of the plot that connects the front section of the house to the rear. Large windows along the route flood the rooms with natural light and allow the foliage to be appreciated without venturing outside.
The perimeter wall blocks all views of the neighbourhood so only the sky is visible from inside, though thin vertical slits allow glimpses beyond.
The same cedar cladding used externally also covers the floor, while other indoor finishes are kept neutral. Entry to the home is through an inconspicuous door off the side of the partly covered front driveway.
Keep reading for more information from the designers:
House in Nishimikuni
What are one-storied houses like in the centre of cities? The surroundings and privacy matter, or how to use the outer space of the house. We pursued simplicity and richness the most.
By decreasing the number of the rooms as much as possible, we made it possible to use rich materials in the spaces. Furthermore, take away unnecessary stories and let in the natural sunshine instead.
This house is designed for a retired couple, proposing a new style of one-storied house located in the centre of Osaka city.
There was concern about overlooking from the park and the apartments nearby, plus views within the site to the buildings outside. We solved it by encircling the entire house with a wall.
You could see a beautiful colour contrast in green from planting within the site and in blue from the sky. We created a S-shaped garden across the house so you could enjoy it anywhere, and it is as if you were in the forest watching a river running!
This one-storey house surrounded with lined-up condominiums has created a new concept of richness, in the concept of not needing to be chained to thoughts about how large the ground space is, or how convenient it is.
Product news: Swiss furniture brand Vitra has put its latest range of updates and reissues from the archive of French designer Jean Prouvé into production (+ slideshow).
Newly available pieces include reissues of the Fauteuil Direction and Fauteuil de Salon armchairs, plus Tabouret Solvay stool. There are also updated materials and finishes to the Standard chair, EM Table and Compas Direction developed with Dutch designer Hella Jongerius and Jean Prouvé‘s family.
Standard SP chair
The Standard chair was originally designed in wood with thicker back legs, as these take more weight. Vitra is now producing the design with a plastic seat and back as a model named Standard SP, which has matte powder-coated metal legs.
EM Table and Standard SP chairs
The plastic elements can be mixed and matched in various colours, and can easily be replaced.
EM Table
Now available with a solid wood top instead of veneered surfaces, a version of Prouvé’s EM Table has been created with a powder-coated base to match the Standard SP chairs.
Table Solvay
Among Prouvé’s designs for chemical company Solvay, Table Solvay looks similar to the EM Table but was created with wooden legs due to the metal shortage in the Second World War. This design now can now be obtained in three different types of solid wood.
Compas Direction
The metal legs of the Compas Direction desk are designed to look like the arms of a drawing compass and this design now also comes with a solid wood top.
Fauteuil de Salon
Archive designs that have been put into production include the Fauteuil Direction and Fauteuil de Salon cushioned armchairs, plus the Tabouret Solvay solid wood stool.
Tabouret Solvay stool
All these additions were shown as prototypes in Milan this spring and are now available to order from Vitra.
Prouvé Collection Update, developed by Vitra in Switzerland
In the fields of design, architecture and the art of engineering, the Frenchman Jean Prouvé ranks among the most versatile and innovative minds of the 20th century. From letter openers to door and window hinges, lights, furniture, façade elements, prefabricated houses, modular construction systems to large trade fair and exhibition constructions, his work includes almost everything that can be designed and requires an industrial manufacturing method. In his work as a designer, Prouvé was never searching for his own signature, but was instead striving to create logical and useful answers to required functions.
Vitra has been producing Jean Prouvé’s furniture since 2001. In cooperation with the Prouvé family and the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, the colour palette of the entire product family has been given a makeover. Reserved but contemporary shades give the Prouvé classics a fresh new image. “My father never used primary colours, but preferred a sophisticated palette of shades. Of course – he was the son of a painter!” – Catherine Prouvé.
Prouvé tables are now available with solid wood table tops and the Table Solvay is the realisation of one of Prouvé’s table designs with a wooden base.
Standard chair
Standard SP, 1934/1950
A chair is subjected to the most strain on its back legs as it must carry the weight of the upper body. Jean Prouvé’s concise interpretation of this simple recognition can be seen in the Standard chair: whereas tubular steel is sufficient for the front legs that are subjected to less strain, the chair’s back legs form a voluminous hollow body that transfers the strain to the floor.
