The bulbous lower level of this residence in Thailand by local studio Architectkidd looks like it’s being squished by the rectilinear storey above it (+ slideshow).
Architectkidd designed contrasting forms for the two floors of Kirimaya House in Khao Yai, north east of Bangkok.
“The site of the house in a wide open and horizontal landscape led us to re-think how typical houses are constructed,” said the architects.
Covered in vertical wood shingles around the top, the long first floor sticks out further on one side than the other.
The round volume beneath is clad using locally-fired clay tiles that are slightly staggered on top of each other to create the curving form.
Windows are cut out from the blob-like shape in horizontal strips, where the tiles curve inward to meet the frames.
The building is entered through double doors beneath the overhang of the first floor, which covers a stepped terrace that is used as a space for yoga.
Guest bedrooms, bathrooms and storage rooms are located within the ground-floor blob.
A central staircase leads to an open-plan living area in the cuboid above, which leads out on a terrace on one side of the blob’s roof.
The master bedroom is housed in the end of the cantilever, with the diagonal steel supports for the floating section breaking up the view through the full-height windows.
Photography is by Luke Yeung and Manassak Senachak.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
Two contrasting structures are joined to form this private residence in Thailand.
The house located 150 kilometres north east of Bangkok, near Khao Yai. The site of the house in a wide open and horizontal landscape led us to re-think how typical houses are constructed.
Instead of repetitive structures and vertical enclosures containing interior functions, we were interested in how the interior spaces of the house – with their different uses, dimensions, levels and orientation – could respond differently to the surrounding outdoor spaces.
Each floor of the house has a distinct layout, geometry and structure. The upper floor contains the main living and bedroom areas that have a specific direction toward the outside views. In contrast, the lower floor is a circular space that is omni-directional in its orientation and responds to the different ways that people can approach the house by car and by foot.
While each floor is distinct, they are co-dependent with each other, with the upper floor resting on and cantilevered from the lower floor. The lower floor, being close to the surrounding landscape, is built up from locally-fired clay tiles that are laid horizontally and stacked.
Untreated timber cladding and angular dormer windows feature at this small housing development in Amsterdam by Dutch studio M3H Architecten (+ slideshow).
Comprising two narrow houses and a three-storey apartment block, the small development slots into a row of residential buildings in Bellamy, a neighbourhood west of the city centre that has seen a number of renovations and demolitions over the last ten years.
M3H Architecten designed the buildings to fit in with the “unique, diverse and small-scale character” of the suburb, where plot sizes vary and houses are interspersed with commercial buildings.
“The street’s architectural characteristics are defined by its staggered facades, irregular plot sizes and the varying heights of its buildings,” said the architects.
Timber clads the walls and rooftops of the structures, contrasting with the brick facades of neighbouring buildings. Each facade comprise two layers of wooden slats, plus a water-retaining layer of bitumen that helps the buildings dry quickly when wet.
Photograph by Allard van der Hoek
“The slats are double-layered to help with ventilation,” explained the architects. “What is essential when using untreated wood in the Dutch climate is that the wood on the facades be well ventilated so that it can dry quickly after being rained upon.”
Photograph by Allard van der Hoek
The designers used a Brazilian timber that will gradually fade to grey over time, and concealed gutters and roof drains behind the facade’s outer layer.
Both houses are identical in plan, each with two storeys that open out to rear gardens and first-floor balconies. The apartments also come with private patios, including a large roof terrace that belongs to the top-floor residence.
“Even though these are very small homes, their generous amount of daylight, wide views and large outdoor spaces give each a unique quality and one never has a feeling of being confined,” added the architects.
Photography is by Tobias Bader, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Wooden Houses
For the past decade, Wenslauer Street in the Bellamy neighbourhood of Amsterdam has been undergoing a metamorphosis. In collaboration with the city council, the Stadgenoot housing corporation and various individuals, architects and small developers, a dozen dwellings have been renovated, and more than ten old houses have been demolished and replaced by new buildings.
