Chunky concrete slabs alternate with deeply recessed windows on the exterior of this Sydney house extension by Australian firm Nobbs Radford Architects (+ slideshow).
Named Glebe House, the two-storey annex was designed by Nobbs Radford Architects to provide the family residence with a new open-plan living and dining space, as well as extra bedroom and bathroom spaces.
The structure is located at the rear of the existing property, creating a new elevation facing the garden. Doors and windows are set right back from the facade, creating the illusion that walls are almost a metre thick.
“The depth of the rear facade creates an interstitial threshold, which is a space in itself to be occupied and provides a sense of enclosure,” said studio founders Alison Nobbs and Sean Radford.
Bare concrete surfaces continue into the interior, but are contrasted with warmer elements that include oak furniture and joinery, as well as pine floors.
A double-height space sits behind the facade, while a series of alcoves are created by the stepped arrangement of the walls.
“The project is primarily focused on the interconnections of cloistered spaces and selected framed openings,” said the architects.
The ground floor space is left open-plan. A breakfast counter divides the kitchen from the lounge area, while a family dining table fits into a space at the rear.
A wooden staircase with shelves slotted into the sides of its treads leads upstairs, arriving at a mezzanine study that overlooks the room below.
A new bedroom is tucked away on one side and opens out to a rooftop balcony.
Here’s a project description from Nobbs Radford Architects:
Glebe House – a family home in Sydney, Australia
The project is primarily focused on the interconnections of cloistered spaces and selected framed openings. The outer concrete elements contrast with the timber elements that further define the various internal zones and functions within the house.
The depth of the rear facade creates an interstitial threshold, which is a space in itself to be occupied and provide a sense of enclosure.
The idea is to create intermediating spaces that ground the house in relation to both its interior and exterior. Within the house the void acts as a centralising space via which other areas of the house interconnect.
The stacking of the elements of the facade are contrasted by the seeming point loading at the exterior. The interior reveals the alternate nature where the structural loads are revealed. This duality through the facade re-emphasises the nature of the threshold space itself.
Complimenting materials of near raw continuous length floorboards and a restrained palette of black aluminium, black steel, stainless steel and oak appear throughout the house and create a cohesive connection between original and new. These materials were selected, partially, so as not to compete with the ornate patterning of the original house along with their own inherent qualities.
The project’s fundamental rationale is to create a family home that recognised the various needs of the occupiers, spaces for children and adults with a flexibility for both retreat and engagement.
The shingle-clad upper storeys of this house on the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz by Vienna practice Destilat are rotated to create a cantilevered overhang above the entrance (+ slideshow).
Destilat was asked to convert the existing property on a hillside in the Bachlberg suburb of Linz into a property accommodating three self-contained apartments.
The original house was gutted and rebuilt from the level of the existing concrete pedestal, with the storeys above rotated slightly to shelter the entrance and make the most of views towards the Alps.
Grey shingles covering the upper storeys give the exterior of the building a monolithic appearance, while the gabled profile typical of Alpine properties is interrupted by a scattered arrangement of windows.
At the front of the house a variety of outdoor spaces are created by openings in the facade.
A gap in the pitched roof provides a small balcony outside the dining space of the penthouse, while the first floor features a terrace framed by a long aperture.
Each of the storeys above the basement garage contains an apartment with its own sleeping, eating and living spaces, with the top floor also incorporating a mezzanine area housing a gallery and guest bedroom.
The ground floor apartment occupies an area previously used as an indoor pool and provides multiple points of access directly into the surrounding garden.
The penthouse apartment features an open plan living space with a fireplace that projects from one wall to provide some separation from the dining and kitchen area.
A black concrete base and rough plaster hood add to the monolithic and sculptural look of this central feature.
The massive ceiling height and pitched roof are accentuated by pendant lights suspended above the dining table.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
House B.A.B.E.
B.A.B.E. stands for exclusive living at Bachlberg.
