Hasta La Ideas

This north London house extension by Lipton Plant Architects features a walk-on glass roof that can be accessed by climbing through a window (+ slideshow).

Local studio Lipton Plant Architects added a two-storey extension to the rear of the Victorian townhouse, transforming the kitchen into an open-plan living space and adding a small office and utility room.

The architects used blue slate bricks to build the new structure, contrasting against the original brown brickwork of the existing house.

“The extension has provided a wonderfully modern addition to a beautiful Victorian property and through the dark brick and subtle refined detail, has helped maintain much of the original character of this historic Islington building,” said Lipton Plant Architects.

“We decided to present our client with the blue brick as it was an appropriate material to use in relation to the host building and provided a contrasting natural colour match to the weathered yellow stock,” they added.

The upper and lower levels are separated into two distinct halves by a band of horizontal brickwork, usually referred to as a soldier course.

A small glazed office is positioned above the utility room and can be accessed from the house’s main staircase.

The roof terrace sits above the living room and can be accessed via a window leading out from one of two existing living rooms.

“Providing an abundance of light, the glass roof creates the connection between the upper and ground floor formal living room, and then a less formal dining and lounge space below,” said the architects.

Other London house extensions we’ve featured include an addition to a Chelsea townhouse, a narrow studio with a sloping roof, and a space where a wall of books folds around a staircase.

See more residential extensions »
See more architecture and design in London »

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Alwyne Place, Islington

Alwyne Place lies within the Canonbury Conservation Area in the heart of Islington, London. The property is a large semi detached, locally listed Victorian villa. The house is of an impressive scale located on a quiet tree-lined street.

Our clients fell in love with the building’s proportions and location. The building did however require extensive modernisation including the addition of a full width lower ground and part width upper ground floor extension.
The brief was simple, to bring light into the building and restore some of its former historic elegance.

Sitting a little wider than the average similar-sized property in Islington provided the opportunity to introduce large format, thin framed sliding doors across part of the new rear extension elevation. Located above the doors is a large walk-on glass roof with access from the upper ground floor. Providing an abundance of light, the glass roof creates the connection between the upper ground floor formal living room and the less formal dining and lounge space below.

The rear extension works for a number of reasons, the most visually obvious being the choice of material, the Staffordshire Slate Blue Smooth brick. We looked at a number of choices including render, which all too often stains and marks and timber, which would require regular maintenance and is prone to fade with time.

We decided to present our client with the blue brick as it was an appropriate material to use in relation to the host building and providing a contrasting natural colour match to the weathered yellow stock. The slate blue brick was chosen for its colour, crisp straight edges and smooth elevation, creating a strikingly beautiful addition to the property.

The elevation has been broken into distinct halves, the lower and the upper ground separated by a deep soldier course band. The upper floor office comprises a wrap of frameless glass to the wall and roof flanked by two monolithic brick walls framing the view to the landscaped garden beyond.

To the side, overlooking the roof terrace, sits a long thin window providing natural ventilation to the office. The continuous soldier course above the doors is formed from brick slips fixed to a GRP board fixed back to the structural steel. The underside of the lintel has been clad in the same brick concealing the lintel and reinforcing the overall affect. The brickwork has been sealed with linseed oil to provide further protection and lustre.

The extension has provided a wonderfully modern addition to a beautiful Victorian property and through the dark brick and subtle refined detail has helped retain much of the original character of this historic Islington building.

The post Alwyne Place by
Lipton Plant Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Following a series of stories about Spanish residences with tiled floors here’s a renovated early twentieth-century house in Barcelona featuring a mixture of old and new tiles.

Spanish studio 2260mm Architects designed the interior for a family, partially dismantling an old house in the neighbourhood of Gracia. The architects inserted an extra storey and added a tiled courtyard filled with potted plants to bring more light into the ground floor.

Most of the decorative tiles were retained and surrounded by new, grey tiles, forming the floors of two bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room and the hallways.

