This kinked house in Japan by architects Horibe Associates has all its storage space along one edge to buffer sounds from a noisy road (+ slideshow).
“This home sits on a road that gets a surprising amount of traffic given how narrow it is,” said Horibe Associates. “To minimise the noise from cars and to ensure privacy, [we] concentrated storage spaces along the side of the house facing the road and added a hallway as a further buffer shielding the main rooms.”
Designed for a couple and their child in Tokushima Prefecture, the wooden structure is clad in horizontal strips of dark metal.
The profile of the roof peaks at the kink, echoing the shapes of mountains in the distance.
At the back, rooms have large windows that look out over the cherry blossom trees in the expansive garden.
Bedrooms are located in the entrance wing, next to a opening that leads directly out to the back from the front door.
Combined kitchen, living and dining space at the end of the house opens out onto a pointy terrace, screened from the road by timber trellis that continues the line of the roof.
A timber lean-to sits at the other end of the house, stained the same colour as the wood front door.
Perforated metal screens conceal rooms and storage space in this Tel Aviv apartment by Israeli studio Paritzki & Liani Architects (+ slideshow).
Paritzki & Liani Architects lined two walls of the 110-square-metre flat with hinged translucent panels to hide away everything except the kitchen counter and a sofa.
“The idea was to thicken the existing walls with vertical perforated metal panels that may be opened and closed, forming a thick wall that contains functions of the habitat,” said the architects.
The walls open up to reveal kitchen units, the master bedroom and bathroom on one side of the main living space, and shelving along the other.
These spaces remain obscured until lights within are switched on and the glow emanates through the panels.
Larger windows are left unmasked, but smaller ones are consumed by the screens or covered with similar translucent blinds.
Doorways and corridors leading from the entrance and into the bedroom are lined with the same wood as the floor.
Positioned in front of the bedroom, the bathroom sits right up against the panels but is still separated from the living area by large sheets of glass.
Elliptical lights suspended at different heights look like hovering UFOs and are reflected in the shiny ceiling.
A walk-in wardrobe is located completely out of view behind the kitchen and an L-shaped balcony faces west to look out over the city’s skyline.
In an anonymous high-rise building, among many of those surrounding our skyline; we’ve decided to use the interior of this 110 sqm flat to elaborate, with simple elements, walls and lights, an experiment on the nature of perception.
The idea here is to thicken the existing walls with vertical perforated metal panels that may be open and closed; forming this way a thick wall that contains functions of the habitat (kitchen, closets, library, bathroom, storage). Above all, this wall is an optical device that transforms, depending on the type of light used, and modifies the height and depth of the space. In the light of day this thick perforated wall, composed of variable thicknesses, becomes a three dimensional veil that makes opalescent the different areas of the flat. Niches and deep spaces create visions of transitional forms.
In the dark we’ve drawn attention to a ritual passage, familiar to all of us, once we enter our home at night; the passage from darkness to illuminated space. Here we create a second view to the inhabitants. Our device adds new parts to the space, transforming itself into a remote architecture with new and profound windows: the vision exceeds the measurable borders of the flat.
The appearance of this new place vanishes once the lights are turned off.
Onion originally renovated the house at the Cha-Am Beach resort in Thailand to include cabinets for Be@rbrick ornamental bears and have now created a new exhibition area inside the garage for over seventy bears.
The studio designed an L-shaped cabinet that takes up two walls of the garage, made from matte white laminated plastic and fronted with glass. “Be@rbrick cabinet brings light to Bear Garage,” Onion said. “It somehow transforms the entire space.”
Faceted surfaces inside the cases extend outward to merge with the ceiling.
Down the longest side, the height of the display space decreases from the top and bottom, plus the figures are spaced closer together towards the garage door.
Paired with distorted black perspective lines across the sloping surfaces and progressively smaller shelves, the eye is tricked into thinking the bears increase in size.
Each bear design sits on its own shelf with room to be accompanied by smaller versions, individually illuminated by an LED spotlight.