The former domicile of a family of entrepreneurs from Linz is located near the top of Bachlberg, in very quiet area near the woods, overlooking the provincial capital of Linz, with a panoramic view of the distant Alpine foothills.
In cooperation with W. Wimmer, this run-down object with its spacious garden was converted into a modern apartment house with three living units. The original structure was gutted completely and extended by an additional floor with insulated timber framing.
Starting at the socle storey, the entire structure was slightly turned to optimise its viewing angles.
Covered entirely with grey shingles made of asbestos cement (Eternit), the building has a very monolithic and sculptural character due to its seemingly random distribution of apertures for windows, loggias and terraces.
The apartments of this house have very diverse characters and usable floor areas ranging from 140 to 200 sq m.
The former indoor pool area on the ground floor was converted to an apartment with direct access to the property’s garden.
However, the crown jewel of this building is the penthouse with its open living, kitchen and dining area and up to 6.5 meter high, open pitched roof and a gallery. A massive open fireplace is the almost archaic centre due to its reduced design as well as its concrete base and rough plasterwork.
Besides the impressive main room, which includes a gallery, the entrance area as well as the bathrooms were individually designed to meet the client’s requirements.
This house in the Scottish Highlands by London office Raw Architecture Workshop is partly buried into its sloping site and features a kinked plan that directs views towards the sunrise and sunset. (+ slideshow).
Located on a patch of former grazing land on Scotland’s rugged northwest coast, the house was designed by Raw Architecture Workshop for a young couple who wanted to optimise views of the sun rising behind mountains in the east and setting over the islands in the west.
“During an initial visit we pinpointed specific axes that would provide [the] best views from the site,” said the architects. “These were translated into physical models and the symmetrical, splayed and cranked plan was derived.”
Starting from the simple gabled form of typical Highland cottages, the architects created a building that provides the space required by a modern family and twisted the plan to direct one end towards the mountains and the other towards the islands.
The gable ends were widened to create space for expansive windows and the roofline lowered in the middle to reduce the building’s mass and exposure to the harsh climate.
Burying the exposed concrete base into the hillside also protects it from the weather and allows the surrounding soil to provide natural insulation.
Wild grasses that will gradually grow up around this submerged section will help to ground the house in its surroundings and the architects chose a black stained timber finish for the exterior surfaces to echo “the characteristics of the peat, gorse and stormy skies.”
To make the most of the spectacular views, the main living spaces are arranged on the upper storeys, with the basement containing an entrance hall, boat room and spare bedroom.
“There is a clear distinction in internal arrangement of space and function across three levels denoted by changes in light levels, scale of spaces, floor to ceiling heights and materials,” said the architects.
From the dark entrance area, a birch ply staircase leads up to a first floor containing three more bedrooms and a hallway incorporating library shelving.
The staircase is filled with natural light from a long vertical window and continues to the open-plan upper floor containing the main living space, which is connected to a kitchen and dining area.
In this space the building’s pitched ceiling results in a complex series of angled surfaces as it kinks in the centre before framing windows in the gabled ends.
Pale wooden floors and cabinetry add to the light and bright feel of this room, which opens onto a narrow covered terrace with steps leading to the garden at the higher end of the site.
Over 2000 years ago the occupants of Skara Brae, Orkney used locally sourced materials to build partially submerged dwellings providing thermal insulation and protection from the storm battered climate. The weather definitely hasn’t improved, but for the most part the buildings remain intact.
Incorporating these principles, Raw Architecture Workshop has completed a new build house on steeply sloping former rough grazing land at Camusdarach Sands.
The Clients, a young couple already living and working in this isolated location, were keen that we develop the proposals to capture the spectacular sun rise views over the mountains and sun set behind the islands. Given the topography of the site our early response was to locate the living spaces on the upper portion of the plot, with sleeping accommodation and entry level stacked below.
During an initial visit we pinpointed specific axis that would provide best views from the site. These were translated into physical models and the symmetrical, splayed and cranked plan was derived.