Standard SP (Siège en Plastique) brings the iconic chair up-to-date without changing anything about its form: A seat and backrest of robust plastic in a carefully chosen colour palette gives Standard SP a contemporary look. The plastic parts can be combined in various colours and easily switched out or replaced. To match the plastic surface, the bases feature a resistant, matt powder coating and, last but not least, Standard SP is an economic alternative.
To match the Standard SP, a new version of Jean Prouvé’s EM Table is being launched with an HPL table top and a base that is in the same structure and colour of powder coating as the chair.
Table Solvay
Table Solvay, 1941
During the years of 1941 and 1942, Jean Prouvé’s studios planned and realised various interior design projects for the chemical company Solvay. Among his many designs of this time, there was also a wooden table that is a prime example of Prouvé’s creations: The necessities of statics and the force path are clearly reflected in his design details – similar to the later EM Table that differs from the Table Solvay due to its metal table legs. When the Table Solvay was created during World War II, there was a metal shortage and so the table legs were made of wood.
Table Solvay’s table top is available in three different kinds of wood and the base is made of the same wood. The solid oiled woods give Table Solvay a high-quality homely feel and compensate for its cool design.
The round table Guéridon has also been given a makeover: the legs, materials and surfaces are the same are those of Table Solvay, but it has an extended diameter and height.
EM Table
EM Table, 1950
At the beginning of the 1950s, Jean Prouvé developed the EM Table for the “Maison-Tropique” project. The table , defined by his design right down to the very last detail, follows Prouvé’s typical aesthetics of necessity. It illustrates the force path and the static connections in a way that is otherwise only featured in engineering construction.
EM Table is now of even higher quality thanks to its new table tops in oiled solid wood. The solid wood table tops in oak or walnut give the table an exclusive note and offer a very pleasant feel. The height of the base is adjusted to contemporary requirements and the colour concept has been revised.
The EM Table can be ideally combined with Prouvé’s Standard chairs, but also with various other chairs. Another new design is the EM Table with HPL table top and a base that is powdercoated in the same colours and structure as the base of the Standard SP chair.
Compas Direction
Compas Direction, 1953
Jean Prouvé developed the Compas Table in various models around 1950, applying the construction principles that he is known for. All share elegantly splayed, narrow legs in metal, a formal reminder of a compass – in French, “le compas”.
The oiled solid wood table tops give Compas Direction an individual touch. With its compact dimensions, the table is ideal for the contemporary, largely paperless, home office, where it cuts a fine figure, particularly in combination with the Fauteuil Direction.
Fauteuil Direction chair and Compas Direction table
Fauteuil Direction, 1951
Fauteuil Direction is a well designed chair in which you can sit comfortably at the table. It pays homage to Prouvé’s typical philosophy of focusing on design factors.
The little chair is perfect for the home office where, particularly in combination with the small desk Compas Direction, it creates an individual touch and can also be used as a comfortable dining chair. In addition, Fauteuil Direction also looks great in elegant lobbies, restaurants or waiting areas.
Fauteuil de Salon chair
Fauteuil de Salon, 1939
Fauteuil de Salon combines plain surfaces into a complete architectural form with a comfortable seat and backrest. Rediscovered in the archives of the French design engineer, the chair’s colour was adapted for modern tastes. Thanks to the armrests in oiled solid wood and Prouvé’s typical philosophy of focusing on design factors, Fauteuil de Salon goes perfectly with other products in the reworked Prouvé Collection.
Tabouret Solvay stools
Tabouret Solvay, 1941
Tabouret Solvay is a simple, robust stool made of solid wood with a signature design that is visible at first glance: Jean Prouvé developed it, applying the design principles that he is known for. Thanks to its level seat, Tabouret Solvay can also be used as an occasional table.
UK studio Designscape Architects has completed two buildings for artist Damien Hirst. One is an art production studio that appears to change colour from blue to green and the other is a glazed brick building designed for using toxic chemicals (+ slideshow).
Science Studio
The two buildings are located near Damien Hirst‘s existing studio in Stroud, Gloucestershire. The Science Studio provides the British artist with a generous workspace, high-security art store and private gallery for showing work to clients, while the Formaldehyde Building provides a controlled environment for working with chemicals, particularly the preservative previously used by the artist to create sculptures from dead animals.