The Bellamy neighbourhood is a neighbourhood where living and working have always been mixed, leading to a wide variety of buildings in the area. In 2011, M3H restored a house and built a new ‘steel’ house. Since then, five M3H-designed dwellings have been built: an ensemble of two houses with gardens and three small apartments.
The development plan for Wenslauer Street and its existing buildings was moulded and altered to suit Bellamy’s unique, diverse and small-scale character. In this way, the highly valued historical aspect of the neighbourhood was preserved: because the properties were run-down, they were not eligible for ‘protected face’, or historical protection status. The street’s architectural characteristics are defined by its staggered façades, irregular plot sizes and the varying heights of its buildings. Business lots alternate with smaller and larger residential plots.
The front yards and trees that lined Wenslauer Street at the beginning of the 20th century have disappeared, unlike the adjacent Bellamy Street, where these have been largely preserved. The street’s architectural characteristics follow from the irregular plot sizes, which often are determined by commercial or residential zoning. The varying heights of the buildings in the area find their roots in the neighbourhood’s village-like character, but Amsterdam contractors and carpenters have also built larger housing blocks next to the original polder development.
In order to make the houses more economically viable for residents, and to encourage home improvement, it’s possible to build extensions on the houses. This was recommended in a spatial study created in 2005 by Marina Roosebeek. Using the study as a model, zoning exemptions can be requested for extensions on existing spaces. The spatial study is founded on an analysis of insolation (sunlight) on Wenslauer Street, which is narrow, and also addresses the maintenance of the existing variety and irregular subdivisions of the street, as well as the visual impact of the staggered heights of the buildings.
The building space for M3H’s ensemble was determined by the boundaries set forth in the spatial study. For houses 65 and 67, that meant a single-story building on the street side, with a sloped roof. Two single-family dwellings with gardens were built in that space. The sloped roof permits a great deal of sun to fall on the narrow street. A window in the ridge of the roof lets sun into the north-facing kitchen and bedroom.
Wenslauer Street 69 is next to a four-storey building, and was permitted to be three storeys high. It consists of three small apartments, each having its own spatial quality and outdoor space. The residence on the ground floor has a south-facing patio with access to both the living room and bedroom. From the patio a long sightline through the entire residence is visible, from front to back. The apartment on the first floor has a south-facing roof terrace, and the apartment on the second floor has the option for a terrace on its roof.
On the front side of this apartment there is a special corner window that provides a wide view of the whole street. On the rear side, both upper residences have another corner window with views over houses 65 and 67’s patios and enclosed yards. Even though these are very small homes, their generous amount of daylight, wide views and large outdoor spaces give each a unique quality, and one never has a feeling of being confined.
The façades, dormer windows and sloping roof surfaces were all constructed with the same material. This serves to create a sculptural dimension with a unique look that suits the diversity of homes on Wenslauer Street. The sculptural quality is strengthened through simple and abstract detailing. The type of wood used is untreated FSC certified Sucupira Amarela, which will, within two years, become uniformly grey.
What is essential when using untreated wood in the Dutch climate is that the wood on the façades be well ventilated so that it can dry quickly after being rained upon. For this, a double layer of slats is placed within the timber framing of the houses, and has a water-retaining layer of bitumen. The slats are double-layered to help with ventilation. The gutters and roof drains are thus easy to hide behind the wooden façade. This also compliments the sculptural aspect of the construction.
The ensemble was built as a hybrid construction. The structural shell was made in a way common in The Netherlands: with sand lime brick walls and wide slab concrete flooring. The façades, dormer windows and sloping roofs were timber-framed. Despite a limited budget, M3H tried to include wood in as many elements as possible. The Wenslauer Street houses demonstrate a shift in the application of wood for construction and components of the façade not often seen in The Netherlands. In the brick city of Amsterdam, it’s uncommon to use wood. In fitting wood into our plan for this project, we hope to contribute to a wider acceptance of wooden buildings made by commissioning parties, contractors and residents.
A house-shaped tower with no windows rises from the roof of an ageing warehouse to create a new archive building for the state of North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, designed by German architects Ortner & Ortner.
