Hasta La Ideas

Seaweed pillows were used as cladding for this holiday house on the Danish island of Læsø by architecture studio Vandkunsten and non-profit organisation Realdania Byg (+ slideshow).

The Modern Seaweed House revisits the traditional construction method in Læsø, where for many centuries trees were scarce but seaweed has always been abundant on the beaches. At one stage there were hundreds of seaweed-clad houses on the island but now only around 20 remain, which prompted Realdania Byg to initiate a preservation project.

The team enlisted Vandkunsten to design a new house that combines the traditional material with twenty-first century construction techniques.

“Seaweed is at the same time very old and very ‘just-in-time’, because it is in many ways the ultimate sustainable material,” Realdania Byg’s Jørgen Søndermark told Dezeen.

“It reproduces itself every year in the sea, it comes ashore without any effort from humans, and it is dried on nearby fields by sun and wind,” he continued. “It insulates just as well as mineral insulation, it is non-toxic and fireproof, and it has an expected life of more than 150 years!”

Rather than just piling the seaweed onto the roof, the designers stuffed the material into netted bags and attached it in lengths across the timber-framed walls and roof of the house. More seaweed was enclosed in wooden cases to use as insulation behind the facade and beneath the floors.

“By using seaweed in the construction, we not only secure the continued supply of seaweed for use on the historic houses, we also reintroduce a material to the modern building industry which is CO2-reducing, environmentally friendly and sustainable in a broader sense,” said Søndermark.

The interior walls are lined with wooden boards, framing a series of rooms intended to house two families. A double-height living room and kitchen forms the centre, while bedrooms are located at the ends and in the loft.

“Our project has demonstrated that seaweed has remarkable acoustic properties,” added Søndermark. “This creates surprisingly comfortable rooms, while the ability to absorb and give off moisture contributes to regulate the indoor climate.”

As well as building the new seaweed house, Realdania Byg has restored the seaweed roof of Kaline’s House, a 150-year-old residence next to the site. The team hopes the two projects will inspire more seaweed architecture and restoration in Læsø.

“The seaweed houses on Læsø are physical testimony to the culture and the life that have characterised the building tradition on the island for centuries,” said Realdania Byg director Peter Cederfeld. “It is our hope that others will embrace the experiences from this project and develop the ideas even further.”

Seaweed has also been used in a few lighting designs recently, including for a series of laser-cut lampshades. See more stories about seaweed »

Photography is by Helene Høyer Mikkelsen and Realdania Byg.

Here’s a press release from Realdania Byg:

The cultural heritage of Læsø: A resource in sustainable building

On the small island of Læsø in Denmark, a several hundred-year-old building style has formed the basis on which a new holiday house has been built – the Modern Seaweed House. The house is designed by Vandkunsten firm of architects and developed by Realdania Byg as a holiday house built in wood, covered and insulated with seaweed. The Modern Seaweed House is carefully adapted into the landscape and has a wonderful interaction with nature, the historic buildings and Læsø’s unique cultural history. The Modern Seaweed House is now to be sold – but the ideas live on.

The Modern Seaweed House is part of the Realdania Byg project ‘Seaweed Houses on Læsø’ that also includes ‘Kaline’s House’ – a listed seaweed house from 1865, purchased and carefully restored by Realdania Byg in 2012. The seaweed houses on Læsø are an exceptional part of the cultural heritage of Denmark – and the world. Originally, several hundred of these seaweed houses were found all over Læsø while only approximately twenty remain today. The traditional seaweed houses were built using a timber frame construction with robust seaweed roofing – an abundant resource in the small and modest fishing community. ‘Kaline’s House’ is one of these houses.

The Modern Seaweed House is not a replica of the building style of the past but a development inspired by the architectural history of Læsø. In contrast to the historic houses, on which the seaweed is stacked high on the roof, the Modern Seaweed House is more contemporary and tight in its expression. The visible seaweed has been stuffed into bolsters made of knitted nets attached to the façade in lengths. At the same time, seaweed is used invisibly for insulating floors, walls and ceilings enclosed in wooden cassettes. These prefabricated building modules comprise the framework of the house.