Along the shorter wall, the bears are packed in tightly and shelves are spaced to accommodate different sized figurines.
Additional strip LEDs are hidden in and behind the ledges. A large window allows the display to be viewed from the living room.
In the longer part of the cabinet, Be@rbrick shelves are increasingly wider and further apart. Each shelf is individually customised. The first one, where Be@rbrick Detroit Metal City stands, has the same width as the 1000% Be@rbrick shoulder whereas the last shelf, where Daftpunk Be@rbrick is on display, is double that width. As an effect, the 1000% Be@rbricks queuing along on these shelves seem progressively smaller until its size is reduced by half at the corner of the space. The best viewpoint to perceive this is at the middle of the Garage where the cabinet elevation can be observed.
The shorter side of the L-shape cabinet is a much simpler shelving system. The objective is to display as many Be@rbrick figures as possible. They stand close to each other and in continuity along the racks. Seventy figures at least are on display in this limited space of 4.8 metres high. It works as a background when the cabinet is observed from the diagonal viewpoint.
What unites the two design solutions is the idea of shopfront. The entire Be@rbrick cabinet is bright and white as if the toy figures are in luxurious window displays. LED strip-down-lights and LED strip-up-lights illuminate the shorter part of the cabinet. If the shelves are for 1000% Be@rbrick the number of strip-down-light will be more than those for 100% Be@rbrick. This is to uniform the illumination. For the longer part, there are two lighting systems, namely LED strip-down-lights and LED spot-lights. The strip-lights are between the ceiling and the rear wall. They are partly hidden from sight and partly shown through the edge of ceiling slope. Spot-lights are placed in the black square boxes that are increasingly larger in scales and in gaps through out to the corner of the space. Each light bulb precisely spots on each 1000% Be@rbrick. Lighting systems emphasise the effect of perceptual distortion.
Materials play an important part in the design. They are the matte white laminated plastic sheet, black mortises and transparent glass. On the frontal plane, the vertical mortises of six-millimetre wide are gradually spread out. These lines are the foreground of the cabinet. On the rear wall, a perspective of a room is drawn by using three-millimetre wide mortises. These thin lines are the pattern of conceptual depth. They make the cabinet appears deeper much less than set a background for the distortion of Be@rbrick size. Glass walls that envelop the entire cabinet has no frame. They are perpendicular. Again, the perception of Be@rbrick reflections is distorted at the corner of the room. Be@rbrick toys seem to have their double images that are thiner or fatter than themselves.
Be@rbrick cabinet brings light to Bear Garage. It somehow transforms the entire space. Cabinet ceiling that folds in various angles give shades to the whole Garage ceiling. Its steep slope extends itself from the inside to the outside of the cabinet. This darker shade of grey leads the gaze to a brighter space, that is Be@rbrick window display. Bear Garage, in this light, is far from being a car storage.
A row of raw concrete gables give a zig-zagging profile to this summer house by Swedish studio Tham & Videgård Arkitekter on an island in the Stockholm archipelago (+ slideshow).
Oriented towards the bay, the wide and shallow house was designed by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter to stretch across its site like a line of boathouses, creating five pitched rooftops with varying proportions.
One of the middle gables comprises a glass canopy, sheltering a terrace that splits the building into two separate volumes. This space functions as the houses’s entrance and offers an aperture from the edge of the forest towards the seafront.
Rather than following the timber-clad aesthetic shared by many of the archipelago’s houses, architects Bolle Tham and Martin Videgård chose a plain concrete construction with seamless eaves and minimal detailing.
“The client’s desire for a maintenance-free house inspired us to search for a way to design the house as an integral part of nature, where the material’s weight and colour scale connects to the archipelago granite bedrock, rather than a light wooden cottage,” they explained.
The concrete was cast against plywood boards, giving a subtle grain texture to the surface. This is complemented by ash window frames and wooden furniture.
The largest of the two volumes accommodates a living and dining room that spans three of the gables.