Under construction beside the harbour in Duisburg, the NRW State Archive will become the largest archive in Germany, with 92 miles (148 kilometres) of shelving contained behind its walls.
Ortner & Ortner designed a 76-metre tower to rise up from the centre of the old brick warehouse, which is a listed corn silo building constructed during the 1930s.
They’ve also added a snake-like extension that stretches out from the north-west facade, accommodating reading rooms, offices and storage facilities over six storeys.
“In architectural terms the addition blends with the existing building, but without weakening the independence of either,” say the architects.
Dark red brickwork contrasts with the brown bricks of the old building, plus the architects have infilled original windows to create a protective enclosure for housing the archive’s fragile contents.
Can’s Best Friend. Koons meets canned goods in this entry by Gensler and WSP Flack + Kurtz.
Ever dreamed of recreating a Richard Serra sculpture with tomatoes from the pantry? Erecting a monumental tribute to Alexander McQueen’s armadillo heel using only canned peas and elbow grease? What about constructing a truly giant giant panda that can feed hundreds? Teams from top architecture and engineering firms will prove that they can do it, and for a good cause. The international charity competition that is Canstructionreturns to New York City this month and with it the opportunity for teams of architects, engineers, and students they mentor to design and build giant structures made entirely from unopened cans of food—all of which are ultimately donated to City Harvest.
For its twenty-first go-round in Gotham, Canstruction has lined up 26 teams representing the likes of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Arup, Gensler, and HOK. Their carefully stacked creations will be judged in categories that include Best Use of Labels, Best Meal, Structural Ingenuity, and Most Cans. The works will be on view at Brookfield Place from October 31 through November 13. Visitors are encouraged to bring non-perishable foods that will be donated along with the cans used in the competition to City Harvest.
News: German studio HENN has won a competition to design a 280-metre skyscraper in Taiyuan, China (+ slideshow).
HENN designed the office and hotel building, named Cenke Tower, for a site in the centre of the Chinese city, which is located in Shanxi Province.
The front and rear facades will feature smooth profiles that curve gently outwards, while the narrow sides are designed with convex curvatures. Each of these elevations will be glazed, exposing the aluminium cross-bracing supporting the structure.
The majority of the building will accommodate offices, while the hotel will be located on the uppermost floors and a shopping centre will be housed in the basement.
An entrance on the western side of the tower will provide access from the adjacent boulevard, plus a sunken courtyard on the opposite side of the building will lead visitors through to the shops inside.
The new tower for the Cenke Group is located on the north-south axis in the centre of the Chinese metropolis of Taiyuan. As well as office space, the building also contains a hotel on its upper floors and a retail area at the basement level. The longer sides of the 280 metre-high building take the form of convex shells with vertically accented facades constructed from opaque aluminium elements and glass of various degrees of transparency.
The trapezoid-like shape reduces successively with the building height in the upper levels and determines the amount of direct sunlight admitted to suit the planned use of the space within. While the offices receive optimum solar shading and maximum interior daylight, the hotel guests can enjoy the widest possible views over the city.
The narrower sides of the tower with their concave curvatures and smooth transparent glass facades strike a counterpoint to the solid, powerful overall appearance of the building. They allow views into the building’s interior and show off the elegant, diagonally braced structure.
The entrance area is located on the western side of the building along the lively boulevard. A planted sunken courtyard south of the building merges seamlessly into the basement.
A hotel under construction on a South Pacific island is depicted as a collection of architectural ruins in this series of images by Australian photographer Peter Bennetts (+ slideshow).
Designed by Australian architect Kristin Green, la Plage du Pacifique Hotel is under construction along the beach of an island in Vanuatu – an archipelago over a thousand miles east of northern Australia.
Concrete has been used for the structures of each building in the complex, which includes 18 guest villas, a restaurant with a roof garden and sun lounge, and a swimming pool and spa facility.
Peter Bennetts joined Green on a site visit to capture the structures in pictures. Although almost complete, the buildings contain few traces of life, which the photographer says created the impression of “a ruin”.