Formaldehyde Building
Diffused internal lighting was an important requirement for the Science Studio, so Designscape designed a windowless building that brings in daylight through rooftop glazing.
Without windows, the aluminium-clad exterior walls presented a blank canvas, so the architects added stripes of graphic tape to create flashes of blue and green on the edges of each raised seam.
“The aim was to produce a wall that was intriguingly blue from one direction and green from the other,” they explained. “If you stand halfway down the elevation, you are not quite sure whether the building is blue or green.”
Nine-metre walls give high ceilings to rooms inside the studio, while the gallery is housed in an adjoining 18-metre-high block that is clad with dark grey panels. Interior walls are lined with plywood and plasterboard, providing a strong surface for hanging artwork.
The neighbouring Formaldehyde Building was designed to fit the shape of its site, with one extremely pointy corner.
Glazed white brickwork gives a clean surface to the exterior walls, screening an internal layer of concrete blocks.
Louvred openings in the walls ensure a constant stream of natural ventilation, creating a safe environment for working with poisonous chemicals.
Here’s some more detailed information about the construction of each building:
Science Studio
Science Studios is the largest art production studio in the world, incorporating a high security art store and private gallery for showing art to clients.
The studios and art stores have stringent requirements for diffused daylight, as well as privacy and security, so all the daylight is provided from the roof except in the staff amenity areas. This results in very big elevations with very few openings – 70 m long and 9 m high without interruption. The walls are clad in 200 mm thick mineral fibre filled composite metal panels which provide an airtight, fireproof, highly insulated and secure external envelope. Inside these walls there is a high density blockwork wall clad in ply and plasterboard to provide a high-strength hanging wall for artwork, as well as providing a services zone, additional security and additional thermal mass.
The idea of the standing seams, with blue on one side of the seam and green on the other the Client’s brand colours was to make the most of this unusual opportunity with a very big, uninterrupted façade. The aim was to produce a wall which was intriguingly blue from one direction and green from the other. If you stand half way down the elevation, you are not quite sure whether the building is blue or green.
The snap-on overcladding, which protects and extends the life of the mineral fibre panels is made of pre painted hard tempered aluminium. The metal came to site as a coil, and the building was used as a production factory to decoil and form the cladding into trays. Then the colour was applied to the preformed standing seams with a specialist graphic tape (made by 3m).This is a technique very much like a traditional standing seam system, but the seams are preformed and then snap together so no tools are required to close up the seam. This technique is rarely if ever used in the UK, but is more common in the US, but was used in this case because it allowed the application of the coloured tape on the sides of the seams without the risk of damaging the tape during installation.
Once formed and coloured, the panels were carried outside manually and hoisted up (they are extremely light and easily handled by 2 people) and then snapped into place on the façade. Setting out and detailing had to be meticulously planned in order to ensure that there were no unfortunate alignment problems at the openings, and the all the details were first trialled on a sample panel which was essential in order to iron out some issues which would otherwise have ruined the simplicity of the façade.
The gallery is 18m high by 70m long, and is expressed as a separate volume and clad in a dark metallic grey Kingspan micro ribbed panel. These panels were made especially long by Kingspan – they exceeded the normal maximum length by several metres, but because they are made in a linear production line, all that was required was to cut them longer than the normal limit, and then arrange special transport to get them to site. The setting out and installation of these again had to be thought through meticulously, so that the cumulative installation tolerances could be accommodated and the cladding module would coincide neatly at the openings without cutting panels. Corners were designed to take out any final tolerances, with the corner panels being mitred along their full length and then fixed using a @damage and fillA technique making a countersunk hole in the cladding using a ball hammer, installing the fixings, and then repairing the panel with an epoxy filler and overspraying the damaged panels. The resulting finished fixing is invisible, but does require exceptional workmanship to get it right. Finally, the mitred corners were covered by a small 100 x 100 mm angle bonded in place and the coping was made to a matching dimension.
The building houses a specialist studio facility which uses various chemicals and is therefore fitted out with specialist finishes and services which enable a safe working environment and safe ventilation. The chemicals being used react with and corrode many commonly used building materials, so the choice of glazed brickwork provided a solution that is naturally resistant to the chemicals, but also expresses the use of the building through the choice of external finishes. The client demanded a high quality of finish and detail, and the form of the building – which was dictated by the shape of the site, combined with the other requirements to produce a number of challenges.