Wooden doors slide open to reveal additional rooms behind, including three bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. Ceilings inside some of the rooms are shaped into gables, extended from the main roofline, and many feature opening skylights.
The smaller second volumes contains a guest bedroom and bathroom, with an outdoor swimming pool just beyond. There’s also a concrete sauna located closer to the coastline.
Here’s a project description from Tham & Videgård Arkitekter:
Summerhouse Lagnö
The setting is the Stockholm archipelago, natural ground sloping gently down to the sea in the south, mostly open with a few trees and bushes. Unlike other projects we worked on located on more isolated islands in the archipelago without car access from the mainland, this site was relatively easy to reach also with heavy transports. This, together with the client’s desire for a maintenance-free house inspired us to search for a way to design the house as an integral part of nature, where the material’s weight and colour scale connects to the archipelago granite bedrock, rather than a light wooden cottage. The two building volumes are placed side by side and form a line that clarifies their position in the landscape, just at the border where the forest opens up out onto the bay. When approached from the north, the entrance presents itself as an opening between the buildings giving direction towards the light and water. It is a first outdoor space protected from rain by a pitched canopy of glass.
The exterior character of the house is derived from a number of transverse gable roofs, which connect to each other, and like boathouses in a line form a pleated long facade. This provides a sequence of varied room heights for the interior and create places in the otherwise completely open living room that stretches through the entire length of the main building. With a relatively shallow room depth and a continuous sliding glass partition out to the terrace, the space can be described as a niche in relation to the archipelago landscape outside. The small rooms are located along the north façade with access through a wall of sliding doors. They are lit by openable skylights and form smaller pitched ceiling spaces within the main roof volume.
Terrace, interior floors and facades are made of exposed natural coloured in situ cast concrete with plywood formwork. The interior is painted white with woodworks in ash. A sauna, a detached block of in situ cast concrete with a wooden interior, offers a secluded place near the beach and pier.
Two blocks face each other across the forecourt of this symmetrical housing development in São Paulo by local firm Corsi Hirano Arquitetos (+ slideshow).
Situated in the outskirts of the city, Corsi Hirano Arquitetos split the eight social housing units into a pair of blocks either side of a large paved driveway where residents are encouraged to congregate.
The line of the roof extends out over the extruded glass-fronted boxes that house the staircases, creating shelters over the entrances. Half the residences have these stairs at the front and half have them at the rear.
Each home has an open-plan living space on the ground floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, plus a small garden and an extra shower room out the back.
Wooden shutters, window and door frames break up the all-white surfaces.
Street-facing end walls of each block are detailed with vertical grooves and separated from the fence by a thin window, so that they appear to float above it.
The development is secured by grated metal gates that slide across the front of the drive.
Corsi Hirano Arquitetos sent us this project description:
The AV Houses bases itself in the valuation of the public space through an architectural commitment with collective sense possible of being expressed from the private property.
The void originated by the built elements provides the appearance of a new place, opposed to main preconceived occupations of independent parallel properties that establish no relations in itself or with public space.
Its strategy groups eight housing units in two blocks by which remaining areas delimit an intermediate space that becomes its main premise.
Contemplating the necessity for the largest site occupation ratio and preserving the internal areas demanded for each unity, the articulation of constructed and non-constructed limits configures the collective central patio of great proportions considering the site dimensions.
A modest architectonical complex but representative of an essence of space that consists in a social opportunity: architecture as a city generator and venue for its inhabitants.
Small windows scattered across the facade of this house extension outside Melbourne by Australian practice Wolveridge Architects limit the amount of direct sunlight entering the building (+ slideshow).
Wolveridge Architects designed the extension to provide additional bedrooms for the owners’ three young sons, who are now housed above a large garage.
The architects say that the composition of openings in the facade “is designed to restrict the inflow of undesirable west sun and provides a suitable level of visual engagement with the street.”
Anodised aluminium window frames contrast with the dark stained western red cedar cladding that covers the new addition and maintains the house’s existing material palette.
Inside the bedrooms, the windows are integrated into a geometric arrangement of cabinetry that creates storage and seating.
