Hasta La Ideas

British architect Richard Overs has converted a deserted bakery in Cambridge, England, into a modern home for his family (+ slideshow).

Overs, a director at NRAP Architects, renovated both the bakery and a small accompanying house to create the two-storey residence called The Nook, then tied the two buildings together by adding a black-painted timber structure in between.

The architect said the two separate structures lent themselves perfectly to the arrangement of a home: “The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.”

Accessed via a private lane, the house’s facade is a wall made from a combination of light and dark bricks. An entrance leads through the wall into the new wooden structure, which contains a lobby and staircase.

The hallway leads through to the large room formerly used as bakery. With high ceilings and white-painted wooden trusses, the space creates a flexible living, dining and kitchen space.

A wall of glazing opens the kitchen out to a secluded courtyard located behind the facade, while a series of glass doors also lead out to a second courtyard at the rear.

Skylights bring additional daylight into the living space, while floors are covered with painted plywood boards. The kitchen worktops are salvaged from the architect’s previous kitchen.

“Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed,” explained Overs.

The hallway features a wall of exposed clay bricks, revealing the former facade of the small detached house, which contains a pair of bedrooms on each floor.

Here’s a project description from architect Richard Owers:

From Bakehouse to our House

Richard Owers, director of NRAP Architects, describes the process of converting a disused bakery in Cambridge into a home for his family.

The Nook …….. is where the hearth is!

“Converting The Nook was an important moment in my architectural career, the significance of which was increased by the death of my father the previous year. He had inspired me at a very early age to become an architect and throughout my career suggested it was important to live in ones own creation. Finally firing up the hearth at The Nook was therefore rather poignant.”

Rescue Operation

“An often overlooked challenge for architects interested in sustainability is how to adapt existing buildings in a creative and cost effective manner. This project demonstrates how a building with little apparent architectural value can be rescued through good design. It also illustrates that demanding physical and budgetary constraints require creative solutions, and that calculated risk-taking can overcome the difficulties of a cautious mortgage market.”

Dereliction

In October 2010 Richard Owers of NRAP Architects spotted a ramshackle bakery and detached house in south Cambridge. The bakery, more recently used as a launderette, was disused and boarded up. The baker’s house had been privately rented and was in very poor condition. The two buildings were stranded behind a parade of shops, within a sea of car parking, at the end of a tarmac drive. As a place to live it had little going for it – or that was the general perception.

The existing two-up-two-down house was entered off a forecourt, directly into a central room that doubled as entrance hall and dining room. A living room and kitchen were accessed off opposing corners of the dining room. The same pattern was repeated at first floor, with entry to the bathroom via a bedroom.

The Solution

A walled garden in front of the bakery provides privacy to the living spaces and definition to the forecourt. A black-stained, timber-clad structure was added to the house to link it to the bakery and provide a new entrance hall and staircase. The existing staircase was removed to provide storage space in bedrooms. A right of way, passing along the north edge of the bakery, presented a privacy and security problem that was overcome by blocking-up all but one of the existing openings on the north façade. In the remaining opening translucent glass replaces a timber door. Large windows in the south facade were introduced to re-orientate the living spaces to the back garden.

Expanding Space

In a tight urban context the balance between privacy, light, and views is hard won. An increased sense of space, achieved through large openings with strong connections to the outside, is often at odds with privacy requirements. The following images show how this was achieved.

Inside Outside

The walled garden has the feeling of a living room, carpeted in white pebbles with a planted edge and a Tibetan Cherry tree for shade. A large sliding-folding door allows the living spaces to extend into the garden, and the garden to extend into the living space.

Controlled Views

Views through the building and of external spaces are carefully controlled. The walled garden is first glimpsed from the front doormat and again at the foot of the staircase. It is not until one enters the living space that uninterrupted views of both front and back gardens are possible. Natural light plays on the different materials and surfaces to create an ethereal atmosphere that changes throughout the day and with the seasons.

Top Lighting

The space within the entrance hall expands vertically up to the first floor as you penetrate the building. A roof light above brings natural light into the heart of the space.

Open-plan Living

A compelling architectural diagram for contemporary living combines a compact arrangement of bedrooms with open-plan living spaces. The contrasting form and geometries of the two existing buildings lent itself perfectly to this arrangement. The large space within the bakery provides flexible living space, divided by free-standing storage and island units, whilst the smaller rooms within the baker’s house are ideally suited to bedrooms.