Similar forms were also explored in the section to reduce the visual mass, significantly improve the field of view from opposite ends of the space and increase daylight levels, which are critical in mid-winter around this line of latitude. In time the wild grasses will re-grow around the building to further reinforce the idea of a building built into, and not on top of, the hill.
Construction is low tech consisting of an exposed concrete base sitting beneath the more expressive timber frame superstructure. There is a clear distinction in internal arrangement of space and function across 3 levels denoted by changes in light levels, scale of spaces, floor to ceiling heights and materials.
Entrance is at the lower level into a darker, utilitarian concrete bunker. As you progress up through the building, via the birch ply staircase, spaces enlarge, daylight levels and ceiling heights soar, and materials are characterised by a lighter finish. The angular form of the building is reflected in the black painted cedar internal door handles and handrail detail of the plywood balustrade.
We were conscious that connection to the garden would be critical for a rural house and felt it important that you were able to step out of the main living spaces directly onto the landscape. This factor controlled the balance between elevating the top floor sufficiently to see the islands and keeping it low enough so that you were only 3 steps from the garden.
Environmental considerations vary in scale and type, from building position and orientation, local labour, skills and materials, to the inclusion of an air source heat pump and super insulation to provide a U-Value of 0.15 [W/m2k] to walls and roof.
The final external colour was much debated and in the end black was chosen to tune into the characteristics of the peat, gorse and stormy skies. Perhaps, in a few years, we might try a deep red…
Perched on a clifftop along the Chilean shoreline, this idyllic residence by architecture studio L2C forms part of a self-sustaining community that produces its own energy and water, and deals with its own waste (+ slideshow).
L2C’s Nicolás Lipthay built the single-storey family residence in Tunquén, a 90-minute drive from Santiago, where an assortment of wooden cabins and concrete houses are dotted across a vast landscape 50 metres above sea level.
“Big and small, all [houses] share the tranquil and simple lifestyle that characterises this unique getaway location,” said Lipthay. “The disconnection from mainstream civilisation makes Tunquen an eco-friendly self-sustainable community.”
Tunquen House is situated on the edge of the coastline, so its plan is arranged to offer wide-stretching views of the Pacific Ocean from most rooms but also to ensure courtyard spaces are protected from the strong prevailing winds.
“The climatic conditions of the area, dominated by a powerful south wind, conditioned the design,” said the architect.
Concrete walls surround the building and are rendered white both inside and out, while the roof is supported by a series of visible wooden joists that have been painted white to match.
A combined living room, dining area and kitchen forms the centre of the plan. Glazed walls run along two sides of the space to open it out to a sea-facing terrace on one side and an entrance courtyard on the other.
The master bedroom sits beside the living room and features a private bathroom and a walk-in dressing room.
Childrens’ rooms and guest bedrooms are positioned on the opposite side of the building and lead out to a second courtyard.
A separate outbuilding sits off to one side, accommodating solar panels, water tanks, sewage treatment and recycling facilities.
Here’s a project description from Nicolás Lipthay Allen:
Tunquen House
Quiet, peaceful and with astonishing views of the Pacific Ocean, lies Tunquén, a group of a few hundred houses scattered over hills, cliffs and shore, overlooking the rugged Chilean coast, only an hour and a half away from the capital city Santiago.
An enormous fair sanded beach – as well as beautiful small secluded ones – a protected wetland and the proximity to quaint fishing villages and the coastal town of Algarrobo, make Tunquén an ideal spot.
A variety of architectural styles are found in this area, ranging from charming wooden cabins to grand sophisticated concrete houses. Big and small, all share the tranquil and simple lifestyle that characterises this unique getaway location. The disconnection from mainstream civilisation makes Tunquen an eco-friendly self-sustainable community. All of the houses count with solar power, water tanks and individual sewage treatment systems, and recycling is an important concern of the neighbours.
