Hasta La Ideas

Studio Webb has added a zinc-clad roof extension to a private school in south London, which sets off against the building’s existing brickwork (+ slideshow).

London-based Studio Webb added the red-zinc extension over the roof of the Victorian primary school in Battersea, creating two extra classrooms on a new second floor.

The 14-week project saw the steel-framed structure placed on top of the existing building, which Studio Webb director Rik Webb said was “the school’s only viable opportunity left on the site”.

The firm chose materials that would fit in with different kinds of brickwork. “Within close context to a conservation area and neighbouring red brick and copper church, a sensitive design approach and appropriate choice of materials was critical,” said Webb.

The architects continued the corbeled parapet detailing of the brick structure then added the new gabled structure above to create a generous space featuring numerous skylights.

Two light-filled classrooms are separated by a long corridor with a bathroom and storage room at one end. A triangular corner window offers views towards the cathedral next door and out over the city rooftops beyond.

Other school extensions we’ve featured include a gabled extension to a nineteenth-century boarding school in Brighton, a new facade inspired by post war system-built schools, also in London and a stark concrete extension to a secondary school in Lisbon.

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Photography is by Jack Hobhouse.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Battersea School

Approached by a private school client, and inheriting a previous scheme, Studio Webb were appointed to undertake an appraisal period which enabled the design development of a second floor classroom extension in Battersea.

With a fast track programme and comprehensive consultant team a lightweight steel structure with external zinc cladding with was produced.

Within close context to a conservation area and neighbouring red brick / copper church, a sensitive design approach and appropriate choice of materials was critical.

A simple gable form extends above the existing brick Victorian school block below. An expanse of structural glazing to the corners brings an abundance of natural light to the teaching spaces, and provides a practical internal layout.

Vertical red zinc cladding was chosen to respond sympathetically to the adjacent church detail. The uniform surface of the material looks to offer a clean monolithic separation from the existing.

Project Type : Private school extension
Location : Battersea, London, UK
Tender date : 06.04.2013
Start date on site : 11.05.2013

Contract duration : 14 weeks
Gross internal floor area : 93m2
Contract / Procurment : JCT MWD 2001 / Traditional
Construction Cost : £234,000.00 exc. vat

Client : l’ecole de battersea
Architect : Studio Webb Architects Ltd
Structural engineer : lyons o’neill
Quanity surveyor : measur
Contractor : rem projects (interiors) ltd
Building control / CDM : Head Projects Building Control Ltd

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by Studio Webb appeared first on Dezeen.

This steel and glass restaurant extension by Austrian studio Architekten Rüf Stasi Partner juts out over the edge of Karren Mountain in the Austrian Alps (+ slideshow).

Local studio Architekten Rüf Stasi Partner added the new hollow structure to increase the size of the dining room at a timber-clad restaurant and cable-car facility.

Elevated above a paved terrace, the new restaurant is held in place by long steel columns rooted into the mountain and connected to the main building by a glass passageway.

It is located 956 metres above sea level, allowing panoramic views towards Switzerland, Germany, Lake Constance and the Rhine Valley.

“The aim of the design, in addition to functional requirements, was to bring a sense of calm to the ensemble and create a more holistic appearance for the Karren cable-car station,” said the studio.

The architects also renovated the existing building. Parts of the timber structure were prefabricated before being flown to the site by helicopter, along with the pre-assembled steel parts for the restaurant, and both were erected on site.

Other mountain-top architecture we’ve featured includes a concrete mountain cabin also in the Austrian Alps, a seesaw-shaped lookout along a Mexican pilgrimage route and  a hunting lodge and hotel on Sognefjorden in Norway.

See more restaurants »
See more Austrian architecture and design »

Photography is by Zooey Braun.

Here’s some information from the architects:

Panoramarestaurant Karren, Austria

Dornbirns’ ‘house mountain’ The Karren, is the most popular destination in the city. Due to the steady growth of domestic and foreign visitors, the capacity of the restaurant slowly became overwhelmed.

Jointly developed with the client, the owners, the business manager and the Architects Rüf Stasi Partners (ARSP), a sustainable concept for the expansion and renovation of the new panoramic restaurant Karren, was developed. The concept not only doubles the seating within the panoramic dining room and increases the outdoor terrace area; it also provides an optimisation of internal service processes, completely reconfiguring the restaurant kitchen and the storage areas.

The analysis of the existing building revealed a diverse mixture of renovations and extensions added over generations. As a consequence the existing construction and style had become chaotic. The aim of the design was therefore, in addition to the functional requirements, to bring a sense of calm of the ensemble and create a more holistic appearance for the Karren cable-car station.

A new steel and glass structure was attached to the front end of the existing panoramic restaurant (built in 1996) on the first floor. This component was rotated through 90 ° and then connected via a second glass passageway to the main building. Together this glass ring creates an open sided atrium which floats over the guests as they arrive from the cable-car or from the mountain path.