Special Places

The staircase is an exciting place to stop. In recognition of this we created an extended landing at the top, overlooking the entrance hall. The landing is large enough for a writing desk and chair.

Re-use, Recycle, Reclaim

Rescuing a dilapidated building is an intrinsically sustainable thing to do. Our attitude to the fabric of the building was quite relaxed; elements of value were retained, others were removed. The lintel over the original front door for example was reused above the fire place as a focus to the living space.

Brickwork to the original external wall of the house is exposed in the hallway, in contrast with the smooth plaster used elsewhere. Painted plywood, usually used as a sub-floor, has been laid directly on rigid insulation over the original concrete floor. Low energy florescent lights are discretely hidden behind a timber pelmet, and kitchen worktops and units were salvaged from my previous kitchen.

Process

As soon as our offer on the property was accepted I commenced the design to enable a planning application to be lodged immediately after ‘exchange’ of contracts. A period of six weeks between exchange and completion was agreed, to parallel the statutory planning period and allow just enough time to prepare construction information. Unfortunately the council took three weeks to merely validate the application, so construction was commenced, at some risk, prior to receiving planning permission. The pressure of paying two mortgages made it essential to compress the construction program. A contract was negotiated with a local builder prepared to wait until we had re-mortgaged to get the majority of his money. Construction was completed in three months and the property re-mortgaged immediately after.

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family home by NRAP Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

A concrete room cantilevers over a swimming pool as part of this extension to a postwar property in Singapore by local office Formwerkz Architects.

The clients asked Formwerkz Architects to extend a two-storey 1970s residence in Singapore’s Bukit Timah neighbourhood to give them a multigenerational family home, which is named the Extended House.

The architects designed a new wing at the rear of the plot with a contemporary geometric profile and a exposed concrete exterior that contrasts with the black-rendered plaster finish of the older building.

“From the beginning, we wanted to retain as much of the existing house [as possible], working around it and using it as part of the new narrative,” said studio co-founder Alan Tay. “It became a dichotomy of old and new, a story of a recent past and contemporary aspirations.”

As well as the new wing, which contains a dining room, kitchen and bedrooms, the architects added a lap pool along one edge of the site and extended the ground floor of the existing building to create a new lounge area.

This extension and a new balcony that projects from the facade of the black building are both finished in the board-formed concrete that creates a clear distinction between the old and new parts of the home.

The cantilevered section contains the master bedroom and extends out towards the pool, shading the decking and the dining room windows below.

An atrium built on the site of the original double-height dining room connects the two wings, while gaps on either side create courtyards sheltered by the long sections of the two main buildings.

The courtyard next to the pool is raised above the level of the decking around it and is bounded by a low concrete retaining wall that provides additional seating space.

A steel mesh bridge inside the atrium traverses the space between the old house and the extension, with concrete walls creating a sense of consistency with the external surfaces. The angled roofline of the original structure can be seen below the level of new windows installed when the atrium was constructed.

Photography is by Albert Lim.

Here’s some more information from Formwerkz Architects:

The Extended House

The house at the intersection of Linden Drive and Jalan Naga Sari in Singapore is built for a multi-generational family that entertains frequently. We retained the existing 2-storey post-war bungalow built in the seventies and added a new block at the rear and a lap pool along the side boundary. The new rear extension sits on higher ground than the pool with its upper volume cantilevering over the deck.

From the beginning, we wanted to retained as much of the existing house, working around it and use it as part of the new narrative. It became a dichotomy of old and new, a story of a recent past and contemporary aspirations. The dialogue between the old and new formed the framework for the design. Formally, the new addition is articulated in board-formed concrete volumes in contrast to the existing house in black rendered rough plaster.

The existing high ceiling dining hall is converted to a atrium that bridged the existing house with the new block at the rear. This is the heart of the project where it bridges both physically and spatially, the old house and the new extension.

On the upper floor, a wire mesh steel bridge negotiates the level difference between the existing house and the new extension. The H-shaped massing encloses two intimate courtyard spaces that together with the atrium are spaces of greatest tension between the old and new. The elevated courtyard that fronts the pool has a low concrete retaining wall that encircle it to serves as both barrier and outdoor seating.