Tunquen House, located 160 km from the city of Santiago, is on the first line of the waterfront on a cliff over 50 meters above sea level. The house sits on the oceanfront in a contemplative and respectful manner, as a frame for nature and the environment. It is defined as a single volume of white concrete which is divided into three areas.
The main area houses the living room, dining and kitchen, leaving at one end the master bedroom and its services, and at the other the bedrooms for children and guests. This way, the house can set two scales of use, the first is when the owners are at the house by themselves, and the second is when they are there with the kids or guests.
The climatic conditions of the area, dominated by a powerful south wind, conditioned the design. Attached to the living area is a courtyard that has multiple functions, the most important is to be outside sheltered from the wind, in connection with the view and the interior of the house. This same courtyard provides the access, an outdoor dining area and garden.
The structure of the house is made up of a “bracket” of reinforced concrete which along with the fireplace and the walls of the exterior courtyards shape the projected volume, the roof is based on beams and wood, giving texture and greater height to the spaces.
British architect Richard Overs has converted a deserted bakery in Cambridge, England, into a modern home for his family (+ slideshow).
Overs, a director at NRAP Architects, renovated both the bakery and a small accompanying house to create the two-storey residence called The Nook, then tied the two buildings together by adding a black-painted timber structure in between.
The architect said the two separate structures lent themselves perfectly to the arrangement of a home: “The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.”
Accessed via a private lane, the house’s facade is a wall made from a combination of light and dark bricks. An entrance leads through the wall into the new wooden structure, which contains a lobby and staircase.
The hallway leads through to the large room formerly used as bakery. With high ceilings and white-painted wooden trusses, the space creates a flexible living, dining and kitchen space.
A wall of glazing opens the kitchen out to a secluded courtyard located behind the facade, while a series of glass doors also lead out to a second courtyard at the rear.
Skylights bring additional daylight into the living space, while floors are covered with painted plywood boards. The kitchen worktops are salvaged from the architect’s previous kitchen.
“Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed,” explained Overs.
The hallway features a wall of exposed clay bricks, revealing the former facade of the small detached house, which contains a pair of bedrooms on each floor.
Here’s a project description from architect Richard Owers:
From Bakehouse to our House
Richard Owers, director of NRAP Architects, describes the process of converting a disused bakery in Cambridge into a home for his family.
The Nook …….. is where the hearth is!
“Converting The Nook was an important moment in my architectural career, the significance of which was increased by the death of my father the previous year. He had inspired me at a very early age to become an architect and throughout my career suggested it was important to live in ones own creation. Finally firing up the hearth at The Nook was therefore rather poignant.”
Rescue Operation
“An often overlooked challenge for architects interested in sustainability is how to adapt existing buildings in a creative and cost effective manner. This project demonstrates how a building with little apparent architectural value can be rescued through good design. It also illustrates that demanding physical and budgetary constraints require creative solutions, and that calculated risk-taking can overcome the difficulties of a cautious mortgage market.”
Dereliction
In October 2010 Richard Owers of NRAP Architects spotted a ramshackle bakery and detached house in south Cambridge. The bakery, more recently used as a launderette, was disused and boarded up. The baker’s house had been privately rented and was in very poor condition. The two buildings were stranded behind a parade of shops, within a sea of car parking, at the end of a tarmac drive. As a place to live it had little going for it – or that was the general perception.
The existing two-up-two-down house was entered off a forecourt, directly into a central room that doubled as entrance hall and dining room. A living room and kitchen were accessed off opposing corners of the dining room. The same pattern was repeated at first floor, with entry to the bathroom via a bedroom.
The Solution
A walled garden in front of the bakery provides privacy to the living spaces and definition to the forecourt. A black-stained, timber-clad structure was added to the house to link it to the bakery and provide a new entrance hall and staircase. The existing staircase was removed to provide storage space in bedrooms. A right of way, passing along the north edge of the bakery, presented a privacy and security problem that was overcome by blocking-up all but one of the existing openings on the north façade. In the remaining opening translucent glass replaces a timber door. Large windows in the south facade were introduced to re-orientate the living spaces to the back garden.
