Hasta La Ideas

The floors of this open-plan apartment in London by local studio Form Design Architecture are covered with timber boards salvaged from an old Welsh chapel (+ slideshow).

Named Bermondsey Warehouse Loft, the residence is located within an industrial building that was once used as a tin and zinc factory, but now houses offices and apartments.

Form Design Architecture, whose own offices are located on the building’s ground floor, was originally asked to make minor alterations to the apartment, but ended up refitting the entire space and creating a living space based on a New York loft-conversion.

As well as the pine floorboards, the interior features exposed brick walls that have been painted white.

“Having previously lived in New York, [the client] was keen for the apartment to feel more like a warehouse loft reflecting the industrial character and scale of the space,” said architect Mike Neale.

Existing partitions were removed and the space was loosely divided into different areas for sleeping, exercising, eating, relaxing and working, each with adjustable lighting.

An island of cupboards and surfaces forms the kitchen, while a sleeping area is concealed behind a sliding door.

“The client is actually someone who likes things to be quite organised, and we spent quite a lot of time with him to really work out how he would use the space, without actually physically dividing it up,” Neale told Dezeen. “Perhaps ‘zones without walls’ would describe it.”

“Obviously some of these elements are fixed, like the kitchen and the long desk across the end, but the remainder is intended to be flexible and adaptable,” Neale added.

Photography is by Charles Hosea, unless otherwise stated.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Bermondsey warehouse loft

Fully reconfigured open-plan loft apartment within a converted warehouse with flexible zones for dining, relaxing and exercise plus washing/dressing/utility spaces concealed within a ‘floating’ white acrylic solid surface-clad block.

Our client initially approached us to carry out some minor alterations to his apartment to better meet his needs. In discussion with him, the conclusion was reached that, having already had the apartment refitted once which did not work for him, the existing fit-out should be completely stripped out and a more radical approach adopted.

Detailed discussions established how the client wanted to use the space and identified elements of the original fit-out that were not needed, such as a second bedroom and bathroom, allowing a more relaxed, flexible live/work environment tailored specifically to his requirements.

Having previously lived in New York, he was keen for the apartment to feel more like a warehouse loft reflecting the industrial character and scale of the space, which the previous 2 fit-outs had lost beneath raised floors, lowered ceilings and partition walls.

Storage, bathroom and utility functions are contained within a sharply-detailed block which appears to be ‘parked’ in the corner of the now fully revealed 17m x 6m Loft. A similarly detailed linear counter block, supplemented by the adjacent fridge/freezer and ‘coffee larder’ concealed in the end of the main block, provides the cooking area.

Our client says that he sometimes wakes up in the morning and still cannot quite believe that he is living in his ideal apartment. On Open House weekend, having initially intended to go out for the day, he delighted so much in the reactions of visitors upon entering that he found himself enthusiastically explaining the apartment’s features.

With the exception of the unfinished Pitch Pine plank floor (not actually original, having been salvaged from a Welsh Chapel, but the type of flooring that the warehouse would originally have had), all surfaces and fittings including exposed brickwork are finished in white; the crisp machine-made quality of the HiMacs solid acrylic finished kitchen and service blocks setting them apart from the more hand-made and time-weathered surface textures of the original Industrial building.

Surface finishes within the service block are all in dark grey, accenting the idea of a fruit or jewel-case-like object with a smooth exterior skin contrasting with a darker, more sensual core. Removal of previous sub-divisions allows shafts of sunlight from the newly-exposed windows in the South and West walls to animate the space to supplement the softer light from the almost fully glazed North wall which faces the courtyard of the building.

At one end of the open Loft, a concealed sliding wall allows the sleeping area to be fully enclosed if required. At the other, a full width desk and shelf, also finished in white HiMacs, provide a work area for the photographer owner. The problem of trailing cables is removed by a continuous cable tray along the back of the desk, covered by lift up flaps.

Programmable latest-technology low energy LED lighting from Zumtobel and AlphaLED, controlled by a Lutron system, allows different settings for a range of activities (work / gym / cleaning / watching TV) at the touch of a button.

Project Team: Malcolm Crayton (director, FORM design architecture), Mike Neale (project architect, FORM design architecture)

The post Warehouse loft by Form Design Architecture
with floorboards salvaged from a chapel appeared first on Dezeen.

Three mature trees were rooted to the centre of this site in Western Australia, but architecture firm MORQ managed to convince the owners to build their family house around the peeling trunks and burgeoning foliage (+ slideshow).

Located south of Perth in the town of Margaret River, Karri Loop House was constructed around one large Karri tree and a pair of Marri trees – both of which are indigenous to this region of Australia – after MORQ came up with a design that prevented them needing to be chopped down.

