Hasta La Ideas

Tokyo studio International Royal Architecture designed this seaside house with the “form of a pure white arrow”.

The exterior of ISM house is completely wrapped in waterproof fiberglass-reinforced polymer.

Large double doors in both sides open a tunnel through the middle of the building with rooms either side screened by sliding glass doors.

A mezzanine bridges the gap and creates an airy upper level under the roof, uninterrupted by columns.

Glazing under the eaves bounces daylight around the upper level and spills light onto the porch and yard on each side at night.

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Royal Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

London architects Liddicoat & Goldhill added an extension to a south London home with an oak-screened staircase and double-height windows.

The 1930s house was originally built on sloping ground, which left the living spaces at the back hanging one storey over the garden.

The architects came up with an extension in the style of an orangery, with double-height windows to draw light into the lower levels.

An oak staircase is bordered by a screen of vertical strips of oak which mirror the steel frames of the glazing.

A glass balustrade has been positioned on the other side of the stairs, allowing light to reach into the rooms behind.

An unusual double-height white door leads out to the back garden.

Projects by Liddicoat & Goldhill we’ve previously featured include another glazed extension to a period house in London as well as the architects’ own home which makes use of black bricks and white marble.

See all our stories about residential extensions »

Photographs are by Keith Collie.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

The family moved to their 1930s house in Southfields in 1989. Since then, they has gradually outgrown the house: in 2011 they asked Liddicoat & Goldhill to adapt it to theirs and their four teenage sons’ ever-evolving needs.

The original house, one of a collection built on a hill overlooking south London, apparently ignored the sloping ground on which it was built. Viewed from the street, it sits comfortably on the site. But at the rear, the living spaces hang one storey above the mature garden – they are left aloof and separate.

This disconnection was also felt inside: the large basement spaces were dimly lit and truncated from the upper parts of the house.

Liddicoat & Goldhill’s solution is conceived as an Orangery. By stripping away the lower part of the rear facade, the Architects created space for this new double-height extension, floating half-way between the ground floor and basement.

The Orangery acts as a lantern, gathering sunlight into the living spaces deep within the house.

The kitchen is afforded wide views over the verdant rear gardens, while the split levels allow for separate and private operation of each of the living spaces.

Slender steel-framed glazing gives the new structure a sense of fine fragility, while the handmade oak furniture, staircase and kitchen – designed specifically for the project by the architects – creates a continuity between the new spaces and the old.

Project Particulars:
Site: London, SW18
Architect: Liddicoat & Goldhill LLP
Main Contractor: Considerate Building
Structural Engineers: Fluid Structures
Completion date: March 2012
Extension floor area: 56m2
About Liddicoat & Goldhill

Architects David Liddicoat & Sophie Goldhill are focused on making. Their interest lies in the haptic and the imagined, the poetry of practical things. They work with humble materials in contested environments to create the unexpected.

Their work has been critically acclaimed and published and exhibited worldwide. Named as one of Wallpaper* Magazine’s ‘Future 30’ in 2009, they were longlisted for Young Architect of the Year Award in 2011.

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Liddicoat & Goldhill appeared first on Dezeen.

Budding novelists will lust after this writer’s hideaway in upstate New York designed by New York City architects Cooper Joseph Studio (+ slideshow).

The exterior is clad in black stained cedar to absorb sunlight during the cold winters, and a built-in ladder leads up to the roof.

The interior is sparsely furnished with custom-made pieces made from walnut, including a desk, a magazine table and even the sink in the bathroom.

See more dreamy places to work on Dezeen »

Photographs are by Elliott Kaufman.

Here’s some more information about the project:

Writer’s Studio
Ghent, New York

The writer’s studio is a place for one person to work, read and listen to music. Open vistas to a pond and fields are to one side, the other side is immersed in deep woods. The overall impression of the structure is deceivingly simple. Each façade is composed with distinct apertures specifically arranged to the light, the views and tailored, like a bespoke suit to his size and eye level. The inside is, uncluttered and elegant, unified by the use of walnut.

Design solution

Minimalist detailing, open glazed corners and transparency running the length of the structure challenge the simplicity of the “box”. Given harsh winters, the fireplace becomes the visual center, anchoring the asymmetrical composition with large, richly conceived hearth. On a structural level, the fireplace also anchors the large cantilevered corners to either side.