Expanding Space
In a tight urban context the balance between privacy, light, and views is hard won. An increased sense of space, achieved through large openings with strong connections to the outside, is often at odds with privacy requirements. The following images show how this was achieved.
Image showing the original bakery and detached house
Inside Outside
The walled garden has the feeling of a living room, carpeted in white pebbles with a planted edge and a Tibetan Cherry tree for shade. A large sliding-folding door allows the living spaces to extend into the garden, and the garden to extend into the living space.
Views through the building and of external spaces are carefully controlled. The walled garden is first glimpsed from the front doormat and again at the foot of the staircase. It is not until one enters the living space that uninterrupted views of both front and back gardens are possible. Natural light plays on the different materials and surfaces to create an ethereal atmosphere that changes throughout the day and with the seasons.
The space within the entrance hall expands vertically up to the first floor as you penetrate the building. A roof light above brings natural light into the heart of the space.
A compelling architectural diagram for contemporary living combines a compact arrangement of bedrooms with open-plan living spaces. The contrasting form and geometries of the two existing buildings lent itself perfectly to this arrangement. The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, divided by free-standing storage and island units, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.
The staircase is an exciting place to stop. In recognition of this we created an extended landing at the top, overlooking the entrance hall. The landing is large enough for a writing desk and chair.
Rescuing a dilapidated building is an intrinsically sustainable thing to do. Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed. The lintel over the original front door for example was reused above the fire place as a focus to the living space.
Brickwork to the original external wall of the house is exposed in the hallway, in contrast with the smooth plaster used elsewhere. Painted plywood, usually used as a sub-floor, has been laid directly on rigid insulation over the original concrete floor. Low energy florescent lights are discretely hidden behind a timber pelmet, and kitchen worktops and units were salvaged from my previous kitchen.
As soon as our offer on the property was accepted I commenced the design to enable a planning application to be lodged immediately after ‘exchange’ of contracts. A period of six weeks between exchange and completion was agreed, to parallel the statutory planning period and allow just enough time to prepare construction information. Unfortunately the council took three weeks to merely validate the application, so construction was commenced, at some risk, prior to receiving planning permission. The pressure of paying two mortgages made it essential to compress the construction program. A contract was negotiated with a local builder prepared to wait until we had re-mortgaged to get the majority of his money. Construction was completed in three months and the property re-mortgaged immediately after.
The clients asked Formwerkz Architects to extend a two-storey 1970s residence in Singapore’s Bukit Timah neighbourhood to give them a multigenerational family home, which is named the Extended House.
The architects designed a new wing at the rear of the plot with a contemporary geometric profile and a exposed concrete exterior that contrasts with the black-rendered plaster finish of the older building.
“From the beginning, we wanted to retain as much of the existing house [as possible], working around it and using it as part of the new narrative,” said studio co-founder Alan Tay. “It became a dichotomy of old and new, a story of a recent past and contemporary aspirations.”
As well as the new wing, which contains a dining room, kitchen and bedrooms, the architects added a lap pool along one edge of the site and extended the ground floor of the existing building to create a new lounge area.
This extension and a new balcony that projects from the facade of the black building are both finished in the board-formed concrete that creates a clear distinction between the old and new parts of the home.
The cantilevered section contains the master bedroom and extends out towards the pool, shading the decking and the dining room windows below.
An atrium built on the site of the original double-height dining room connects the two wings, while gaps on either side create courtyards sheltered by the long sections of the two main buildings.
The courtyard next to the pool is raised above the level of the decking around it and is bounded by a low concrete retaining wall that provides additional seating space.
A steel mesh bridge inside the atrium traverses the space between the old house and the extension, with concrete walls creating a sense of consistency with the external surfaces. The angled roofline of the original structure can be seen below the level of new windows installed when the atrium was constructed.