The extension also incorporates a new living area that is separated from the bedrooms by a large shaded terrace with views of the nearby forest.
This extension to an existing two storey dwelling provides essential additional living areas for a family with three young boys. The original structure made very little connection with the surrounding property and had deficiencies in access to northern light.
By bringing the façade dramatically forward towards the street it was possible to incorporate the three required bedrooms above a large garage on street level.
To separate the bedrooms from the new living area a north facing courtyard was introduced which also provides a terrific outlook towards the surrounding Moonah forest.
The block type form established from bringing the front of the dwelling forward and its western orientation influenced a design decision to create a complex series of openings in the façade, allowing for plenty of natural light to the children’s bedrooms within.
The composition of openings is designed to restrict the inflow of undesirable west sun and provides a suitable level of visual engagement with the street.
The cabinetry design integrates with the complex window arrangement on the outside, creating a playful sense within each bedroom.
The existing palette of dark stained western red cedar cladding and anodised aluminium window frames was carried through in the new work, integrating the original structure within the proposed design, but still providing a sense of separation.
Project name: Blairgowrie House Date of construction completion: 25/08/12 Project team: Jerry Wolveridge, Sina Petzold, Ricky Booth, David Anthony Builder and Construction Manager: Tim Prebble Structural/Civil Engineer: Don Moore & Associates Building Surveyor: Nepean Building Permits
Terracotta tiles resembling brickwork cover parts of this house extension in Dublin by Irish practice GKMP Architects (+ slideshow).
GKMP Architects removed the rear wall of the 1950s semi-detached house at ground level so the kitchen and dining area could be extended into the garden.
The extension was constructed from blockwork before white render and the decorative tiles were added.
The faceted shape of the new structure results in a series of angular interior spaces, while lower walls separate a patio from the garden.
“The angled walls create deep thresholds between inside and outside and make niches for benches,” the architects said.
A layer of sedum covers the roof of the new addition, making it appear to blend in with the garden beyond when viewed from the upper floor.
The project involves the refurbishment and extension of a 1950s semi-detached house in Glenageary, Dublin, Ireland.
The ground floor rear wall is removed to open the house to the south-facing garden. A series of cranked and faceted walls are made that enclose a new dining area and associated external terraces. The angled walls create deep thresholds between inside and outside and make niches for benches. They are made from blockwork and are faced in render and terracotta tiles.
The timber roof of the extension is covered in sedum to have a visual connection with the garden when viewed from the upper floor. A rooflight is made at the point of connection between the new and the existing to pull light into the plan.
GKMP Architects is a practice that designs high quality modern architecture. We place a strong emphasis on the careful and inventive use of materials, the qualities of light and the relationship between the building and its context. We consider these issues to be more important than working in a particular style and hope that each project will be a creative interpretation of the client, site, brief and budget.
Grace Keeley and Michael Pike graduated from UCD in 1998 and established GKMP Architects in Barcelona in 2003 before relocating to Dublin in 2004. The practice has designed a number of high quality housing and public space projects. We have received a number of awards including First Prize in the recent Docomomo Central Bank Competition. Our work has been published internationally and has also been included in a number of exhibitions, including the ‘Rebuilding the Republic: New Irish Architecture 2000-10 Exhibition’ in Leuven, Belgium in May 2011.
This timber and concrete beach house in Victoria by Australian firm Wolveridge Architects conceals all its windows behind louvred shutters and has courtyards tucked into its sides (+ slideshow).
Torquay House was designed by Wolveridge Architects to protect its inhabitants from the extreme weather conditions of its seaside location, creating indoor and outdoor spaces that are screened from powerful winds.
“In coastal conditions buildings must be robust and defy the elements, yet create protective spaces, both internal and external, which allow the occupants to feel safe and comfortable,” said the architects.
The volume of the building is divided into three connected blocks. The first and second have two storeys and feature windowless concrete sides, while the third is a single-storey volume clad entirely with timber.