The studio volume is a small, rectilinear and restrained single-room space in the woods. The entire interior is immersed in walnut in varied ways. The rigid orthogonal geometry of the room is juxtaposed with dynamic sculptural designs of the furniture – a desk, a side table and two black leather armchairs. The sliding doors are walnut plank, the pantry counter is walnut, the floors are highly polished walnut, the sink in the bathroom is made of walnut as well as some of the wainscoting in the main room.

On the outside, cedar received a matte black stain, the same surface treatment for the flat broader, horizontal boards and the highly textured, thinner slats. Each was a precisely laid and mitered at the corner. Copper trim and scuppers set off the forms. The choice of using only wood framing was pragmatic, but it worked very well for even the large cantilevered roof sections over corner glass-to-glass windows at the north side of the building.

Energy and sustainability

Our strategy involves efficient equipment, passive heating and cooling, locally available materials and a wood-burning fireplace that uses wood fuel from trees on the property. The stone is black slate.

By locating the house in the deep deciduous woods, we are able to take advantage of the leaves as sun shading in the summer months. In the winter, when the trees lose their leaves, the building’s black exterior absorbs sunlight and with the fireplace, there is a reduction in fuel consumption.

Interior finishes:

The interior walls are a composition of walnut slats and white surfaces. A bookshelf, the kitchen and the window seat are all entirely of solid walnut allowing for uniformity of texture and color. The sliding door to the kitchen is walnut as well. As sunlight is filtered through the trees, the floor becomes a key surface, reflecting natural light with a warm hue. It’s high polish balances nicely with the lower intensity sheen on the walls and horizontal surfaces.

The fireplace has a river stone surround (to code) set flush to the wood slats. Next to it is the wood storage area. The wood enters this alcove from behind, as there is a hidden door in the north façade of the building allowing the fire to be easily maintained without having to bring the wood through the front door.

Bathroom:

With a shower wall entirely in glass and a ceiling-mounted “rain” fixture, it feels like being outdoors. Its drains are all hidden so that there is virtually no reading of the shower except when in use. The same slats continue in the bathroom on the entire entry wall and elsewhere above the local black slate. We designed the bathroom sink in walnut as well. Here we used solid stock with channels cut to carry the water to a trench drain cut into the wall. The channels are sloped. They are closer together near the faucet and further apart to the edges there providing more surface for a cake of soap or glass.

Furniture:

As there are very few objects within the space, it was critical that their design and materiality work well with the minimal interior finishes. Again, for the desk and table we turned to walnut for its warmth, strength and texture.

The desk is located on axis with a fireplace with views around it north to a pond and fields beyond, but it has an asymmetric relationship to the elements of the room. Technically, it was an achievement to make a large, heavy, wood top cantilever and its sculptural form makes this possible. In this way, when you enter the room, there is no visible structure and the plane of the surface floats freely. Below, on the backside there is a shelf (with hidden pencil drawer) for the printer. The electric connection is under the open base, and only a small slot for the cord disturbs the desk surface. The “scholar stone” sits above this slot.

The magazine table echoes the form of the desk nearby but with a ribbed construction that relates to the slatted walls in the room. Once more, the triangulated geometry sets it apart from the architecture. Each rib differs in configuration from its neighbor so that viewed in one direction it emphasizes the angular surfaces and from the other the surfaces blend to appear as solid planes. It’s a bit of an optical illusion due to the precise geometry. The form holds the books or newspaper on the open shelf against the lounge chair so that the room still appears free of clutter.

Project Name: Writer’s Studio
Location: Ghent, NY 12075
Completion date: Fall 2007
Size: 525 sq ft
Project Team: Wendy Evans Joseph, FAIA – Principal in charge
Thruston Pettus- Project Manager
Farzana Gandhi
Jonathan Lee
Landscape Architect: Peter Rolland
General Contractor: Romanchuk and Sons
Project Scope: One room building with bathroom, pantry, fireplace. Cantilevered glass corners.
Project Materials: Exterior: cedar siding, stained matte black. Interior: walnut, local grey slate, riverstone.

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Cooper Joseph Studio appeared first on Dezeen.

Rather than erasing all trace of this Kyoto townhouse’s previous owners, Japanese architects Q-Architecture Laboratory preserved the earlier haphazard extensions as a timeline of the building’s history.

Timeline Machiya is a traditional Kyoto townhouse, called a Kyo-machiya. Originally built in around 1935, it had been empty for the past decade.

An L-shaped extension was added to the house in between 1965 and 1980, but rather than remove this later addition, the architects chose to rehabilitate it for modern use.

On the ground floor, rooms are now arranged around the raised wood-panelled tatami room, which is traditionally used for tea ceremonies.