Photography is by Albert Lim.
Here’s some more information from Formwerkz Architects:
The Extended House
The house at the intersection of Linden Drive and Jalan Naga Sari in Singapore is built for a multi-generational family that entertains frequently. We retained the existing 2-storey post-war bungalow built in the seventies and added a new block at the rear and a lap pool along the side boundary. The new rear extension sits on higher ground than the pool with its upper volume cantilevering over the deck.
From the beginning, we wanted to retained as much of the existing house, working around it and use it as part of the new narrative. It became a dichotomy of old and new, a story of a recent past and contemporary aspirations. The dialogue between the old and new formed the framework for the design. Formally, the new addition is articulated in board-formed concrete volumes in contrast to the existing house in black rendered rough plaster.
The existing high ceiling dining hall is converted to a atrium that bridged the existing house with the new block at the rear. This is the heart of the project where it bridges both physically and spatially, the old house and the new extension.
On the upper floor, a wire mesh steel bridge negotiates the level difference between the existing house and the new extension. The H-shaped massing encloses two intimate courtyard spaces that together with the atrium are spaces of greatest tension between the old and new. The elevated courtyard that fronts the pool has a low concrete retaining wall that encircle it to serves as both barrier and outdoor seating.
This house near Madrid was designed by local firm Bojaus Arquitectura as a simple white cuboid punctuated by openings that create windows, porches and patios (+ slideshow).
Located in the Las Rozas municipality, the home is flanked by a road and neighbouring properties, so the clients asked Bojaus Arquitectura to prioritise privacy whilst providing light-filled internal and external spaces.
“The proximity of the houses that surround the plot led [us] to develop a system of voids, deep windows and patios which would allow these large openings without neglecting the equally important need of privacy,” said the architects.
Local planning regulations determined the position of the house within its plot as well as its exterior dimensions, which the architects optimised by creating a regular geometric volume.
Windows contained in voids punched into the walls are positioned to restrict views from outside, and in some cases are set back from the facade to further enhance privacy.
The building’s smooth surface is also interrupted by apertures that create outdoor spaces around the perimeter, as well as a small shaded terrace on the top floor.
A large space carved out of the ground floor at the rear of the property acts as a sheltered porch that connects the living space with the garden.
Internally, a void at the centre of the house creates a double-height room with a skylight and window providing views of the sky.
“The main space in H House is an interior patio which, apart from connecting the diverse levels by the stair, organises all the different rooms,” said the architects, describing the space that allows views between the house’s main living areas.
A staircase in this central void disappears through a doorway and leads to the upper floor containing the bedrooms and a series of patios.
The main patio is connected to the master bedroom by sliding doors and features a frosted glass window on the opposite side that lets daylight reach the staircase while obstructing views of the interior.
Practical spaces including bathrooms, closets, storage and toilets are arranged along the building’s northern edge, creating a thick and highly insulated wall that also supports structural beams so the interior walls can be arranged as desired.
Photography is by Joaquín Mosquera.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Casa H
House H is located in a typical suburban area near Madrid, where the houses in small individual plots are often too close to each other. In this situation the challenge was to combine certain degree of privacy with the desire of opening big windows and merging interior and exterior in a continuous space flood by natural light.
The proximity of the houses that surround the plot lead to develop a system of voids, deep windows and patios which would allow these large openings without neglecting the equally important need of privacy.
The volume is the result of the strict application of local urban regulations: maximum occupation, perimeter definition, alignments, maximum height… Then, we subtract the voids, porches and patios, to this maximum volume in order to accomplish the FAR (floor area ratio). The result is a pure simple prism (20x9x9 meters) drilled by big hollow voids which are connected generating and organising the interior space.
The main space in H House is an interior patio which, apart from connecting the diverse levels by the stair, organises all the different rooms. The small pieces, bathrooms, closets, storage, toilet… are aligned in the north facade, building a thick wall with a high level of isolation. At the same time this layout reduces the length of the main beams simplifying the structure of the house and assisting the free organisation of the principal spaces. All of them are related to each other visually through patios and voids, as it can be observed in the longitudinal section.