“Like pods of little whales, the off-form concrete villas swim together, entwining with native pandanus and rosewood trees in the face of trade winds and frequent cyclones,” he said.
Comparing one structure to both an ancient monument and an iconic Italian villa, he added: “As in an Aztec temple, or Casa Malaparte, a stair leads to a deck on top of a form I’d describe as the architect’s dance shoe. In the unflinchingly bright tropical sun the stair casts a shadow that Escher could’ve dreamed of.”
Each structure is designed to be cyclone resistant, with cross-ventilation that will reduce the need for air-conditioning. The architect has also added a series of concrete walls that will offer shade from intense sunlight.
The swimming pool is modelled on the ancient Roman baths at Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, creating another reference to architectural monuments.
“The Colosseum has invaded these new lands, not a new notion for Western man,” writes Green. “Here she protects from violent storms; patrons are offered a chance at romance, to dance, dream and escape.”
Here are some more details from Kristin Green:
La Plage D’hôtel du Pacifique
Sounds of crashing waves and wind through the palm trees, the Hotel du Pacifique complex offers a protected paradise, set to take the world by cyclone. The buildings are designed to allow wind to pass through with little or no need for air-conditioning. Modern forms take on an ancient roman bath providing escape from the demands of the city. Areas are separated by dancing concrete limbs intertwined casting shadows to relieve one from the tropical sun.
D’hôtel du Pacifique: Restaurant Building
With this building we explored cinematic experience, coupled with the ideas of leisure, romance & dreaming. The ambience of 1950’s movies where casual bathing attire is worn by day yet one likes to dress up in the evening for dinner. The building is organised around zones: » À la carte restaurant and bar with reception for arrivals, » Open air roof garden for dining, cocktails and sun bathing, » Casual grill bar for patrons relaxing around the pool & outdoor facilities including; Pétanque, beach tennis, swimming, handball &/or board games.
D’hôtel du Pacifique: Villas Stage 1
The first 18 beach front villas are near completion. All components of the villas are custom made; complete in-situ concrete board marked walls, floor & roof, concrete benches, day beds, cast-in-place basins and handmade light fittings, in-built furniture, sunken baths along with timber herringbone windows which are hand carved from local timbers by local craftsman and hand-cut stone floors. Kristin is regularly on site coordinating fabrication techniques and ensuring consistency of local construction methods.
Each villa is conceived as a robust, cyclone ready building, the result of a series of key relationship studies between man, building & the tropical landscape. The nature of the body disrobing, exposure, privacy & the personalised experience offers a certain romance and seclusion for its patrons.
La Plage D’hôtel du Pacifique: Pool Area & Landscape
The pool/massage/spa component of the resort offers a place for the leisure, relaxation and sensual decadence that one would expect from a quality 5-star experience in the Pacifique. A concrete slide, colonnade and capital recall the Ancient Roman baths, a direct homage to Emperor Hadrian (the pool is literally measured from & at Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, outside Rome); ‘only here can one truly dream of being lost in time’.
The pool and sun lounge area wraps around the building, white sand, the ocean, a sensuous entanglement. Memories of roman villas bedecked with capitals, pediments and statues offer a delight to the pool area; a shady concrete capital creates a weighty ambience and shade relief.
Irregular clusters of Pandanus & palm trees, a simple landscape of grass and white sand ground surface make bare feet is a must. The tree roots emerge from the ground like something of a child’s dream, creating gentle barriers and shadows. Sandy walking paths wander through resort facilities, offering the odd secluded stopping point for new or renewed romance, a cocktail in hand, the soft floating fabric of colourful transparent sarongs and the opportunity to stroll into their villa.
Undulating mounds caress the landscape. Vines trace the board marked surface of the concrete walls, delighting patrons with their patterns. The birds sing amidst the trees and promises of the sea turtle sanctuary are desired to continue nature’s course in the region.
Narrative
Bridget is perched behind Athena’s shield, a relief from the hallowing winds that are so frequent to the Pacifique region. The Coliseum has invaded these new lands; not a new notion for western man. Here she protects from violent storms…. patrons are offered a chance at romance, to dance, dream and escape; rekindling their love, offering hope for the future & their wellbeing.