Architect – Formwerkz Architects
Design Team – Alan Tay, Iskandar Idris, Ming Hui, Xue Zhen
C&S Engineer – Portwood & Assocates
Builder – Sinwah-Apac Construction
Site Area – 670 sqm
GFA – 450 sqm
Completed – 2013

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at Formwerkz Architects’ Extended House appeared first on Dezeen.

This house near Madrid was designed by local firm Bojaus Arquitectura as a simple white cuboid punctuated by openings that create windows, porches and patios (+ slideshow).

Located in the Las Rozas municipality, the home is flanked by a road and neighbouring properties, so the clients asked Bojaus Arquitectura to prioritise privacy whilst providing light-filled internal and external spaces.

“The proximity of the houses that surround the plot led [us] to develop a system of voids, deep windows and patios which would allow these large openings without neglecting the equally important need of privacy,” said the architects.

Local planning regulations determined the position of the house within its plot as well as its exterior dimensions, which the architects optimised by creating a regular geometric volume.

Windows contained in voids punched into the walls are positioned to restrict views from outside, and in some cases are set back from the facade to further enhance privacy.

The building’s smooth surface is also interrupted by apertures that create outdoor spaces around the perimeter, as well as a small shaded terrace on the top floor.

A large space carved out of the ground floor at the rear of the property acts as a sheltered porch that connects the living space with the garden.

Internally, a void at the centre of the house creates a double-height room with a skylight and window providing views of the sky.

“The main space in H House is an interior patio which, apart from connecting the diverse levels by the stair, organises all the different rooms,” said the architects, describing the space that allows views between the house’s main living areas.

A staircase in this central void disappears through a doorway and leads to the upper floor containing the bedrooms and a series of patios.

The main patio is connected to the master bedroom by sliding doors and features a frosted glass window on the opposite side that lets daylight reach the staircase while obstructing views of the interior.

Practical spaces including bathrooms, closets, storage and toilets are arranged along the building’s northern edge, creating a thick and highly insulated wall that also supports structural beams so the interior walls can be arranged as desired.

Photography is by Joaquín Mosquera.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Casa H

House H is located in a typical suburban area near Madrid, where the houses in small individual plots are often too close to each other. In this situation the challenge was to combine certain degree of privacy with the desire of opening big windows and merging interior and exterior in a continuous space flood by natural light.

The proximity of the houses that surround the plot lead to develop a system of voids, deep windows and patios which would allow these large openings without neglecting the equally important need of privacy.

The volume is the result of the strict application of local urban regulations: maximum occupation, perimeter definition, alignments, maximum height… Then, we subtract the voids, porches and patios, to this maximum volume in order to accomplish the FAR (floor area ratio). The result is a pure simple prism (20x9x9 meters) drilled by big hollow voids which are connected generating and organising the interior space.

The main space in H House is an interior patio which, apart from connecting the diverse levels by the stair, organises all the different rooms. The small pieces, bathrooms, closets, storage, toilet… are aligned in the north facade, building a thick wall with a high level of isolation. At the same time this layout reduces the length of the main beams simplifying the structure of the house and assisting the free organisation of the principal spaces. All of them are related to each other visually through patios and voids, as it can be observed in the longitudinal section.

The program planned by the client was the typical on a traditional house of this characteristics. Nevertheless the conception of the different spaces demanded by the client and the relationship between them aspire to a freer layout where a more open and ambiguous functional scheme could be developed.

The structural layout defines a cross banded scheme of fixed dimensions where the main spaces, living, kitchen, main bedroom, studio, secondary bedrooms group… are equivalent and interchangeable depending on the user’s needs.

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Casa H by Bojaus Arquitectura appeared first on Dezeen.

DMOA Architecten has transformed a former hunting lodge in Belgium into a family home, retaining the eight piers of its original brick facade as a garden feature (+ movie).

La Branche was first built in the eighteenth century on the site of a castle in the woods of Heverlee, Belgium. Originally a home, it later became a hunting lodge but was left vacant 15 years ago.

DMOA Architecten refurbished two brick blocks and created a new one-storey volume that links the two. The eight piers of the original facade, which gave its name to the property, were retained as a free-standing screen in front.