The program planned by the client was the typical on a traditional house of this characteristics. Nevertheless the conception of the different spaces demanded by the client and the relationship between them aspire to a freer layout where a more open and ambiguous functional scheme could be developed.
The structural layout defines a cross banded scheme of fixed dimensions where the main spaces, living, kitchen, main bedroom, studio, secondary bedrooms group… are equivalent and interchangeable depending on the user’s needs.
The three-fingered plan of this rural Californian retreat by Mork-Ulnes Architects is oriented to frame views of a mountain ridge, vineyards and a local landmark named Eagle Rock (+ slideshow).
Mork-Ulnes Architects, which has offices in California and Oslo, designed the Moose Road house as a simple getaway for two young couples, using low-cost engineered materials such as plywood and oriented strand board.
The house’s sprawling volume stretches out across its site like a splayed glove, setting up apertures towards the various landmarks whilst avoiding the roots of several nearby oak trees.
“The main challenge was to frame these three separate views while at the same time, preserving each existing oak tree on site,” explained architect and studio founder Casper Mork-Ulnes.
A solution the architect and team members Greg Ladigin and Andreas Tingulstad came up with was to raise the building off the ground on steel stilts. This also helped to frame the best views through the three floor-to-ceiling windows.
The outer skin of the house comprises a layer of steel siding. Interior walls are lined with birch plywood, while floors display the chipboard aesthetic of oriented strand board, which has been cleaned with a lye soap solution.
“To cut cost as well as meet sustainability goals of the clients, the building was designed using standard-sized, off-the-shelf sheet goods to minimise waste,” said Mork-Ulnes.
Entrance to the house is via a small porch that steps down to meet the ground. This leads through to an open-plan living room and kitchen that offers the view towards Eagle Rock – a rocky outcrop named after its resemblance to an eagle’s head.
Bedrooms are located within the two smaller wings and are screened behind self-contained toilet and closet units that are glazed at the top to allow light to filter through each space.
Furniture was added sparsely to prevent the interior feeling cramped, but includes a selection of burnt wood pieces by San Francisco artist Yvonne Mouser.
Here’s a project description from Mork-Ulnes Architects:
Moose Road
Three locally known land formations can be seen from the site of this project: “Eagle Rock”, a mountain ridge, and the valley of vineyards below. The main challenge was to frame these three separate views while at the same time, preserving each existing oak tree on site.
The three fingers extend precisely in between the existing trees, each oriented toward a land formation. The house was constructed on steel stilts to avoid severing tree roots. To cut cost as well as meet sustainability goals of the clients, the building was designed using standard sized, off-the-shelf sheet goods (unfinished plywood and OSB) to minimise waste. The building was accomplished with a tiny budget (by California standards) at under $190 per square foot.
Architecture firm – Mork-Ulnes Architects Project Design Team – Greg Ladigin, Casper Mork-Ulnes, Andreas Tingulstad Contractor – Crossgrain Co. Inc. Structural Engineer – Double-D Engineering
Site size: 16 acres Building size: 1,140 square feet Construction cost per square foot: $190
DMOA Architecten has transformed a former hunting lodge in Belgium into a family home, retaining the eight piers of its original brick facade as a garden feature (+ movie).
La Branche was first built in the eighteenth century on the site of a castle in the woods of Heverlee, Belgium. Originally a home, it later became a hunting lodge but was left vacant 15 years ago.
DMOA Architecten refurbished two brick blocks and created a new one-storey volume that links the two. The eight piers of the original facade, which gave its name to the property, were retained as a free-standing screen in front.
“When you walk through the house you feel continuously that you are in a nexus between old and new,” said Luis Querol of DMOA Architecten.