The single-storey residence has an H-shaped plan that wraps around the trunks of the three trees and also frames a pair of irregularly shaped courtyards.

To avoid disturbing the delicate shallow roots, the architects raised the house off the ground by positioning it on hand-placed steel tripod footings, rather than digging pile foundations.

Dramatic double-height ceilings and large windows were then added to the living room and master bedroom to “celebrate the presence of the trees” by offering residents views of the leaves and branches overhead.

“These trees, their root systems and their unstable large branches presented a challenge to the build-ability of the house,” said the architects.

“We like to think of this project as a mutually beneficial development; the building is designed to retain the trees, while the trees visually contribute to the quality of the inner space,” they added.

A raised deck runs along the northern side of the house to create an outdoor seating area beneath the canopy of the Karri, while a sheltered triangular terrace at the end of the living room features a vertical window framing another view of the tree.

A rainwater harvesting system is built into the roof, which channels water through to an irrigation system feeding the tree roots.

Plywood clads the inner and outer walls of the house. On the outside, it has a roughly sawn surface coated with a layer of black paint, while interior surfaces have been sanded smooth to reveal the natural grain.

Wooden ceiling beams were left exposed in various rooms inside the building. Straw bales were also added to provide insulation, but are concealed within the walls.

Photography is by Peter Bennetts.

Here’s some more information from MORQ:

Karri Loop House

The mature trees located in the middle of the site (a Karri and two Marris) played an essential part in shaping our project. The first part of the design process was spent in investigating the requirements for retaining these trees, as well as convincing the clients of their unique presence on an otherwise anonymous site. With the support of a renowned arborist, the decision was finally made to keep the trees. As a result, the house sits in between the tree-trunks and its outline defines two open courtyards of irregular shape. These embrace the trees and the surrounding landscape, around which family life occurs.

A tall window in the dining area and a periscope-like skillion in the master bedroom, celebrate the presence of the trees from within the house, framing views of both foliage and peeling trunks. These trees, their root systems and their unstable large branches presented a challenge to the build-ability of the house. We like to think of this project as a mutually beneficial development: where the building is designed to retain the trees, while the trees visually contribute to the quality of the inner space.

To protect the integrity of the shallow root-system a matrix of steel tripod footings was used: each of them had to be dug by hand, and repositioned every time a root was encountered, resulting in an irregular structural grid. These footings also raise the house off the ground and give it a somewhat temporary look.

Any part of the house footprint overlapping the root system would result in an uneven rainwater supply to the roots, which could cause a shock to the trees. Rainwater collected on the roof is therefore taken under the house, channelled into a trickling irrigation pipes and then evenly fed to the tree roots.

Lightweight construction seemed the most appropriate response to the existing trees requirements, however straw-bales were chosen as a preferred form of insulation. This decision required all perimeter walls to be prefabricated as ladder-frames and later assembled on site. It also resulted in unusually thick perimeter walls, seldom employed in timber framed buildings.

The house was mainly constructed out of timber, whose grain and texture inform both interior and exterior spaces. Wall linings use different grades of plywood: rough sawn, painted black on the outside, and sanded, clear-treated on the inside. The floor and ceilings are also in clear-treated plywood. The roof structure is resolved with Laminated Veneer Lumber beams, which are left exposed on the inside of the ceiling.

Project typology: new house
Site: Margaret River, Western Australia
Floor area: 290 sqm
Year: 2013
Number of inhabitants: 2 adults + 3 children

The post Karri Loop House by MORQ folds around
three indigenous Australian trees appeared first on Dezeen.

Emerging Dutch firm Unknown Architects has renovated a 200-year-old house in Leiden by stripping back its interior, and inserting built-in furniture and a twisting white staircase (+ slideshow).

Daan Vulkers and Keimpke Zigterman of Unknown Architects were careful to restore some of the house’s character and spatial simplicity by removing non-original partitioned walls and suspended ceilings to create open-plan spaces on all three floors.

Wooden furniture elements were built on each level to accommodate seating areas, work surfaces and screens, while timber ceiling beams overhead were purposefully left uncovered to provide a contrast to the modern additions.

Keeping to their client’s preference that the kitchen was the hub of the home, the architects allowed it take over the entire middle floor.

Bleached nutwood was used here to build worktops and cupboards along the side wall, as well as a dining table with banquette seating and an adjoining dresser.

The ground floor can be used as an office, dining room or guest bedroom. Vulkers and Zigterman built a wooden platform at one end of the space, creating a raised seating and storage area that incorporates a fold-out guest bed.

A screen wall separates the staircase from a desk that cantilevers off one wall. It also contains recesses to provide extra storage.

The main bedroom occupies the loft and includes a new bamboo dresser.

Photography is by Raoul Kramer.