A sustainable resource

When seaweed was used in the past as a building material it was due to the fact that seaweed was found just outside the door, it was free, had a long-term durability, was very effective as insulation, naturally protected against vermin and putrefaction, and, finally, there was lots of it. These very preconditions make seaweed of current interest as a building material, especially in the light of the present attention to the topic of sustainability. The Modern Seaweed House fulfils expected 2020 demands, and, thereby, will have extremely low energy consumption.

At the same time, LCA (life cycle analysis) calculations have shown that the house actually has a negative carbon footprint. The almost exclusive use of organic materials, including seaweed used as both insulation and roofing material, causes the amount of CO2 accumulated within the house to exceed that which has been emitted during the production and transportation of the building materials.

In a broader view

With the ‘Seaweed Houses on Læsø’ project, Realdania Byg wishes to focus on the unique tradition of Læsø using seaweed as a building material – both the immediate need to ensure the architecture of the past and the at least equally relevant need to develop the architecture in a sustainable approach. This way, seaweed is also ensured for restoring the historic houses.

Realdania Byg’s project to develop and preserve seaweed houses on Læsø is one among a variety of existing projects that aim to secure the survival of the distinctive seaweed roofs on Læsø. The initiative is carried out in unison with enthusiastic inhabitants of Læsø, other foundations as well as the Danish Agency for Culture who are all involved in the effort to save this rather exceptional part of the cultural heritage of Denmark – and the world.

The Modern Seaweed House has shown that eelgrass has a lot of qualities. Besides its excellent insulating property and long-term durability, which in itself offer a lot of potential, it has been discovered through practical application that seaweed has exceptional acoustic properties. This creates surprisingly comfortable rooms while the ability to absorb and give off moisture contributes to regulate a good indoor climate. The numerous qualities provide a wide range of applications in modern, sustainable building.

The post The Modern Seaweed House by
Vandkunsten and Realdania Byg appeared first on Dezeen.

A staircase doubles up as a bookcase inside this renovated apartment in Barcelona by Croatian architect Eva Cotman (+ slideshow).

Eva Cotman, who is based in Barcelona, re-planned the interior to accommodate a young couple, who requested a more open-plan layout.

“The project objective is to try to maximise the functionality of the space,” said Cotman, “but at the same time to not lose the identity of the neighbourhood and materiality of the existing building.”

The architect began by removing all non-loadbearing walls to create a large living and dining room along one side of the space, then added a new bedroom, bathroom and walk-in wardrobe at the back.

An old suspended ceiling was removed and then every surface was painted white – including the exposed brick walls and timber ceiling joists – to create a blank canvas for the new occupants.

The combined staircase and bookshelf is at the centre of the plan and leads up a new mezzanine guest room and storage area. This staircase also functions as an informal seating area.

For lighting, the architect used bright red cables to string bulbs around the ceiling joists.

We’ve featured several apartment renovations in Barcelona, including one with mosaic floors and one with furniture that folds out of the walls. See more architecture and interiors in Bacelona »

Photography is by Eva Cotman and Maria Ceballos.

Here’s a project description from Eva Cotman:

Raval Hideout

This project sets out to alter and improve an apartment situated in Raval, the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona. An area used to be known for its nightlife as well as the insecurity, El Raval has changed significantly in recent years, and has become one of the touristic attractions in the centre of the city. Today it is home to many bars, restaurants, museums and art galleries, making it a popular neighbourhood among young professionals and students alike.

The clients are a young couple with a very active social life, enjoying fully all the cultural activities that Raval offers. In defining the new use of space, in accordance with the client’s needs, much attention has been given to maximise the entering of daylight and the visual interrelationships between the different parts of the house, each with its own identity. The aim was to give the occupant various possibilities to move from one space to another, to create diversity inside the apartment as well as to enable the clients to enjoy the diversity of the neighbourhood where they live.

The project objective is to try to maximise the functionality of the space for the new and contemporary use by the owner, but at the same time not to lose the identity of the neighbourhood and materiality of the existing building. The economic aspect was an important part of the project – it had to be a low-cost project done in a relatively short-time execution.