The new flat-roofed single-storey volume holds the living and dining areas. It has custom-made windows and timber cladding in black-tinted afzelia.
Cupboards are made of smoked oak veneer, the floor is natural oak, and the kitchen is a combination of brown Corian and smoked oak veneer.
The new addition makes a U-shaped plan, connecting with the two brick gabled buildings that sit at right angles to it to form a central courtyard.
The house is now home to a family with four children, whose bedrooms are within the brick-built wings.
Floors and walls in the master bathroom are painted black.
Photography by Thomas Janssens. Video is by Luis Querol.
Here’s a project description the architect sent us:
La Branche
The project is a peaceful combination of old and new. The new part is a sober black canvas looking at the garden from behind the old walls.
In several places remnant parts of the old walls are kept as garden elements, an aspect that strengthens the atmosphere. When you walk through the house you feel continuously that you are in a nexus between old and new.
The project consists of the renovation of an old resting place for hunters in the woods of Heverlee (Belgium), transforming it in an comfortable and modern dwelling for a family with four children.
One of the three wings of the U-compositions was removed except of the facade wall, which remains with the name that gave title to the old refuge and now to its renovation “La Branche”.
The sides made of brick contain the private rooms of the family meanwhile the dark volume accommodate the living and the kitchen in permanent connection with the pool and the outside garden. The dark colours of the interior design contrast with the high brightness that gets inside through the large windows.
Project Title: La Branche Architects: DMOA Architecten Collaborators: Benjamin Denef, Charlotte Gryspeerdt, Matthias Mattelaer; Lien Gesquiere Localization: Heverlee, Belgium Site area: 2200 sqm Floor area: 655 sqm
A metal-clad roof designed to reference local barns follows the stepped profile of this house in the American state of Arkansas by deMx architecture (+ slideshow).
Round Mountain House was designed by local office deMx architecture for a plot near the crown of a hill in the Ozark Mountains region of Arkansas, where it overlooks the surrounding rural landscape.
“Referencing local precedents, the Round Mountain House combines modernist ideals with vernacular strategies and a linear plan to integrate seamlessly into the Ozark landscape,” said the architects.
The galvanised steel roof structure wraps around the rear facade and rises over a second storey section at one end, before dropping back down to ground with two supporting columns.
Concrete foundation walls support a steel framework which is covered with structural insulated panels that form the walls and ceilings.
The property is separated into two sections, with the main part housing the living area, guest bedrooms, garage, and an outdoor breezeway.
The breezeway area comprises a sheltered outdoor space containing furniture for casual dining and a fireplace.
Bedrooms, bathrooms, closets and laundry rooms are contained in an adjoining structure tacked onto the rear of the house.
The roof structure rises at the western end of the building to accommodate the guest loft and creates a sheltered space below, which is occupied by a large balcony.
The overhanging loft space limits the amount of harsh western sunlight that enters the main living areas, which feature low windows on the north and high windows on the eastern walls.
Exposed I-beams in the living space are echoed by cantilevered joists, from which mosaic pendants above the kitchen island and a chandelier over the dining table are suspended.
Referencing local precedents, the Round Mountain House combines modernist ideals with vernacular strategies and a linear plan to integrate seamlessly into the Ozark landscape.
The form of the house is treated as two pieces. The “main frame” consists of primarily public spaces: the carport, outdoor breezeway, the guest loft, and main living area; the “lean-to” or “saddle bag” contains primarily private spaces: the bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and laundry.
The main frame is constructed of a steel frame on concrete foundation walls. To create the finished form, energy-efficient SIPS (Structurally Insulated Panel System) wrap around the steel frame and roof of both the main frame and the lean-to. In addition to the SIPS, the house uses other active and passive sustainable technologies. The main spaces contain low windows on the north and high windows on the east. These operable windows allow for passive cooling through cross ventilation.
The second floor loft space creates a covered balcony on the main floor. The balcony is located on the west side of the house and its overhang shelters the living space windows from the harsh western light.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