A new kitchen has been installed along the corridor linking the hall to the family area.

The ground floor bathroom has been extended and panelled in wood.

Stairs lead up from the hall to a desk area, children’s bedroom and master bedroom.

A ladder reaches up into the attic, where the original roof beams are exposed and a rooflight has been added.

See all our stories about Japanese houses »

Photographs are by Kai Nakamura Photography.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

This is a combined restoration/remodel of an old Kyo-machiya (Kyoto-style traditional urban dwelling) in north Kyoto city. It was built circa 1935 and had been empty for the last ten years. It is composed of the original structure (omoya) and a first-floor extension to the south and west sides circa 1965-80.

The floor plan and the finishing materials changed significantly through a series of haphazard modifications. However, there also existed some attractive elements that effectively captured the “timeline” of the house as it passed through this series of renovations.

In particular, the L-shaped addition created a novel linkage between the omoya and garden which would rarely be seen in a newly-built house.

The clients lived in San Francisco for 15 years prior to moving to Kyoto. From the onset, they had a clear demand (unusual for Japanese) for a home that combined authentic and aesthetically rewarding old elements with simple, undisruptive new ones.

In light of these demands, an approach to the project was developed: to re-realise these impromptu renovations and effectively incorporate them into a “next life” for the structure.

In summary:
1. reinforcement/repair of damaged portions,
2. capturing the feeling of an accumulated timeline,
3. sunken floor (doma) transition from omoya to outside/garden, and
4. utilising the extension area for daily living (e.g., kitchen, dining)

There exist two typical approaches to remodeling Kyo-machiya. One is to preserve only the basic structure (or shell) and modernise the interior. The second is to regard the structure as a traditional “artifact” and restore it to its original state.

Although I don’t intend to rate these two approaches, both share the perspective of focusing on one point in time (the present or the origin), and not considering the passage of time running through the home.

Many Kyo-machiya built in the early 20th century have undergone numerous renovations over the years, and these events are generally not acknowledged in the new design.

Unadmirable remodelings are often encountered, but they are indeed a part of the accumulated architectural history. I wonder if we can gently accept this timeline as valid, and “layer on” a new life rather than wiping an old one away.

Above: the house in 1935

“Timeline Machiya” was named by the client to represent the passing of time, both of the structure itself, but also of the project, from the initial consulting through to the construction and finishing.

Above: the house circa 1950

This secondary timeline was also deemed important, as a variety of design changes were made as the project progressed and the evolving structure revealed new approaches and ideas.

Above: the house circa 1965

Above: the house circa 1980

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Q-Architecture Laboratory appeared first on Dezeen.

Steps built into the kitchen counter lead up to a suspended staircase in this Melbourne house by Australian architects Edwards Moore.

The open-plan living area on the ground floor is dominated by the angular red kitchen island.

Five steps in one side of it link up with the staircase, which hangs down from the first floor and is encased in yellow walls.

Upstairs, extensive storage is provided by a corridor of wooden wardrobes painted yellow and black.

The master bedroom and ensuite bathroom can be screened off with a sliding door.

A bath made from eucalyptus wood provides an unusual focal point in the bedroom.

A sink and shower room are concealed in the area behind the bath.

Other Melbourne projects by Edwards Moore we’ve featured on Dezeen include an art studio in a car park and an apartment fitted with chipboard furniture.

See all our stories about Edwards Moore »
See all our stories about Australian houses »
See our new Pinterest board of staircases »

Photographs are by Fraser Marsden.

Here’s some more text from the architects:

The renovation of an existing suburban house into a new home for our most colourful clients to date. A playful and vibrant insertion of elements within the newly created open plan space creates a seamless connection between levels, and a gentle transition between the functions for living.

Click above for larger image

The use of carefully sited geometries created the path of travel and necessary separations without the need for doors or corridors. Each element is made from a striking material and colour palette, intended to support the development of the occupants’ ongoing stylistic expression.

Click above for larger image

Downstairs, the new open plan living area is defined by the oversized Marblo island bench and suspended staircase.

Click above for larger image

Upstairs, the wardrobes create a generous entrance to the master bedroom, the black satin stained blackbutt wood lining contrasting with the vivid yellow lining of the stairs, which seamlessly wraps up the wall to become the enclosure for the wardrobe.

Once in the master bedroom the custom made blackbutt wood bath becomes the focus of the room around which the en-suite is arranged. Various levels of privacy ensure the space remains expansive yet modest.

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by Edwards Moore appeared first on Dezeen.