Inside the glass structure provides diners with an uninterrupted view of the Swiss and Austrian Alps in all directions. The advantageous cliff position also provides stunning views of Lake Constance and the Rhine Valley. At the same time, a harmonious appearance of steel and glass in the construction is achieved.The old south-facing wooden construction has been completely dismantled and replaced by a new, larger floor plan.

Through the extension of the building to the South, the required area for the kitchen extension is achieved and the previously hectic façade is calmed by removing many of the volume jumps creating a smoother outer shell. The new timber façade continues over the concrete construction of the cable car station in the east and over the services area, cladding almost all of the building in the same material to enhance the calming effect. The guests can also enjoy new views in the east (the ‘Staufenblick’) and north (the view of Dornbirn along the cable car route) which were previously not possible.

All building work had to be completed within a 10 week period during the winter months and at 956m above sea level. The main site entrance was only accessible through an extremely steep and narrow forest path.

Only through meticulous logistical planning was the perfect interaction of all counterparts on this tight construction schedule possible.

From the outset, planning was optimised through the extensive use of prefabrication. This allowed all timber construction to be made in an assembly hall before being flown to the site in less than 4 hours by helicopter. This allowed the entire wooden structure to be erected within two days on site. The pre-assembled steel parts were individually transported via the mountain road and fully assembled on the terrace.

Using the most powerful crane in the foothills of the Alps, the entire steel construction was lifted into place on the 11th of April 2013, and the end result was accurate to within 1mm. In parallel, the interior work and the technical installations were pushed hard to meet the deadline, which were completed three days early on the 8th of May. With the kitchens in full operation the new Karren Restaurant was proudly opened on time with a full festival.

Structure: Panoramic restaurant Karren
Planning and site supervision: Architekten Rüf Stasi Partner – Albert Rüf and Frank Stasi
Additional personnel: DI Arch Rike Kress
Construction time: 10 weeks
Altitude: 956m above sea level
Extension: 180 seat panoramic restaurant and 120 seats on the terrace

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Architekten Rüf Stasi Partner appeared first on Dezeen.

Small windows scattered across the facade of this house extension outside Melbourne by Australian practice Wolveridge Architects limit the amount of direct sunlight entering the building (+ slideshow).

Wolveridge Architects designed the extension to provide additional bedrooms for the owners’ three young sons, who are now housed above a large garage.

The architects say that the composition of openings in the facade “is designed to restrict the inflow of undesirable west sun and provides a suitable level of visual engagement with the street.”

Anodised aluminium window frames contrast with the dark stained western red cedar cladding that covers the new addition and maintains the house’s existing material palette.

Inside the bedrooms, the windows are integrated into a geometric arrangement of cabinetry that creates storage and seating.

The extension also incorporates a new living area that is separated from the bedrooms by a large shaded terrace with views of the nearby forest.

Yesterday we published a beach house by Wolveridge Architects with louvred shutters concealing its windows and architect Clare Cousins recently extended a family home in Australia by adding a stilted timber-framed guest house. See more houses in Australia »

Photography is by Ben Hosking.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Blairgowrie House

This extension to an existing two storey dwelling provides essential additional living areas for a family with three young boys. The original structure made very little connection with the surrounding property and had deficiencies in access to northern light.

By bringing the façade dramatically forward towards the street it was possible to incorporate the three required bedrooms above a large garage on street level.

To separate the bedrooms from the new living area a north facing courtyard was introduced which also provides a terrific outlook towards the surrounding Moonah forest.

The block type form established from bringing the front of the dwelling forward and its western orientation influenced a design decision to create a complex series of openings in the façade, allowing for plenty of natural light to the children’s bedrooms within.

The composition of openings is designed to restrict the inflow of undesirable west sun and provides a suitable level of visual engagement with the street.

The cabinetry design integrates with the complex window arrangement on the outside, creating a playful sense within each bedroom.

The existing palette of dark stained western red cedar cladding and anodised aluminium window frames was carried through in the new work, integrating the original structure within the proposed design, but still providing a sense of separation.

Project name: Blairgowrie House
Date of construction completion: 25/08/12
Project team: Jerry Wolveridge, Sina Petzold, Ricky Booth, David Anthony
Builder and Construction Manager: Tim Prebble
Structural/Civil Engineer: Don Moore & Associates
Building Surveyor: Nepean Building Permits

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Wolveridge Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Chilean architects Mathias Klotz and Lillian Allen have renovated a castle-like residence in Santiago’s Parque Forestal to create a restaurant, exhibition space and ice-cream parlour (+ slideshow).

The building is named “Castillo Forestal”, which means forest castle, but it was actually constructed at the start of the nineteenth century as a house for the park’s gardener. Over the years the building had become abandoned, so Mathias Klotz and Lillian Allen were asked to bring it back into use.

The architects began by demolishing previous extensions to the two-storey red-brick building, then added a new steel and glass structure that wraps around the north and east elevations.