The end result is a very high quality and durable building envelope, with all the openings covered in louvre clad doors to produce a fine – grained monolithic, wedge of a singular material.
The building is constructed as a steel frame with an internal leaf of concrete blockwork, bracing the frame and providing the inner leaf of a cavity. The brickwork is therefore a ½ brick thick outer leaf of a cavity wall.
Formaldehyde Building roof plan – click for larger image
The choice of glazed brickwork and the requirement for a high quality finish led the designers to decide that a standard 10mm brick joint would not be acceptable, and so a 4mm joint was adopted in order to produce the aesthetic quality the client was looking for. This raised a number of challenges:
» Putting wall ties into a 4 mm joint – The solution was to make every brick as a “pistol”, so that the actual brick bed joint was in fact 12 mm, with only the visible face of the brickwork having a 4mm joint for pointing up. This thick bed joint also assisted with the control of thermal movement.
» Avoidance of movement joints in the brickwork – there are only two vertical movement joints in the building façade, and these are disguised by a full height louvred panel. The mortar and the pointing up mix were designed by a specialist engineer and are soft, flexible lime mortar mixes, allowing sufficient movement to avoid thermal expansion cracking.
Coordinating brickwork with 4mm joints sizes around openings. As the perpendicular joints are changed from 10 mm to 4 mm it means that, with a whole number of bricks dictating an opening width, then the bricks at the opening jambs will no longer be exactly a ½ brick – one side of the opening will be 6mm more than a ½ brick, and the other will be 6mm less than a ½ brick.
The solutions to the issues outlined above involved the manufacture of a large number of brick specials. The specials used included the pointed end of the building, copings made into precast units, glazed headers for corners and jambs, (not exact ½ brick sizes) slips for cladding lintels, brick slips for cladding a door, and all the “standard” stretcher bricks were cut as pistols. The Design Team worked closely with Ibstock to develop the details and the range and quantity of brick specials.
The nature of this facework is very unforgiving and required unusually tight manufacturing tolerances (dimensions and colour) and meticulously accurate setting out and gauging, using 4mm tile spacers and specially design stainless steel gauging rods to maintain an accurate face dimension of the brickwork in order to achieve the end result.
From the outside this house in Nagoya by Japanese architect Tetsuo Kondo looks like a pile of overlapping boxes, but inside it opens up to form one big bright space (+ slideshow).
Photograph by Ken’ichi Suzuki
As the home to family of four, House in Chayagasaka was planned by Tetsuo Kondo as a single space so that residents can always see what’s going on elsewhere in the house.
Photograph by Ken’ichi Suzuki
“As both of the parents work, they wanted to have as many common areas as possible, in order to spend more time together as a family,” said Kondo. “So I decided to build a one-room house, with a lot of subtle balance between connected and separated areas.”
Photograph by Ken’ichi Suzuki
The main body of the two-storey building comprises six cuboidal volumes, with small gardens and balconies squeezed into the spaces between.
Photograph by Ken’ichi Suzuki
A white metal staircase winds up through the centre of house, beginning as a rectilinear form but soon adopting a curved shape.
This staircase leads up from a central living area to two children’s bedrooms and a bathroom, each set at a different level. Two final steps ascend to a terrace in the far corner of the building.
“When making a house for a young family with children that will soon grow up, and the developing area around the house will change fast, it seems to make sense to design a house with very open architecture,” added Kondo.
Glazed screens surround the two small gardens that puncture the volume of the house at ground floor level. One is positioned alongside a dining room at the rear, while the other pushes into the space of the living room.
The floor steps down at the front of the house, defining the boundary of the master bedroom.
Photography is by Iwan Baan, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from Tetsuo Kondo Architects:
House in Chayagasaka
This is a private residential house for a family of four in Nagoya – a young couple and their two small children. The site is located close to a new metro station, in an area that is developing rapidly. As both of the parents work, they wanted to have as many common areas as possible, in order to spend more time together as a family. So I decided to build a one-room house, with a lot of subtle balance between connected and separated areas.
In this project, I tried to achieve architecture that welcomes a large variety of things, in a state where all the parts are mutually interrelated. This architecture is not one dominated by a strong system or built in a well-ordered manner, but rather one that incorporates various meanings and it seems difficult to understand why it was made that way. When making a house for a young family with children that will soon grow up, and the developing area around the house will change fast, it seems to make sense to design a house with very open architecture, one with balance that can accept diversity.