The small courtyards are slotted into the recesses between blocks and are overlooked by most of the house’s windows, which are generally directed to face north and south.
“It is the private spaces created in between that allow natural ventilation and light, intimate outlooks, and privacy for the occupants – a place to call home,” said the team.
One of the courtyards contains the entrance to the house, while another is dedicated to barbecues.
A combined living and dining room occupies the single-storey rear block and opens out to a swimming pool beyond.
Three bedrooms are located on the upper floor and each have their own private bathroom.
Read on for a description from Wolveridge Architects:
Torquay House
This project attempts to challenge our traditional notions of how buildings can exist both in a coastal environment and in this case also the context of an emerging built form and character. In coastal conditions, buildings must be robust and defy the elements, yet create protective spaces, both internal and external which for us allow the occupants to feel safe, comfortable, privacy and enjoyment of good times.
Whether the occupants are full-time residents or weekenders, the beach house is a place to look forward to arriving, whether in the heat of the summer or the winter’s cold.
With excellent views to the north and south and a conscious motivation to avoid the east/west outlooks, this project evolved as a series of interconnected and robustly finished containers. Each prescribed to a rigid set of rules and the relationship and spaces between containers becoming essential to the program and to the life of the building.
The robust mass of the buildings is intended to be offset by the expression of finely considered detail and proportion. It is the private spaces created in between that allow natural ventilation and light, intimate outlooks, and privacy for the occupants, a place to call home.
Project Name: Torquay House Date of construction completion: 19/04/2012 Building Type: Residential – House
Architect: Wolveridge Architects Practice Team: Jerry Wolveridge, Sina Petzold, Tjeerd van der Vliet, Courtney Gibbs Builder and Construction Manager: John Walker Master Builders Structural/Civil Engineer: Don Moore & Associates Landscape Consultant: Heather Vincent Landscapes Cost Consultant: VPL Builders Services Building Surveyor: Nepean Building Permits
The roof of this house in Paraguay can be lifted open like the lid of a box (+ movie).
Located in the countryside outside capital city Asunción, the house was designed by Paraguayan architect Javier Corvalán as the holiday home of a film-maker.
The owners are often away for long periods of time, so Corvalán was asked to create a building that could transform between a comfortable residence and a hermetically sealed box.
The base of the two-storey house is surrounded by walls of locally sourced sandstone, which support the concrete floor slab and galvanised-steel structure of the level above.
To raise the roof of the house residents simple wind a manual winch, causing the rectilinear structure to tilt open and reveal the kitchen and living room housed inside.
When closed, a pinhole allows the windowless space to function as a camera obscura, projecting an upside-down image of the surroundings onto the MDF panels that line the interior walls.
The bottom floor houses a bedroom and bathroom. Mezzanine glazing wraps around the edges of this space, creating a visual separation between the two floors.
Concrete tiles cover the floor, while the staircase leading upstairs is constructed from cantilevered stone blocks.
The arced profile of this charred wooden house by architects Horibe Associates is designed to resonate with the traditional temples and shrines of Yoshinogawa, Japan (+ slideshow).
Horibe Associates chose the bowed shape and dark external materials to help House in Kamoshima to integrate with the forms and colours of the local architecture and landscape.
“With its simple arced shape echoing the shape of the property and its charred cedar exterior similar to that found throughout the neighbourhood, this residence blends seamlessly into its surroundings of peaceful rice fields, temples and shrines,” said the architects.
Charred cedar cladding cloaks the curving wall at the front of the timber-framed property.
This plain facade is only interrupted by a doorway to one side and a small rectangular window in the middle, which looks into a bright central courtyard.
The courtyard features stepped wood decking and can be accessed via patio doors from the main bedroom, the combined kitchen and living area, and a spare room.
“The layout allows the residents to keep an eye on their small children no matter where in the house they are,” the architects said.
The back of the building opens up to extra garden space through more large glass doors from the kitchen and tatami room.
Most of the accommodation is on the ground floor, though a small staircase leads up to a roof terrace concealed behind the top of the curved facade.
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