The apartment was previously ‘cleaned’: the walls were cleaned from cast, the cast ceiling was removed and all non-loadbearing walls were removed. The apartment wooden ceilings, as well as brick walls, are painted white to be a blank base for the activities of its future occupants.

The heart of the house is around the library, which separates the dining room from the built-in closet and, at the same time, joins the kitchen, dining room and the living room; it is an all-in-one element: staircase, bookshelf, closet and bench. The staircase leads to the small gallery located on the top of the closet, and is a space with a guest bed. This gallery also helps to access the storage, which is located above the kitchen and the entrance area. It is a compact apartment with multifunctional elements to provide flexibility and adaptability to different needs, in other words, a ‘mini-space’ with a ‘maxi-functionality’.

Architect: Eva Cotman
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Project area: 40sqm
Project year: 2013
Constructor: Dolmen Reformes

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by Eva Cotman appeared first on Dezeen.

The southernmost tip of Scotland’s Isle of Skye is the setting for this small wooden house by local firm Dualchas Architects (+ slideshow).

The single-storey house was designed by Dualchas Architects as the holiday home for an English family, who have been visting the island for years and wanted a more permanent base.

Unlike the gabled buildings that typify the island’s architectural vernacular, the house has a rectilinear form with large windows and deep alcoves. Larch panels clad each elevation, arranged in horizontal stripes.

“The proportions, massing and siting of this house are derived from traditional forms,” say the architects, explaining how the building manages to fit in with its surroundings. “Despite its obvious abstraction from the local vernacular it remains a house rooted in its place.”

The body of the house is divided into two blocks, with three bedrooms lined up on the rear side, and living and dining rooms running along in front. A bathroom, utility room and entranceway are sandwiched into the space between.

Small patios were added to three sides of the house to catch the light at different times of the day. The largest spans the length of the living room, while the second and third are positioned beside the kitchen and main bedroom.

The living room also sits slightly lower than the rest of the rooms, corresponding with the natural slope of the landscape.

Another wooden house completed on the Isle of Skye is Rural Design’s Fiscavaig Project, with a glazed northern elevation facing out across the landscape. See more architecture in Scotland.

See more holiday homes on Dezeen, including a courtyard house near the beach in Melbourne.

Photography is by Andrew Lee.

Here’s a description from Dualchas Architects:

Tigh Port Na Long, Aird of Sleat

The Singletons had been visiting Skye with their dogs for many years. They love the landscape and positively enjoy the unpredictable weather and choose to eat outdoors in all seasons. They brought to us photographs of their main home in Lancashire which is simple and minimal, a CD of their favourite music and the encouragement to do something different.

The site is at the end of the road at Aird of Sleat. It has a sense of the end of the world, shore access and extraordinary views back to Knoydart, Morar, Ardnamurchan and down the coast to the island of Eigg. There are views on 3 sides and it was decided to tuck the bedrooms behind the main living spaces to enable us to create a terrace from the kitchen for the morning light, a terrace from the dining space for the afternoon light and a terrace off the main bedroom for the evening light.

The design developed into 2 distinct forms with a stepped foundation to give additional height to the main living space and to allow views across the dining space from the kitchen to Eigg beyond the fireplace. This step in the foundation corresponded precisely to the slope in the landscape. The link between the 2 forms houses a utility room and shower room.

The proportions, massing and siting of this house are derived from traditional forms; narrow in span and tight to the ground. It is clad in a skin of narrow larch cladding walls and roof. It fits in to the township settlement pattern and sits quietly in its place on the edge of its world. Despite its obvious abstraction from the local vernacular it remains a house rooted in its place and a direct response to both site and brief.

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by Dualchas Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Argentinean studio Adamo-Faiden has overhauled an ageing townhouse in Buenos Aires with the addition of a rooftop courtyard and an underground yoga room.

The house had been used in various guises throughout its history, most recently as an apartment block, and Marcelo Faiden and Sebastian Adamo were asked to restore the building as a home for the Venturini family.

The architects began by removing superfluous partitions and stripping the structure back to its basic form. They then re-planned the layout and worked out where they could add extra rooms.

“Our intervention can be summarised in three actions: extraction, redescription and addition,” they explain.