I designed a strange shaped one-room house by placing ordinary room-size boxes of variable shapes. I tried to deal at the same time with components which might normally not be directly related, such as widths, heights, structures, brightness, functions, shape, circulations, terrace, etc. The relationships between these things are very complex, and if one part would be changed, it would influence the whole building. However, from the perspective of a whole, it can be absorbed.
I think this type of architecture can achieve a new kind of residential comfort, by mixing various things including the present and the future course of life, as well as the history and culture of the location.
It manages to maintain the diversity of a certain state of equilibrium with order. The order should not constrain the system, but it should rather loosely define its relationship. I aimed to create an architecture in such a soft order.
Illustrative section
Location: Aichi, Japan Program: Private house Completion Period: September 2012 Total Floor Area : 89.55 sqm Site Area: 97.58 sqm Architect: Tetsuo Kondo Architects Structural Engineer: Konishi Structural Engineers
American architect Eric Fisher claims to have built the world’s largest residential cantilever with this house in Pittsburgh that protrudes by 16 metres to hover over the roof of a glass factory (+ slideshow).
Photograph by Eric Roth
Designed to house the owners of the factory, the Corten steel-clad Emerald Glass House was completed by Fisher Architecture in 2011, but the studio recently submitted it for entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Photograph by Eric Roth
The impressive cantilever forms the uppermost floor of the four-storey residence, which is set into a hillside to the south of the city. “It floats above the owner’s glass manufacturing facility like a foreman’s shack,” said Fisher.
The architect used Corten steel, mesh and exposed steel columns to create an industrial aesthetic, then added large areas of glazing to recognise the trade of the house’s residents.
This includes a fully glazed facade, designed as a beacon for visitors to the factory. Behind the facade, a living room occupies the whole cantilevered space, allowing the structure to function as a giant viewfinder.
Glass also surrounds the interior surfaces of the house’s concrete block core and was used for staircase balustrades and a breakfast counter in the kitchen.
Photography is by the architect, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s a project description from Eric Fisher:
Emerald Art Glass House
The Emerald Art Glass House is a site-sensitive, cantilevered home for the owners of a glass company. This is contextual design: Located on Pittsburgh’s South Side slopes, it floats above the owner’s glass manufacturing facility like a foreman’s shack.
Photograph by Eric Roth
The home’s industrial forms and Corten steel siding relate to the factory below while a living roof connects the house visually to the verdant slopes beyond. In a building this public, it’s possible to make larger references: Pittsburgh’s neighbourhoods are cut off from one another both geographically and culturally. The new horizontally massed house and the US Steel tower, Pittsburgh’s tallest building, are Corten steel peers. Together, they establish a small but meaningful new dialogue between the residential slopes and the commercial city centre.
Photograph by Eric Roth
Glass products are featured throughout, celebrating the owner’s craft: A radical, north-facing, butted, “Greenheat” radiant-heated glass facade functions from outside as a sign for the glass factory and from inside as a view catcher. A unique, glass rain-screen system clads a concrete block core. Inside the core, a glass stairway winds its way from the ground floor to the kitchen.
Photograph by Eric Roth
And it’s green: 21st century architects must learn to recycle space in the same way we recycle our garbage – finding value in waste. Here, we are putting to use the unused space above the owner’s warehouse in this dense urban neighbourhood. Recycled materials are used throughout. As well, geothermal well-generated forced air complements the radiant heated floors and glass.
Photograph by Eric Roth
Extending three times farther than nearby Falling Water, the Emerald Art Glass House may be the world’s longest residential cantilever. As Jean Paul Sartre once wrote, ‘The human body always extends across the tool that it utilises: it is at the end of the telescope, which shows me the stars; it is my adaptation to those tools. When a structure cantilevers in a daring way, we imagine ourselves leaning out over the space below, which explains why it moves us. This is the thing with feathers, an object that disrupts daily life just enough to make one believe that there is maybe more to life than the humdrum.
This kindergarten in Gandia, eastern Spain, has a cloud-shaped courtyard that encloses six mulberry trees (+ slideshow).