“The tiles are from the early twentieth century and were often used in houses and apartments in Barcelona,” architect Manel Casellas told Dezeen.

“Most of the tiles in the corridor and the bedrooms are located in the original place. In the living room and the kitchen we designed ‘carpets’ with some existing coloured tiles,” he added, explaining the arrangement.

Part of the roof had to be removed to add the new first floor, providing a bedroom and indoor balcony with wooden floorboards.

Wooden ceiling beams are left exposed on both floors, but are painted white on the first floor.

Other tiled Spanish apartments we’ve featured include one in Barcelona where floor tiles highlight seating areas, one in Toledo with green patterned ceramics and another in Barcelona with tiles that gradually change from green to red.

See more architecture in Barcelona »
See more architecture and interiors featuring tiles »

Photography is by Lluís Bernat.

Here’s a short description from the architects:

Casa, Barcelona

A renovation of a ground floor house of the early XX century in Barcelona, partly renovated a few years ago, with ceilings that hide a great height.

Although it was dark, its facades face to the street and the inner garden. The project partially disassemble the house and maintains structure and distribution: a new interior courtyard illuminates the ground floor and gives the kitchen some facade.

We added a floor into the existing volume and dismantled part of the roof, pulling some facade back and making a terrace for bedrooms.

We have used a dry construction system, with a new floor of wooden beams, OSB boards, wood fibre insulation and wooden floor. The new facade is isolated from the outside with wood fibreboard. We maintained pre-existing characteristics: interior woodwork and old tiles.

The post Casa by 2260mm
Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Local basalt stone mixed into the concrete used to construct this holiday home in India helps to connect it with its mountainous site (+ slideshow).

Mumbai firm SPASM Design Architects took its cue from the dark tones of the basalt which surrounds the site on a rocky hillside in the Maharashtra region.

“We chose to build the house as an accretion on this rocky basalt outcrop with the same inherent material transformed,” the architects said, explaining how they mixed water, sand, cement and granular basalt to cast the thick raw walls.

The use of robust concrete for the Khopoli House was dictated by the drastic climatic changes that the region experiences, which include high temperatures in the summer and heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, while natural stone was used for key details like flooring.

“Stone has been used in many forms, based on use, wear, grip, texture,” said the architects. “The dark, saturated black matt-ness conjures a cool sense of refuge and calm.”

The house perches on the edge of a cliff with views of the distant hills, which are framed by the walls on either side of a vertiginous projecting swimming pool.

A cantilevered concrete overhang marks the entrance to the house and creates a sheltered outdoor space with a suspended sofa.

The living and dining area is located in a void between the building’s two wings, with blinds enabling this space to be closed off when required.

The entrance hall and dark passages give the interior an intimate feel, while a stone-lined staircase leads to a guest bedroom and bathroom buried in the rocky hillside.

Other architectural projects that celebrate stone include an apartment block in Iran made from offcuts from a local stonecutting business and a house in England with a sliding stone wall.

Mumbai practice WE Design Studio has designed a coastal holiday home built on top of a basalt stone retaining wall with views of the Arabian Sea, while another Mumbai practice, Rajiv Saini + Associates, has created a single-storey house with a scooping cantilevered concrete roof.

See more stories about stone »
See more stories about India »

Here’s some more information from the architects:

The house cast in liquid stone

A second home on a rocky outcrop at the start of the western ghats (highlands), Khopoli, in Maharashtra, India. An area of high precipitation in the monsoons, and equal heat during the summers, the site changes remarkably from March to July, with the onset of the south westerly monsoons.

Basalt the local black rock of the region is what this site was about. We chose to build the house as an accretion on this rocky basalt outcrop with the same inherent material transformed. An outgrowth which was made of a mix of water, sand, cement and the granular basalt. Concrete finely honed to serve as refuge, to face the climatic changes that the site offered.