“When you walk through the house you feel continuously that you are in a nexus between old and new,” said Luis Querol of DMOA Architecten.

The new flat-roofed single-storey volume holds the living and dining areas. It has custom-made windows and timber cladding in black-tinted afzelia.

Cupboards are made of smoked oak veneer, the floor is natural oak, and the kitchen is a combination of brown Corian and smoked oak veneer.

The new addition makes a U-shaped plan, connecting with the two brick gabled buildings that sit at right angles to it to form a central courtyard.

The house is now home to a family with four children, whose bedrooms are within the brick-built wings.

Floors and walls in the master bathroom are painted black.

Photography by Thomas Janssens. Video is by Luis Querol.

Here’s a project description the architect sent us:

La Branche

The project is a peaceful combination of old and new. The new part is a sober black canvas looking at the garden from behind the old walls.

In several places remnant parts of the old walls are kept as garden elements, an aspect that strengthens the atmosphere. When you walk through the house you feel continuously that you are in a nexus between old and new.

The project consists of the renovation of an old resting place for hunters in the woods of Heverlee (Belgium), transforming it in an comfortable and modern dwelling for a family with four children.

One of the three wings of the U-compositions was removed except of the facade wall, which remains with the name that gave title to the old refuge and now to its renovation “La Branche”.

The sides made of brick contain the private rooms of the family meanwhile the dark volume accommodate the living and the kitchen in permanent connection with the pool and the outside garden. The dark colours of the interior design contrast with the high brightness that gets inside through the large windows.

Project Title: La Branche
Architects: DMOA Architecten
Collaborators: Benjamin Denef, Charlotte Gryspeerdt, Matthias Mattelaer; Lien Gesquiere
Localization: Heverlee, Belgium
Site area: 2200 sqm
Floor area: 655 sqm

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hunting lodge by DMOA Architecten appeared first on Dezeen.

A metal-clad roof designed to reference local barns follows the stepped profile of this house in the American state of Arkansas by deMx architecture (+ slideshow).

Round Mountain House was designed by local office deMx architecture for a plot near the crown of a hill in the Ozark Mountains region of Arkansas, where it overlooks the surrounding rural landscape.

“Referencing local precedents, the Round Mountain House combines modernist ideals with vernacular strategies and a linear plan to integrate seamlessly into the Ozark landscape,” said the architects.

The galvanised steel roof structure wraps around the rear facade and rises over a second storey section at one end, before dropping back down to ground with two supporting columns.

Concrete foundation walls support a steel framework which is covered with structural insulated panels that form the walls and ceilings.

The property is separated into two sections, with the main part housing the living area, guest bedrooms, garage, and an outdoor breezeway.

The breezeway area comprises a sheltered outdoor space containing furniture for casual dining and a fireplace.

Bedrooms, bathrooms, closets and laundry rooms are contained in an adjoining structure tacked onto the rear of the house.

The roof structure rises at the western end of the building to accommodate the guest loft and creates a sheltered space below, which is occupied by a large balcony.

The overhanging loft space limits the amount of harsh western sunlight that enters the main living areas, which feature low windows on the north and high windows on the eastern walls.

Exposed I-beams in the living space are echoed by cantilevered joists, from which mosaic pendants above the kitchen island and a chandelier over the dining table are suspended.

Photography is by Timothy Hursley.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Round Mountain House

Referencing local precedents, the Round Mountain House combines modernist ideals with vernacular strategies and a linear plan to integrate seamlessly into the Ozark landscape.

The form of the house is treated as two pieces. The “main frame” consists of primarily public spaces: the carport, outdoor breezeway, the guest loft, and main living area; the “lean-to” or “saddle bag” contains primarily private spaces: the bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and laundry.

The main frame is constructed of a steel frame on concrete foundation walls. To create the finished form, energy-efficient SIPS (Structurally Insulated Panel System) wrap around the steel frame and roof of both the main frame and the lean-to. In addition to the SIPS, the house uses other active and passive sustainable technologies. The main spaces contain low windows on the north and high windows on the east. These operable windows allow for passive cooling through cross ventilation.

The second floor loft space creates a covered balcony on the main floor. The balcony is located on the west side of the house and its overhang shelters the living space windows from the harsh western light.

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hilltop house by deMx architecture appeared first on Dezeen.