The entrance to the single-storey Kid University by Paredes Pedrosa leads straight through to the central courtyard, which features an open-air theatre and sand pit, and is surrounded by classrooms split into two blocks.
The southern block contains a cafeteria, office, baby room, reading room, computer suite and art studio, while to the north-east of the courtyard is a music room, dance studio and indoor theatre.
Double-height glazing on the internal facing walls offers pupils a view out to the courtyard and brings in natural light, dappled by the maple trees. Most of the classrooms also have doors that lead directly outdoors.
Floors are lined with linoleum and the ceilings are covered with cork to absorb sound.
The exterior facades and roof are clad in white ceramic tiles. The roof is sloped away from the centre, preventing rain water running into the courtyard.
In the north-west of the courtyard children can look out toward the nearby Serpis river that runs through the city.
A former water basin has been refurbished for swimming and water games.
UPI. Kid University in Gandia Paredes Pedrosa, arquitectos
The Kid University in Gandia (UPI) is an experimental initiative proposed by the Municipality of Gandía. The UPI is not a conventional kindergarten, but a group of specialised classrooms and workshops located in a natural setting where kids can develop their creativity and have fun beyond a school context.
The proposed volume does not alter the Ausias March Park’s layout. Indeed, it respects the position of six existing white mulberry trees, arranging the classrooms around them and shaping a central lobed courtyard. Library, computers, painting, photography, auditorium, theatre and music classrooms are arranged around the mulberry trees.
This courtyard is the core of the Kid University, linking open spaces, covered areas and indoor rooms. Towards the exterior, the building exhibits a sober and continuous facade, serving as a sort of palisade, that avoids building up fences.
White coloured ceramic tiles are the material both for facades and roof. There is continuity in the material that builds up the whole exterior of the building. From the outside, the building intends to be a light, white ceramic fence where the shade of the nearby trees is reflected.
Vernacular architecture in this Mediterranean area uses ceramic that does not need any maintenance and adapts naturally to its mild climate. In summer it reflects the strong local light and protects inside from high temperatures.
Ceramics are designed as three-dimensional pieces with a can shaped mould that resembles a continuous bamboo fence. The pieces are double faced and the flat side is used for the roof.
In the patio, the facades are built with wooden carpentries painted white, so there is a transparency between inside and outside and all mulberry trees can be seen from the classrooms. In the inside finishing’s is linoleum for pavements and cork for ceilings as sound absorbent material, combined with the concrete structure walls.
Sustainability is achieved by the own concept of the building. Cost was tight and both structure and construction are finishing’s and conditioning. The interior is shaded from the intense summer sun by the mulberry trees that attenuate solar irradiation and cast scattered shadows to the interior of classrooms. And so artificial light is reduced to the essential.
In winter, mulberry trees have no leaves and sun light enters freely into the classrooms. Once spring has transformed the trees and they are full of leaves they become a natural shade for children.
In the outside the ceramic continuous walls bear naturally the patina of time and have no maintenance. The only openings are the entrance fence and a large window overlooking the historical centre. The sloped ceramic roof attenuates solar irradiation and conducts water from rain to the patio and to the trees where a central playground has a circular sand pit and a circular bench for telling stories and outdoor music.
A nearby old water basin is refurbished for children swimming and water games.
Project: 2010. Construction: 2010-2011 Location: Parque Ausías March, Gandía. Valencia Architects: Angela García de Paredes and Ignacio Pedrosa Project team: Álvaro Oliver, Álvaro Rábano, Lucía Guadalajara, Ángel Camacho, Laura Pacheco Technical control: Antonio García Blay Structure: Alfonso G. Gaite. GOGAITE, S.L. Mechanical engineer: JG S.A. Location: Ausías March Park, Gandía Client: Municipality of Gandía Contractor: Alesa Proyectos y Contratas S.A. Tiles: Ceràmica Cumella Floor area: 1075 sqm. Programme: multiple classrooms and workshops, cafeteria, administration
Offset gabled volumes form a new classroom and play area at this infant school in Oxfordshire, England, by local firm Jessop and Cook Architects (+ slideshow).
Jessop and Cook Architects designed the adjoining buildings with the same profile, but shifted the timber play area sideways from the brick classroom.