Read on for more text from Unknown Architects:

Unknown Architects completed the renovation of a 17th century house in the historic city centre of Leiden

Unknown Architects is established by two students, studying at the Technical University in Delft. During their studies they became curious about working with clients. As a part of the honours programme they started this project, where they tried to translate the ambitions and wishes of a client in a design proposal. This cooperation turned out so well that this client decided to commission Unknown Architects for their first project, which was completed in November 2012.

All the non-authentic parts of this monument, like partition walls and suspended ceilings, were removed to bring back the authentic character and spatial clarity. In this relatively small house three fixed multifunctional furniture elements were added.

The ground floor functions as office and second bedroom. One bamboo furniture element incorporates storage space and a platform, covering a guest bed which can be pulled out.

An important wish of the client was to make the kitchen “the heart of the house” where all activities could come together. This was translated in two kitchen elements, made out of bleached nutwood. The central element includes a table, kitchen dresser and a fixed bench that shields the stairwell andprovides the best sightlines to the outside.

On the second floor we added one small dresser made of bamboo shielding the stairwell and providing a place to sit under the dormer.

In this project, we worked with different carpenters who specialised in working with different materials. In order to create a varied experience when ascending through the apartment, we opted for a different choice of wood for the ground floor and the first floor. All the floors – rubber – and walls – fine clay stucco finish – have the same finish.

The uncovered ceilings are intentionally kept as we found them and form a contrast with the new.

Client: DoorZigt B.V.
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Program: renovation of house and office
Gross floor area: 75 m2
Project architects: Daan Vulkers, Keimpke Zigterman
Interior design: Unknown Architects
Contractor: Bouwbedrijf Degewij
Interior fit-out: Klaas Olthoff Keukenmakerij, Intopmaat

The post Unknown Architects updates 200-year-old house
with twisting staircase and wooden furniture appeared first on Dezeen.

This house by Japanese architect Shogo Aratani clambers over a steep rocky site in Hyogo, so it was named Krampon after the spiky devices that strap onto shoes to improve grip for climbing (+ slideshow).

Shogo Aratani designed the two-storey house for a site with an 11-metre change of level from front to back, so he divided the building into a series of blocks that stagger up to follow the slope of the hill.

“We decided to place volumes along the sloped ground to minimise excavation,” said the architect. “We designed the spatial sequence in relation to the landscape by placing three volumes along contour lines.”

The three rectilinear volumes fan out around a triangular central section that accommodates the houses’s main staircase, but which also functions as a small library. Books can be stored on shelves around the three edges of the space, as well as within the gaps between treads.

The living rooms are all positioned on the upper floor of the house to offer the best views of the surrounding neighbourhood, and open to a large wooden roof deck.

A skylight above the living room reveals the branches of a camphor tree and cherry tree at the top of the site, while the kitchen features a stainless steel countertop and glass doors leading out to a narrow balcony.

Black powder-coated metal panels clad the exterior walls. There’s also a concrete retaining wall framing a driveway at the lowest level of the site.

Photography is by Yutaka Kinumaki.

Here’s a project description from Shogo Aratani:

Krampon

This is a residential area where the magnificent nature still remains. The site is situated on a sloped land among natural forest. Two large trees with beautifully shaped branches (one is a camphor tree and the other a cherry tree) stand on top of the site. These trees are integrated into the residential design.

The entire site is steeply sloped, and the gap between the top and the bottom is as large as approximately 11 meters. And the ground composed of a rock bed is extremely hard. Considering these landscape conditions, we decided to place volumes along the sloped ground to minimise excavation.

In order to provide the best view, the main spaces are located on the top floor and the other interior spaces are connected along the slope down to the street level. We designed the spatial sequence in relation to the landscape by placing three volumes along contour lines.

The upper volume is placed right underneath the two large trees. A skylight is provided in the living room to see the trees above. The volume on the north is allocated for bathroom. The volume on the lower level contains private rooms on the first floor and a wood-decked terrace on the roof, accessible from the living room. We place stairs with the same inclination as the ground at the intersection of the three volumes. The stair space is used as a library, while the stairs are designed to accommodate a large number of books.

By designing the three volumes along the landscape, diverse activities are generated and one can enjoy unique spatial sequences as they are.

A sizeable volume of rock was excavated upon construction of the garage, and it is reused as exterior finish on pavements and steps along the entryway.

Location: Hyogo, Japan
Principal Use: House
Structure: timber frame
Site Area: 360.35 sqm
Building Area: 104.53 sqm
Total Floor Area: 136.65 sqm (84.05m2/1F, 52.60m2/2F)
Structural Engineer: S3 Associates Inc.
Construction: Amerikaya Co.,Ltd.