Dutch studio Marc Koehler Architects has extended a former primary school in rural Belgium to create a community centre with a folded roof (+ slideshow).
Marc Koehler Architects designed the building for the Flemish government in the small village of Loker. It is one of eight government-funded projects across the province of West Flanders, which will see existing community facilities upgraded as part of a bid to attract new residents.
A steel framework creates the faceted roof of the new structure, which is clad externally with corrugated fibre-cement panels and lined internally with timber.
The walls of the building are glazed and surround a large hall that can be used for different community events, from performances and exhibitions to parties and sporting activities.
Curtains enable the space to be subdivided, allowing different activities to take place simultaneously.
A canteen, meeting rooms, bathrooms and storage space are located within the old school building.
“By re-using the existing 1960s building we create a layered reading of the history of the place,” the architects said. “Our task was creating an innovative, multifunctional building in a sensitive, historical environment.”
The corrugated roof material is intended to match the rooftops of nearby barns, while the angled forms were designed to be reminiscent of the folds of the surrounding landscape.
The roof also cantilevers beyond the glazed facade, helping to shade the building from direct sunlight.
The building is located in Loker, a small village (600 inhabitants) in the east of Flanders. The project is the result of our winning entry for the Open Call competition, organised by the Flemish government. Our project is the first of eight projects to be completed in the eight sub-districts of the municipality of Heuvelland. As such it can be seen as an impulse for social change, of Flemish villages modernising and upgrading their facilities to attract a potential suburban dweller, returning to the rural landscape. So our task was creating an innovative, multifunctional building in a sensitive historic environment.
The building consists of a reused part of the existing structure of a primary school build in the 60’s, covered by a large folding roof with a glazed façade. The changing shade, created by the various angles of the roof parts reminds of the surrounding patch-work landscape, while the corrugated roofing-material is similar to that used in neighbouring barns.
The glazed façade provides a generous view over the surroundings, with an emphasis on the Sint-Petrus church, and the sloping landscape of the Kemmelberg. With reusing the existing 60’s building, we create a layered reading of the history of that place.
The reused school-building houses the more intimate spaces, like the canteen, storage, sanitary spaces and meeting rooms. The polyvalent, open space can be used for a large variety of activities, like performances, gatherings, exhibitions, sports or parties. The smaller rooms can be opened up towards the polyvalent space, extending their potential, but the large space can also be divided by curtains so that several programs can coexist simultaneously.
The competition prescribed the demolition of the whole existing building, but proposed to preserve the asbestos-free part of the structure, works out in our favour. We created a financial advantage not having to construct new specific spaces, allowing for the polyvalent space to become larger then requested.
A natural climate compartmentalisation of use and energy management is automatically created by the two main components of the building. The cantilevering roof acts as passive sun shading, blocking direct sunlight from entering the building in the summer, but allowing sunlight to heat the building in the winter. Another effort is made with the selection of building materials. Carbon neutral fibre cement panels are used for roofing, but also for interior cladding.
(Photos courtesy Studio Olafur Eliasson and Keystone/Christian Beutler)
Rolex’s Arts Initiative gives new meaning to the phrase “ones to watch.” For the past decade, the luxury watchmaker has paired mentors and protégés in dance, film, literature, music, theatre, visual arts, and—beginning last year—architecture for year-long creative collaborations. The program, which encourages dialogue between artists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines, has devised dynamic duos such as Anish Kapoor and Nicholas Hlobo, Zhang Yimou and Annemarie Jacir, and SANAA’s Kazuyo Sejima and Yang Zhao.
Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice was the setting for a festive gathering held earlier today to announce the seven creative wizards who will serve as mentors for the 2014-15 program: Olafur Eliasson (visual arts), Alejandro González Iñárritu (film), Michael Ondaatje (literature), Alexei Ratmansky (dance), Kaija Saariaho (music), Jennifer Tipton (theater), and Peter Zumthor (architecture). As for the emerging talents, it’s pick-your-own-protégé. Each of the mentors will choose a talented young artist to join them for a year of creative collaboration—and a grant of 25,000 Swiss francs (approximately $28,000, at current exchange rates).