“The different materials for the covered external canopy help create a warm friendly feel to the place and help define the spaces,” project architect Dan Wadsworth told Dezeen. “We didn’t want to just tack on a canopy and felt continuing to use brick would be too heavy and overbearing.”
Covered in cedar shingles on the outside and clad with stained planks of the same wood inside, the timber structure provides a sheltered outdoor play area open to the playground. “We created a small enclosed secret garden for the children to play in,” said Wadsworth.
Windows in the roof let in extra light, as well as the gap at the back where the two structures misalign.
Glass doors fold back to merge the play space with the classroom, which is normally entered from a door on the other side of the timber building.
Low wooden partitions house toys and learning materials for the 30 pupils, plus break up the single room to make smaller zones for different activities.
Steps in a back corner sit below a lowered portion of ceiling to create a small performance space. Additional teaching rooms and bathrooms are located at the back of the bulding.
Playground swings can be hung both inside and outside this Japanese house with a corner sliced off by Level Architects, the firm that previously completed a residence with a slide connecting its floors (+ slideshow).
Located in the city of Kamakura, the three-storey family house was designed by Level Architects with a series of children’s play areas, including a courtyard garden, a rooftop balcony, a large bedroom and a loft playroom.
Metal hooks allow residents to attach a swing to the ceiling in the ground-floor hallway. They can also hang either a swing or hammock across the L-shaped balcony on the middle floor.
From the street, the house appears as a large timber-clad cuboid that appears to have had its western corner sliced away, revealing the location of the courtyard garden and surrounding balcony.
“The cutaway corner of the exterior wall is adjusted so that it comes down to a height of a handrail, creating privacy at just the right level without completely enclosing the [first] floor outdoor terrace,” said the architects.
The building’s entrance leads through to an area that the architects refer to as an “inner terrace”, which is separated from the surrounding rooms by split levels. “The floor level can also be utilised as a bench,” added the architects.
The double-height living and dining room spans the width of the first floor and features high-level windows that bring in natural light without compromising privacy.
Two mezzanine loft rooms flank the space from above and feature internal windows so that parents can keep an eye on children playing upstairs.
Children’s playgrounds have provided the inspiration for several of Level Architects’ projects. The studio completed its house with an indoor slide in 2011 and have also worked on a residence with an indoor skateboarding area.
This design, which cuts away the western corner from this extruded volume of the site, created a focal point within the house, while still enabling a connection to the surrounding exterior environment. The cutaway corner is able to establish a direct view onto the small hills west of the house, as well as retaining privacy from the street below.
The use of natural wood material for the extruded volume itself allowed the design to incorporate a hard edge at the cutaway corner, creating a sharp and distinct separation from the rest of the design. This triangular surface edge also helps to break up the solid aspect of the design and somewhat control its presence onto the street.
The interior planning of the first floor revolves around layers of space; the terrace, inner terrace, and then the private bedrooms, all surround the enclosed symbolic tree planted in the inner garden. Level changes were also implemented to create different opportunities for the children’s room and its relation to the inner terrace; the floor level can also be utilised as a bench, allowing multiple uses to the open space. The inner terrace can also be viewed as a spacious entrance hall, which allows the extensive walls to be enjoyed as large storage areas as well.
The second floor living/dining/kitchen space enjoys a ceiling height of more than 3.5 meters. Looking towards the street you are able to view the triangular cutaway corner framing the hills beyond, as well as the symbolic tree sprouting up from the first floor. This tall ceiling brings in enough light to brighten up the loft, creating a sunny, playful space for the children, while still being connected to the living room below.
The cutaway corner of the exterior wall is adjusted so that it comes down to a height of a handrail, creating privacy at just the right level without completely enclosing the second floor outdoor terrace. The windows placed throughout the east and south side of the house take into consideration the neighbouring buildings and so are located at relatively high locations, controlling both light and the view into the home.
First floor plan – click for larger image
Site: Kanagawa Pref., Kamakura City Site area: 135.44m² Building footprint: 66.64 sqm Total building area: 121.70 sqm 1F area: 66.64 sqm 1F terrace Area: 7.94 sqm 2F area: 55.06 sqm 2F terrace area: 11.43 sqm Loft area: 10.69 sqm Loft terrace area: 11.81 sqm Construction type: Wood frame Stories: 2 stories + Loft Completion date: 03/2012
German photographer Roland Halbe has taken new photographs of Casa Klotz, a rural beach house in Chile by architect Mathias Klotz (+ slideshow).
