Hasta La Ideas

Two commercial buildings in Winnipeg have been converted into an apartment block with mirrored balconies that stick out like open drawers.

Constructed at the start of the twentieth century, the Hample and Avenue Buildings occupy a prominent position on Portage Avenue. They once housed shops and offices but had stood empty since the 1990s.

The renovation by 5468796 Architecture involved upgrading the ground floor of both buildings for commercial use and adapting the upper floors to accommodate 75 rental apartments. At just three storeys, the Hample Building was half as tall as the Avenue Building, so the architects also added extra storeys to bring the two buildings into line.

Steel balconies cantilever through existing window openings for 20 of the apartments. Each one is clad in mirrored aluminium and has a see-through gridded base.

“A series of formally simple moves dramatically transform the original facades, shifting public perception of the buildings from eyesores to a unified urban landmark,” say the architects.

At ground floor level, a mirrored canopy gives shelter to two different entrances. Stretching across the facade of both buildings, the volume is intended to unite the two structures.

The first entrance leads though the glazed shopfront facade into the large ground floor unit, which is currently occupied by a charity organisation.

The second entrance is dedicated to residents, who are led through a V-shaped recess into a stairwell at the centre of the building.

Similar renovation projects on Dezeen include the overhaul of a crumbling tower block in Paris and an upgrade of an office block in Milan. See more architectural renovations.

Photography is by James Brittain.

Here’s some more text from 5468796 Architecture:

The Avenue on Portage by 5468796 Architecture

The Avenue on Portage revives two historic commercial buildings from the turn of the century located one block west of Winnipeg’s most famous corner, Portage and Main. Once major retail destinations in the city, the Avenue and Hample Buildings experienced a slow decline, becoming blights to the street and downtown. In 2010 the client purchased the site to develop the derelict properties into 75 rental apartments and 22,500 square feet of commercial space.

A series of formally simple moves dramatically transform the original facades, shifting public perception of the buildings from eyesores to a unified urban landmark. Hovering above the sidewalk, steel balconies cantilever from existing window openings and provide outdoor access for apartment dwellers. Clad in mirror-finish aluminium, the balconies become camouflaged against their surroundings, reflecting at turns the sky, the façade and the street below.

While the balconies push residents out beyond the façade, the main floor pulls pedestrians in, softening the boundary between the public streetscape and the private interiors. Inside, apartments sized between 430 and 1020 s.f. fill the upper four floors of the Avenue, as well as a new, three-storey addition to the Hample.

In order to address the deep building footprint and provide windows for interior units, two existing light wells are carried down through all residential floors, while a third is extended into the new addition.

The main floor is occupied by Manitoba Start, a non-profit organisation that provides services for new immigrants in Winnipeg. At street level a wall of glass folds back into the building to create a deep, V shaped entrance that broadens the width of the sidewalk.

Overhead, a faceted, mirror-finish canopy angles outward 13 feet from the face of the Hample before returning to meet the edge of the Avenue, unifying the two facades. Together, these elements draw the city into the building’s expression, making it an active participant in the life of the street.

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by 5468796 Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Situé à l’intérieur du W Hotel Montreal, ce « Wunderbar Lounge » est un espace de détente pensé par BPC. Avec d’excellents choix de design ainsi qu’un jeu de couleurs du plus bel effet, cette création inspirée par les quatre saisons est à découvrir grâce aux clichés de Stéphane Groleau dans la suite.

Canadian architect Henri Cleinge built a house for himself in Montreal with concrete walls inside and out.

Seen from the front entrance, La Maison Beaumont comprises two concrete volumes of two storeys each.

Architect and homeowner Henri Cleinge raised one of the concrete volumes on a Corten steel base to create an entrance on the ground floor and an extra storey at the top.

Corten steel was also used to define the window frames and parts of the exterior walls.

The walls are exposed both outside and inside, so rigid insulation was placed inside the concrete during the pouring process.

The cedar ceilings and maple staircase contrast with the walls, while walnut has been used throughout the kitchen.

We’ve published lots of concrete houses on Dezeen, including a two-headed Australian house that can withstand the harshest cyclones and a school outside Lisbon punctuated with bold primary colours – see all concrete architecture and design.

Other homes in Canada we’ve featured recently include a gabled steel farmhouse in a sea of crops and a wooden cabin for two artists in Nova Scotia – see all Canadian houses.

Photographs by Marc Cramer.

Here’s some more information from the architect:

Inspired to create a home to be experienced by all five senses, the Beaumont concrete house evolved as an exploration project. The design, understated, is situated in a mixed use neighborhood where residential duplexes coexist with small to midsize industrial buildings. Despite the project’s integration, a number of features distinguish the project from other buildings in the area.

In contrast to the superimposed typology of apartment units located on the ground floor and second floor, the Beaumont house challenges this spatial composition by creating a modular square plan where one unit is situated on the ground and second floor, and a second unit is located on the second and third floor. This spatial tour de force is a response to the programme and sun movement, allowing each unit exposure to three orientations rather than two and to take full advantage of southern sunlight.