The house was conceived as a cast for human occupation, a refuge which trapped the views, the sun, the rain, the air, and became one with the cliff edge it stood on. Akin to the growth of a coral, the substance of the walls and roof dictate the experience of inhabiting the site.

Stone has been used in many forms, based on use, wear, grip, texture. The dark, saturated black matt-ness conjures a cool sense of refuge and calm.

Photographs cannot express the sense of weight when one approaches, or the sense of release at the edge of the pool at the far end of the open terrace, the feeling of burrowing deeper enroute, past the stacked stones, to the lower bedroom.

The house, a cast, an object for living, whatever you may call it, has transformed into a belvedere to minutely observe and sense the spectacle of nature, of shade as a retreat against the sharp tropical sun, the resurgence of life, a sudden BURST of green, when the hard pounding monsoon arrives, the waft of breezes filling the air with the fragrance of moist earth, the movement of stars across the very dark night skies.

To heighten the drama of the the site through what we build, without building a dramatic building!

Lead Architects: SPASM Design Architects
Design Team: Sangeeta Merchant, Mansoor Kudalkar, Gauri Satam, Lekha Gupta, Sanjeev Panjabi
Location: Khopoli, Maharashtra, India.
Contractors: IMPEX Engineers, Mumbai
Engineers: Rajeev Shah & Associates (structural)
Site Area: 19,950 sq.mts.
Total Built Area: 638 sq.mts.
Design Period: November 2009 – Oct 2010
Construction Period: May 2011 – May 2013
Photographs: Sebastian Zachariah, Denver, Tanmay, Gauri

The post Khopoli House by SPASM
Design Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Lisbon studio Aires Mateus used only reclaimed timber to construct this pair of waterfront cabins in Grândola, Portugal (+ slideshow).

Named Cabanas no Rio, which translates as cabins on the river, the two rustic structures offer a rural retreat for a pair of inhabitants.

One hut contains a living area, with a simple counter that can be used for preparing food, while the other accommodates a bedroom with a small toilet and sheltered outdoor shower.

Architects Aires Mateus used recycled wooden panels to build the walls, floors, roof and fittings of the two structures, leaving the material exposed both inside and out.

The edge of the roof sits flush with the walls, plus the wood is expected to change colour as it exposed to the weather.

“The wharf is medieval and assembled with wood,” said the architects, explaining their material choice. “Its identity is kept long beyond the material’s resistance, an identity that allows [it] to change, to replace, keeping all the values.”

With a combined area of just 26 square metres, the cabins were both built off-site and transported to the site on the back of a lorry.

Each was then hoisted into place, framing a small wooden deck that leads out onto a jetty.

The Aires Mateus brothers founded their studio in 1988. Past projects by the pair include the stone-clad Furnas Monitoring and Investigation Centre and the nursing home in Alcácer do Sal that was shortlisted for this year’s Mies van der Rohe Award. See more architecture by Aires Mateus »

Other micro homes completed recently include a holiday house in the shape of a cloud and a mobile home on the back of a tricycle. See more micro homes »

Photography is by Nelson Garrido.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Cabanas no Rio

The wharf is medieval and assembled with wood. Its identity is kept long beyond the material’s resistance. An identity that allows to change, to replace, keeping all the values.

The project develops two spaces: one to unwind with the support of a kitchen integrated in the same material of the walls; other as a sleeping area with a small bathroom and a shower. The construction is entirely finished in reused wood, subjected to the weather that will keep on changing it. The forms, highly archetypal, are designed by the incorporation of the functions in these minute areas, and by the varied inclination of the ceilings that tension the spaces according to their function.

Name of the project: Cabanas no Rio
Location: Comporta, Grândola, Portugal
Construction Surface: 26m²

Authors: Manuel e Francisco Aires Mateus
Coordination: Maria Rebelo Pinto
Collaborators: Luz Jiménez, David Carceller
Client: João Rodrigues

Structure: Cenário Perfeito
Electricity: Cenário Perfeito
Construtor: Cenário Perfeito

The post Cabanas no Rio
by Aires Mateus appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio Apollo Architects and Associates arranged the spaces of this tall, angular house in Tokyo to frame views of the nearby Skytree observation tower (+ slideshow).