The two-storey wooden house is located beside the seafront in Tongoy, north of Santiago. It was designed by Mathias Klotz in 1991 for his mother and was the Chilean architect’s first major project.
Clad with white-painted timber boards, the rectangular house has barely any glazing on its southern facade, while its northern elevation features large windows and balconies that face out across the beach.
The house centres around a large double-height living room with a chequerboard of floor-to-ceiling glazing stretching across one wall. Wooden decking covers the floor and extends out to a terrace suspended 30 centimetres above the ground.
The rest of the house is arranged with a symmetrical layout, with a ground-floor dining room and small bedroom that mirror a larger bedroom and bathroom area. Two identical bedrooms are located upstairs and both open out to recessed balconies.
Ground floor plan
The entrance to the house is a ramped bridge that angles up from the ground.
First floor plan
Since completing Casa Klotz, Mathias Klotz has worked on a string of houses and other buildings. Recent projects include Casa 11 Mujeres, a holiday home for a family with 11 daughters.
The Klotz house is in the vicinity of Tongoy on a beach situated 400 km to the north of Santiago. The bay is 24 km long and has very few buildings along it. The outline of the cove is recognisable from a distance, as is the coastal mountain range in the background.
Section C-C
The powerful contrast between the house and its surroundings is what defines the building. The work consists of a rectangle box 6 x 6 x 12 m which sits upon the ground and rises 30 cm above it.
North elevation
The outside presents a blind face which serves as the access over a curved bridge. The opposite façade, facing the sea, has large openings.
West elevation
The ground plan has two clearly defined sections on the first floor. The narrowest, of two meters, is for the entry, the stairs, the bathroom and a small bedroom. The larger, of four meters is for the main bedroom, the kitchen-dining room and the double-height living room. On the second floor, the bedrooms are set back from the sea facing façade to allow space for terraces. The staircase and bridge that connect the bedrooms continue the concept of the corridor or gallery on the first floor.
South elevation
The fine white carpentry, the openings in the wall, the added and subtracted features, the interplay between the proportions, the horizontal lines of the wooden sealing fillets on the facades are all touches aimed at producing a detailed close-up effect in contrast with the panorama of the surroundings and the abstraction of the building itself.
A staircase folds around a double-height bookcase inside this wooden family house in Fukuoka, Japan, by local architects MOVEDESIGN (+ slideshow).
Illuminated from all sides by skylights, clerestory glazing and various windows, the staircase was designed by MOVEDESIGN to connect all three floors of House in Nanakuma, creating a well-lit study space that is surrounded by books and other personal items.
“We can see the sky from one window, or the green of trees from other windows,” explained the architects. “These window pictures change with the eye level walking up and down the stairs, making our minds calm and peaceful.”
Internal walls were added sparingly, so the staircase leads straight into rooms on each floor. “The individual spaces are continuous so that the family can have privacy and also feel the presence of each other,” said the architects.
On the ground floor, the staircase opens out to a living and dining room where all food preparation and dining is accommodated by a single wooden island. Translucent panels conceal storage areas behind, while a traditional Japanese room sits off to one side.
A living room occupies the basement floor and opens out to sunken terraces on both sides of the building. A long and narrow window offers a view out to the largest of these two spaces, which is overshadowed by a small balcony on the floor above.
Walls on this floor feature exposed concrete surfaces, contrasting with the wooden walls and partitions elsewhere in the house.
The main bedroom is located on the uppermost floor, alongside a second Japanese room and a small roof terrace.
This house is located in Fukuoka, Japan. Reinforced concrete for basement and wood flame for two floors on the ground.
Three floors are in layers, different generations of this family live in this layered house. The individual spaces are continuous so that the family can have privacy and also feel the presence of each other.
The role of the large staircase is an apparatus to connect three layers. It takes sunlight and connects the air with the house. The stairs are the main traffic line, there are some windows cut outside scenery. We can see the sky from one window, or the green of trees from other windows. These window pictures change with the eye level walking up and down the stairs, making our minds calm and peaceful.
The staircase and windows were planned to control the opening to the outside, cutting the scenery, saving energy, bringing requisite sunlight and a wind through the house. We hope that three people of this family having different generations can have individual lifestyles for their day life.
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