The house most noticeable feature, however, is the fact that nearly all exterior walls are built out of concrete exposed to the interior and the outside, with insulation in the middle. Combining rich primary materials to large modular square volumes filled with an abundance of natural light, the house contains a series of framed experiences.

The central space is the largest volume where a double height living room is defined by concrete and wood surfaces which foil off each other. The softness of the walnut cabinetry and the cedar ceiling contrast the hard textured concrete walls. The pallet of materials is reduced and disciplined. Cedar ceilings and concrete floors are used throughout. Secondary elements such as Walnut furniture with black granite surfaces are also featured.

Data sheet

Project: Beaumont House
Location: Montreal
Client: Henri Cleinge
Architect: Henri Cleinge, architect
Project Architect: Henri Cleinge
Team: Henri Cleinge, Michel Lefebvre
Structural Engineer: César Zelaya
General Contractor: Bâtitu
Area: 3200 square feet
Date of completion: 2011

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

Above: side elevation

Above: front elevation

Above: cross-section

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Henri Cleinge Architecte appeared first on Dezeen.

Déjà mise en avant sur Fubiz pour les structures architecturales qu’elle peut abriter telles que Squish Studio, voici « Fogo Island » une île située au nord de Terre-Neuve, au Canada. Une sélection des paysages, sublimées par les clichés de Julien Pelletier, sont à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

This gabled steel shed surrounded by crops is a self-sufficient farmhouse in Ontario by architects Studio Moffitt (+ slideshow).

Above: photograph is by Shai Gil

Surrounded on every side by corn, wheat, barley and hay fields, House on Limekiln Line is a two-storey house on a ten-hectare estate in Huron Country.

Above: photograph is by Shai Gil

Studio Moffit used galvanised steel cladding to make reference to the local agricultural vernacular. Wooden decks are positioned on three of the four elevations and include one that branches out like a jetty.

Above: photograph is by Shai Gil

The house was completed on a design-and-build contract, which involved architect Lisa Moffitt living on-site during the construction process.

“To me, the most interesting aspect of the project was moving to the site, acting as general contractor and working with local farmers to build it,” Moffitt told Dezeen. “It was a very satisfying experience collaborating with honest, hard-working ‘people of the land’.”

Above: photograph is by Shai Gil

The residence is entirely off-grid and generates all its own electricity and heating using solar panels on the roof, as well as from passive heating systems. Windows are triple-glazed to prevent heat from escaping, while the concrete floor acts as a thermal mass.

Above: photograph is by Shai Gil

In the warm summer months a canopy helps to shades the southern elevation from direct sunlight, while windows on every elevation can be opened to encourage cross-ventilation. Water is sourced from a well beside the house.

Other farmhouses completed in recent years include a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Hungarian peasant house and a house on a sheep farm in Tasmania.

See more architecture in Canada, including a curvaceous pair of twisted skyscrapers.

Photography is by Gabriel Li, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some extra details from Studio Moffit:

House On Limekiln Line, Huron County, Ontario, Canada

The House on Limekiln Line sits on a 25 acre farm lot in Huron County, Ontario. The site is in constant flux due to shifting diurnal and annual conditions tied to weather, cultivation and occupation. The house sits lightly on the land while registering and amplifying specific conditions of this vast productive landscape: it frames expansive views of the shifting crop quilts adjacent to the house and it acts as a datum to an existing topographic shift on the site. The house is calibrated to allow views into and through the house, facilitating an interior visual spatial expansion. An extended south deck and west deck walk offer threshold spaces that extend this experiential choreography while also mediating between enclosure and exposure and extending seasonal exterior occupation of the site.

The house is off-grid and utilises a number of sustainable measures. These measures reduce both operational and embodied energy consumption, and are integrated into a cohesive design. Siting and orientation facilitate passive heating and cooling. A generous south deck overhang blocks summer sun while allowing winter sun to heat the concrete thermal mass floor. Evenly distributed operable windows facilitate summer cross-ventilation and stack effect heat purging. Triple glazed windows, a highly insulated envelope detailed to reduce thermal bridging, and the use of high efficiency appliances ensure that energy consumption required to service the house is low.

The house offers back to the cultural landscape in which it sits. The architectural language of the exterior, a monolithic galvanised steel shed, is informed by the local agricultural vernacular to ensure visual coherence within the landscape and to facilitate construction with locally available and sourced materials. As a design-build project, construction was completed largely by local farmers familiar with agricultural building practices.The rich dialogue with local craftsman ensured that the house is rooted in the building practices and conventions of context while also offering the community exposure to innovative resource and energy-conserving construction practices.

Above: floor plans – click above for larger image and key

The interior of the 925 sf house is composed of a core of service spaces floating within the shed shell. Carefully calibrated views into and through this core ensure that, despite its limited footprint, the house is visually expansive. This experiential choreography, along with careful siting, with crops growing to enclosure, allow the house to act as a place of observation, a space that defers to and reflects back the annually and diurnally shifting landscape beyond. Creating a dialogue with and respect for the local culture and landscape encourages a sense of stewardship towards the larger ecological and environmental processes of the vast agricultural landscape in which the house sits.

Above: long section

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by Studio Moffitt appeared first on Dezeen.