Located on an irregularly shaped site at the end of a narrow street, the three-storey Alley house centres around a four-storey stair tower, leading residents to a roof terrace with a view across the city skyline.

Apollo Architects and Associates planned the residence for a family of four, adding bedrooms and bathrooms on the top and bottom floors, and sandwiching a large kitchen and dining room on the middle storey.

A split level creates a natural divide between the kitchen and family dining table, which is designed around a sunken space so that diners have to climb inside.

Large windows line this corner of the building to frame views of the 634-metre observation tower beyond. “People can relax while enjoying the gorgeous view of Tokyo Skytree,” explained architect Satoshi Kurosaki.

A metal staircase rises up through the tower to connect the floors. More windows bring sunlight into this stairwell, plus open treads allow it to spread through the building.

On the ground floor, sliding doors open a guest bedroom out to the entrance hall, creating a multi-purpose reception room.

“By sitting on the edge of the intermediate space, a sense of unity with the entrance hall can be felt, and this reminds us of good old Japanese houses,” said the architect.

A wooden frames gives the house its structure and is revealed by exposed ceiling beams on each floor.

The exterior is clad with galvanised steel and coloured brown to blend in with the surrounding buildings.

“The ceilings with exposed joists and the see-through stairs are lit up at night, and the exterior appears as a tower of light,” added Kurosaki.

Apollo Architects & Associates has offices in Japan and China. Recent projects by the studio include a house with a long white staircase at the entrance and a narrow residence with a glazed ground-floor gallery.

See more architecture by Apollo Architects & Associates »
See more houses in Japan »

Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.

Here’s a project description from Apollo Architects & Associates:

Alley House

A client for a house, of which I designed and supervised eight years ago, got married and bought a small lot near Tokyo Skytree, which is located in a place with a downtown atmosphere. Due to difficulty of construction within the small narrow site at the end of a narrow path, a wooden construction was chosen. Soft, dark brown galvanised steel exterior walls create a Japanese impression, and the house naturally blends into the old neighbourhood.

By using glass walls on the street side, indoor views include the surrounding environment. The ceilings with exposed joists and the see-through stairs are lit up at night, and the exterior appears as a tower of light. In addition to the large opening on the facade, the high window on the penthouse provides sufficient light to the interior, and these do not make one feel that the house is in a high density residential area.

Behind the large entrance earth floor, a small multipurpose space that can be used as a reception room was made. By sitting on the edge of the intermediate space, a sense of unity with the entrance hall can be felt, and this reminds us of good old Japanese houses. For the family room on the second floor, instead of chairs or a sofa, a hori-gotatsu (a sunken area for sitting around a built-in table) style table was designed where people can relax while enjoying the gorgeous view of Tokyo Skytree. A large U-shaped open kitchen allows the couple to cook authentic dishes together, and to welcome many guests. A step was made between the kitchen and the family room in order to add an accent and a rhythm to the small space, and indirect lighting creates an unusual impression. For the busy couple, the ‘small cosmos’ that enables them to be their natural selves is the exact ideal for their desired small house.

Location: Sumida ward, Tokyo
Structure: Timber
Scale: 3F
Typology: private housing
Completion: 2013.02
Lot area: 52.78 sqm

Builiding area 32.89 sqm
1F floor area 32.89 sqm
2F floor area 32.89 sqm
3F floor area 32.89 sqm
PH floor area 3.46 sqm
Total floor area 102.13 sqm

Structure engineers: Masaki Structure – Kenta Masaki
Facility engineers: Shimada Architects – Zenei Shimada
Construction: Kara Construction

The post Alley by Apollo Architects
& Associates appeared first on Dezeen.