“Our proposal was to demolish the successive extensions and replace them with a single-story volume housing an intermediate space between inside and outside,” said Klotz.

This structure accommodates the restaurant, creating a glazed ground-floor dining room and a first-floor terrace overlooking the park.

Additional dining areas are provided by the two main rooms of the original house, which have been renovated to reveal their interior brickwork. The architects removed various stucco details, but left cornices intact and painted them grey to match the steel framework of the new extension.

Bare lightbulbs hang from the ceiling in rows and have been clustered into groups of three on the first-floor.

The exhibition galleries and ice-cream parlour are also housed in the existing building, while customer toilets are located in the basement and the circular tower is set to function as a wine store.

We’ve recently featured new photographs of the first major project by Mathias Klotz, which was a home for his mother. Other projects by the architect include a holiday home for a family with 11 daughters.

See more architecture by Mathias Klotz »
See more architecture in Chile »

Photography is by Roland Halbe.

Here’s a project description from Mathias Klotz:

Castillo Parque Forestal, Santiago, Chile

The so called “Forest Castle” is in reality nothing more than a modest lodging built in the Parque Forestal on the occasion of Chile’s 1910 Centenary celebrations, to house the park’s gardener.

The park, which dates from the Centenary, was inaugurated at the same time as the Fine Arts Museum on the other side of the street. Over time the house lost its original function; it was extended and occupied on a temporary basis, and gradually deteriorated until it was abandoned altogether a number of years ago. For this reason Santiago city council tendered a 30-year concession to restore the structure and find a new use for the building.

Our proposal was to demolish the successive extensions and replace them with a single-story volume housing an intermediate space between inside and outside.

The two rooms of the original structure were restored, removing the stucco and leaving the brickwork visible, with the exception of the cornices. These were painted the same dark grey as the steel structure of the new volume, in order to link the two structures together and emphasise the original building.

The new uses it has acquired are a bookstore, restaurant, ice-cream store and exhibition space.

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and Lillian Allen appeared first on Dezeen.

The towering fortress of fairytale character Rapunzel inspired this steel-clad house extension that accommodates the three oldest daughters of Austrian architect Stefan Marte (+ slideshow).

Named Maiden Tower, the four-storey residence sits alongside the family’s existing concrete home in the Alpine district of Vorarlberg, western Austria, and is clad with oxidising steel to create a visible contrast between the new and old structures.

Stefan Marte, of Marte.Marte Architects, planned the building over four storeys, allowing each daughter to have her bedroom on a different floor to her sisters.

A corridor leads through to the extension from the existing house, arriving at a small library. Beyond this, the girls have their own separate kitchen and dining room.

A corner staircase leads up to the bedrooms, while doors lead out to a swimming pool and terrace in the garden.

Corten-steel panels clad three sides of the tower, while the east elevation features floor-to-ceiling glazing, offering views back towards the main house.

Additional windows and doors are dotted across the north and south elevations and can be concealed behind hinged steel shutters.

This is the third project by Marte.Marte Architects to feature on Dezeen recently, following a twisted bridge and a concrete holiday house.

See more architecture by Marte.Marte Architects »
See more houses in Austria »

Photography is by Marc Lins.

Here’s a project description from writer Marina Hämmerle:

Maiden Tower

What could match the massive presence of Marte’s concrete home, this raw, stony material, this self‐contained unit? Oxidising steel: just as raw, just as authentic in its expression and its properties. The interior impression remains the same – wood surfaces, warm colours, fine pores. The new exterior structure, on the other hand, is masculine, striving skywards, rising up from the surrounding landscape like the neighbouring pear tree. That behind the massive exterior lies a building of lightweight materials may be inspired by the tale of the Trojan horse.

A new space opens up between the two buildings, complemented by an in‐ground pool – uncompromising, hard, less sensible, but therefore all the more magical, idiosyncratic, and sensuous. Oxidising steel on the walls and bottom, encased like in a suit of armour. The tower also appears this way with its steel ventilation flaps to the north and south and fixed glazing to the east.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel… Through the library, down a few steps into the separate kitchen, and then through the dining room, facing the pool, the little princesses can climb the newel stairs to their bedrooms. There, they are presented with a view, on the one hand, of their parents’ protective house and, on the other, the nearby scenic forest. The spatial perspective mirrors this interplay of freedom and guidance, becoming a symbol of their possibilities for development within the family.

The whole structure seems so sealed off, but in terms of use, it not only offers an astonishing amount of free space, but also conveys respect and draws boundaries. This makes it possible to live together in a relatively small space and at the same time provides each person with opportunities for participation and private space.

What an unparalleled atmosphere for the girls. If it is true that the first few years of life shape our future spatial desires, then these girls will have had a very valuable personal experience that their future Prince Charmings will probably not have had: a life in manifest appreciation.

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Marte.Marte Architects appeared first on Dezeen.