An extra roof inserted over the house’s old courtyard encloses the new basement-level yoga room, which is lit from above by a strip of skylights.

The surface of this roof also provides a new ground-floor patio, allowing the family to open out their living room to a secluded outdoor space.

Another storey added over the roof of the building provides a room that can be used for guests. This leads out to the new rooftop courtyard.

The roof of this extension has a V-shaped profile, making it the most noticeable addition to the traditional facade.

Adamo-Faiden has worked on a number of residential projects in Buenos Aires. Others include a fabric tensile structure at a renovated apartment and social housing installed on top of existing homes. See more architecture by Adamo-Faiden.

Other houses we’ve featured from Argentina include a residence comprising two brick boxes and a brick house wrapped in a band of white concrete. See more architecture in Argentina.

Photography is by Cristobal Palma.

Read on for more text from Adamo-Faiden:

Venturini House

The house is located close to the Abasto Market, transformed into a commercial centre. Like the market, the house where the Venturini family presently lives has homed a variety of different uses. At the time of the construction the house functioned as a house for rent. Its organisation responded to a very common typology in the city of Buenos Aires. Small houses were located towards the interior of the block, whereas the one belonging to the owner was the facade to the street. The devaluation of this area of the city towards the middle of last century brought about the occupation of the main house, being transformed into a tenement house.

Our intervention can be summarised in three actions: extraction, redescription and addition. The first of them meant the recovery of the original spatial structure. The second phase of the project was simply based on labelling again each of the spaces in order to adapt the existing structure to contemporary way of life. Finally, the last action was based in two precise additions. The first of them was the materialisation of a mezzanine floor which allowed us to simultaneously cover a yoga room in the basement and to give support to an exterior expansion for the living room area. At last, the construction of a light structure on the roof, for multiple uses, made visible the optimism that follows the revaluation of the city as a way of new crowning for the property.

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by Adamo-Faiden appeared first on Dezeen.

This micro house in Beijing by Chinese architect Liu Lubin comprises three cross-shaped modules that can be flipped around to turn a living room into an office or bathroom (+ slideshow).

Designed as both architecture and furniture, the modules are constructed to a minimum size with just enough room for sitting, sleeping or preparing food.

The cross-shaped profile creates worktops along two edges of the space, while square windows hinge open at either end and double up as entrances.

Studio Liu Lubin used a fibre-reinforced foam composite for the structure of the modules, making them light enough to lift. This allows residents to rotate the rooms if they need to swap simple shelves for a desk or sink.

The three modules of this house contain a bedroom, a bathroom and a small office. Lubin explains that more could be grouped together to make larger dwellings, or even neighbourhoods.

The modules are designed to fit neatly into shipping containers and can transported to different locations. Their minute size also allows them to bypass current restrictions governing private homes in China.

Lubin developed the concept as part of a research project at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Other small modular homes featured on Dezeen include a one-person cabin by Renzo Piano and a tiny floating house. See more micro homes.

Here’s a project description from Liu Lubin:

Micro House in Tsinghua

The Micro House is based on the minimum space people need for basic indoor movement, such as sitting, laying and standing. The form of the Micro House is designed to act as a combination of furniture and architecture elements.

When being rotated, the unit of the Micro House will shift its space which contains all kinds of housing activities, such as resting, working, washing and cooking, etc.

The Micro House units can not only be used as single-function rooms, but also can be grouped together as a housing suite, or even residential cluster.

The main material of the Micro House is the fibre-reinforced foam composite structure, which is light but strong. In this case, the Micro House unit can be easily lift and assembled by hand. For the convenience of transportation and replacement, the size of the unit is designed as the size of containers.

The Micro House makes it possible for people to have private housing product under current Chinese land policy.

Project: Micro House in Tsinghua
Location: Beijing
Designer: Studio Liu Lubin
Project Team: Liu Lubin, Wang Lin, Weng Jia, Wang Xiaofeng, Wan Li, Liang YIfan, Zhao Ye
Constructor: Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tsinghua University CO.LTD, Nanjing University Of Technology Advanced Engineering Composites Research Centre
Structure Type: fibre-reinforced foam composite structure

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by Studio Liu Lubin appeared first on Dezeen.