Material Information
Exterior Finish: Lap Siding / Oil Paint
Floor: Ash Flooring t18 / White Oil Paint
Wall: Plasterboard t12.5 / Emulsion Paint with Sand
Ceiling: Basswood Plywood t4

The post Krampon house by Shogo Aratani
climbs over a rocky site appeared first on Dezeen.

This six-sided wooden cabin by Estonian designer Jaanus Orgusaar has walls that zigzag up and down and two circular windows resembling fisheye camera lenses (+ slideshow).

Designer Jaanus Orgusaar based the wooden house, called Noa, on the shape of a rhombic dodecahedron – a convex polyhedron with twelve identical rhombic faces. This creates a modular structure that can be extended with extra rooms, but that also feels like a round space from inside.

“The floor plan of the house is a hexagon, the walls and roof are compiled of identical rhombuses, therefore it is easy to continue the structure in space by adding the next module,” Orgusaar said. “The house lacks acute angles, therefore giving an impression of a round space.”

The 25-square-metre house is located in Estonia,

can be easily assembled or taken apart, meaning it can be transported elsewhere if needed.

It is built entirely from wood and its exterior cladding boards were soaked with iron oxide to give them a grey, weathered appearance intended to help the cabin blend into its surroundings.

Insulated wooden boards cover the roof to keep the interior warm, and the base of the structure is raised up from the ground to prevent damp.

“The building stands on three feet, not needing a foundation on the ground and is therefore also more cold-resistant than a usual dwelling,” explained Orgusaar.

Walls inside the cabin are plastered walls and painted yellow, and the space is furnished with a small kitchen and a dining table and chairs.

A terrace can be attached and used as a dining area in warm weather.

Orgusaar built the first house as a summer cottage for his family, and plans to add two more modules. The design is also being manufactured by prefabricated building company Katus and will be available for sale soon.

Here’s a project description from Jaanus Orgusaar:

Aiamaja Noa

Noa is an easily mountable sustainable living space, adaptable to a variety of landscapes and environments. The advantage is that one can always add a module to extend the housing step by step, with each module, ones “saves” a wall.

It is an invention by Jaanus Orgusaar, an Estonian designer-inventor. He built the first one for his own family, and plans to add two more modules. One module is 25 square metres.

The small house was brought to life from the need for a practical, sustainable and economical living space which would be easily mountable compiled from identical elements. The base element is a specific rhombus. The base for the structure is the rhombic dodecahedron.

The rhombic dodecahedron can be used to tessellate three-dimensional space. It can be stacked to fill a space much like hexagons fill a plane. Some minerals such as garnet form a rhombic dodecahedral crystal habit. Honeybees use the geometry of rhombic dodecahedra to form honeycomb from a tessellation of cells each of which is a hexagonal prism capped with half a rhombic dodecahedron. The rhombic dodecahedron also appears in the unit cells of diamond and diamondoids.

While looking for the perfect structure that would fill the space without void, Jaanus chose this unique structure for it is stable standing on three feet, stiff and because it spreads the tension evenly, and offers a synergy in space apprehension, having almost sacral feeling to its round space.

Jaanus is an inventor diving into the very bases of geometry. Many of his creations starting from shoes and fashion, product design and now architecture takes its inspiration from the sacred geometry, the five platonic solids and their inter-relations.

The building stands on three feet, not needing a foundation on the ground, therefore also more cold resistant than a usual dwelling. The house lacks acute angles, therefore giving an impression of a round space. The floor plan of the house is a hexagon, walls and roof compiled of identical rhombuses, therefore it is easy to continue the structure in space by adding the next module.

This kind of structure is simple and economical, yet strong, offering a great, almost timeless, sacral space experience. The little house is currently in use as a summer cottage for the designer’s family, the insides continue without interruption to the summer terrace that is used as a dining area. The house is situated at the brink of a forest in the very vicinity of a 200 year old pine tree and fur tree, therefore guests from the forest, as owls and squirrels are commonplace.

Materials used are all sustainable- wooden construction, floor and outside boarding, even roof- covered with thermo boards. The walls are plastered with limestone paste and painted with cottage cheese paint. The outside wall boards are soaked with iron-oxide to make the house grey fitting into the surrounding nature almost inconspicuously.

The round windows frame the view to the open space of endless fields. In the dark the windows reflect the space so that it creates an illusion of additional rooms in the dark.

Noa widens the concept of space offering a different space experience.

Author: designer Jaanus Orgusaar
Producer of first prototype: Jaanus Orgusaar
Producer: Woodland Homes
Photos: Jaanus Orgusaar and Terje Ugandi

The post Six-sided modular cabin by Jaanus Orgusaar
with wooden walls and fisheye windows appeared first on Dezeen.