Belgian studio Pascal François Architects has completed a two-storey house in rural Belgium that slots beneath the roof of an old stable block (+ slideshow).
Pascal François Architects designed the residence to take the place of another house that had been demolished in Lokeren, northern Belgium. It occupies the exact footprint of the old home and its end intersects with the single-storey stable alongside.
A glazed kitchen sits at the point where the two buildings overlap, but is not joined to the existing structure of the stable.
The architect had to demonstrate to planning authorities that the two buildings weren’t connected in order to gain permission to build.
“The reason for positioning the extension under the existing roof was in search of morning light into the kitchen,” François told Dezeen.
“It caused difficulties because we could not build a volume exceeding 1000 cubic metres, and they [the authorities] were counting the barn and the house together because they are touching,” he added.
The rectilinear house sits perpendicular to the barn. Ceramic panels clad the top half of the structure, while the lower section is covered with vertical strips of wood that are interspersed with floor-to-ceiling windows.
The entrance to the house is also covered in similar wooden strips, allowing it to blend in with the walls.
Once inside, residents are faced with a large window, which looks out to a long water feature that extends outwards from the opposite wall.
This space leads through to a monochrome living and dining area with a wooden deck off to one side, while an office is positioned at the opposite end.
Three bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms are located upstairs, and the old barn is still used for keeping horses.
For a number of years, the Flemish government have allowed un-zoned buildings to be renovated or even to be rebuilt.
The rules, however, are extremely stringent. With this project, we have tried to respond to this reality in a contemporary manner.
As the line of what is possible is so very thin, obtaining the building permit alone has taken two and a half years.
The new habitable volume is built on the compulsory “footprint zone” of the old house, but extends towards the barn without actually touching it construction-wise.
The purpose was to catch the light in the east. The result is an exciting symbiosis between old and new.
The barn determines the character of the site and of the building. Hidden behind a wooden “ribbon”, a number of openings needed to be added.
Further on, the ribbon is draped around the new house and finally becomes a usable terrace.
The upper floor of the house is covered with ceramic panels, the colour and the material referring to the existing barn’s roof.
The remarkably sober and closed façade on the street side hides a very light and spacious interior, which derives its energy from a series of patios.
This house by Portuguese architect Miguel Marcelino rests on top of an old warehouse in Torres Novas, central Portugal (+ slideshow).
Miguel Marcelino extended the existing building upwards to create the single-storey residence, which overlooks a valley planted with olive groves.
The warehouse was first built in the 1980s and was originally planned as a two-storey structure, although it has taken 30 years for the second phase of construction to take place.
Marcelino used brickwork for the exterior of the extension, then added white paint to unite the two floors.
A protruding concrete slab divides the two storeys and creates a balcony around two sides of the building, while a similar-sized roof slab forms a canopy overhead.
A bridge with a steel balustrade leads to the house’s entrance from the adjacent hillside and is positioned alongside a large olive tree.
The entrance hall opens out into a living and dining area, featuring a sliced-off south-east corner that increases the size of the surrounding balcony.
Three bedrooms are positioned along the east side of the house, while the kitchen and bathroom sit on the opposite side.
Concrete walls and ceilings are exposed in each room and timber panels covers the floor.
The briefing was to build a three-bedroom house on top of a warehouse built in the 80’s, where part of the roof was made with a flat slab and a small balcony, precisely with that idea of later building the house.
Given the constraints of the existing warehouse, the house shape turns out to be automatically set: a box that rests on the existing structure.
The rooms are placed to the east, the toilets to the west, as well as the kitchen, looking to a centennial olive tree.
The existing balcony will be maintained and “duplicated” as a shading element.
The living room is placed south where its south/east corner is diagonally cut in a way that the balcony could enlarge and offer an outdoor area protected from the sun and rain, overlooking the valley.
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