Hasta La Ideas

Japanese studio NI&Co. Architects has built a small sound-proofed cabin in Nagoya where its owners can retreat to play the piano.

Nestled amongst a number of taller buildings in a residential area of the city, Piano House was designed by NI&Co. Architects as a simple structure with a purple brickwork exterior and a timber-lined interior.

An asymmetric roof angles up into a point above the entrance, creating enough height for a sheltered door with a window above.

This leads through to a corridor, created by a partition wall that gradually angles further away from the ceiling. This wall folds halfway along, leading through to a space accommodating both a grand piano and an upright piano.

“The spiral shape wall is extended to the inside, so you can feel the continuity of internal and external space,” said architect and studio co-founder Nina Funahashi.

The partition is punctured by a large rectangular opening that suggests an informal spectator spot.

As well as basic plywood panels, the interior walls feature several patches of pegboard that help to improve the internal acoustics of the space.

“We designed an acoustic layer and sound insulation layer by combining the general-purpose materials, so the soundproof chamber can have acoustic and echo function with a low budget,” said the architect.

A cluster of globe-shaped pendant lamps hang from the ceiling, diffusing light through translucent surfaces.

Photography is by Hiroshi Tanigawa.

Here’s a short description from NI&Co. Architects:

Piano House K.448

This house with a spiral shape plan is for playing the piano. The site is 7m width and 15m depth, and surrounding area is a quiet residential quarter. The blanks are created by rotating the house 10 degrees against the site, and it brought the soundproof effect as a buffer zone for surrounding area.

The spiral shape wall is extended to the inside, so you can feel the continuity of internal and external space by the wall. We designed an acoustic layer and sound insulation layer by combining the general-purpose materials, so the soundproof chamber can have acoustic and echo function with a low budget.

A sound wave can reach ears through air encircled with the spiral shape wall. The spiral shape wall extending to the inside is customisable for adjusting convey of piano’s sound, so the wall can bring about changes in the sound environment. It becomes the space for ‘sonata for two pianos’.

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a secluded spot for making music appeared first on Dezeen.

Hidden at the bottom of a London garden, this glowing shed by British studio Weston, Surman & Deane was designed as a writing retreat for an author (+ slideshow).

Weston, Surman & Dean was asked to build a studio that reflected the client’s passion for children’s literature and mythology, and responded by creating a whimsical cabin that features a back-lit facade.

The inner facade of the Writer’s Shed is shingle-clad with a glazed sliding door that opens out to a covered veranda facing back towards the house. A cedar screen fronts the veranda and gaps between the narrow slats allow light to shine out at night.

The architects said that the wood was chosen for its reliance and sensitivity to ageing, “complimenting the role of the shed as a place of changing ideas and production.”

Tucked away behind the cedar frame are logs to be used in the wood burning stove that heats the shed, which sits on concrete paving slabs and leans against the gable wall. Oiled chipboard bookcases for the writer’s library fill the space around it and painted pine boards cover the floor.

A reclaimed sink with garden taps and a brass splash back sits on one of the shelves.

A large skylight in the asymmetric pitch roof above fills the workspace with natural light.

Weston, Surman & Deane, also known as WSD Architecture, was launched by three Royal College of Art architecture graduates after they completed their first project, the Royal College of Art Student Union Cafe.

The Writer’s Shed is one of 24 projects shortlisted for the AJ Small Projects Award 2014. The winner will be announced next month.

Here’s a project description from Weston, Surman & Deane:

Writer’s Shed

WSD Architecture were commissioned by an author and illustrator to design & build a ‘writer’s shed’. Capitalising on their multi-disciplinary backgrounds WSD acted as designers, project managers, and lead contractors.

The design responds to the client’s passion for children’s literature and mythologies.The space is conceived as a haven in the city; a fairy-tale hut at the bottom of the garden where the client can retreat and immerse himself in his work.

Externally, the glowing cedar facade, shingle cladding, log store and chimney all play a part in creating this world. Inside, a large north-facing skylight floods the workspace with natural light. On the gable wall, a bookcase meanders around the wood burning stove, providing a centre piece for the client to store his library of books. Looking back out over the garden, the glazed sliding door gives onto a covered verandah – a space perfect to enjoy the very worst of the British weather.

In February 2014, Weston Surman & Deane were short-listed for the Architects’ Journal Small Projects Competition 2014.

Budget: £31,000
Client: Private
Location: Hackney, London
Architects: Weston Surman & Deane Architecture Ltd.
Lead Contractors: Weston Surman & Deane Architecture Ltd.

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Writer’s Shed by Weston Surman & Deane appeared first on Dezeen.

This cluster of wooden cabins in Norway by architecture studio Rever & Drage features a hut with a retractable roof and a pair of sheds that slide open to frame views of a nearby fjord (+ slideshow).

Rever & Drage were asked to create a multi-purpose facility near to the client’s existing summerhouse, which they planned to used as a toolshed, a rain shelter and a camping area.

The architects responded by designing a group of three structures surrounding a small patio, entitled Hustadvika Tools. Each building integrates folding or sliding mechanisms, allowing them to be adapted for different activities or to suit changing weather conditions.

The largest of the three buildings is a rectilinear hut with a roof that slides forward, creating a canopy for the patio in front. Rather than exposing the interior to the elements, the open roof reveals a layer of glass that lets light into the space, but protects it from rain.

“Making the roof slide back and forth gave the project a tiny hint of Leonardo da Vinci activity, with its wheels, wires, sliding beams and counterweights,” said architects Tom Auger, Martin Beverfjord and Eirik Lilledrange.

The other two cabins function as storage areas and feature doors that slide apart. The rear walls of both sheds are glazed so that when open they allow views through to the coastline.

“The building in its closed position gives somehow the impression of an old prudent virgin preparing herself for the winter storms, whilst in its open position it is a decorated shed blooming in the midsummer night,” said the architects.

The structures are subjected to a daily spray of salt water from the strong tides, so they architects treated the wood with a layer of tar to protect it from corroding.

“The tar, whilst bringing out the visual depth of the wood, also makes the building quite charming in the low evening sun,” added the architects.

Photography is by Tom Auger.

Here’s a project description from Rever & Drage:

Hustadvika Tools

This small but multifunctional building was designed and constructed, both as an answer to the clients need for a wind-and-rain shelter at their outdoor summer house-piazza, and as a combined tool-shed and special-occasion-sleep-under-the-stars-facility. A complex program for a modest building, making way for double-functional elements and architectural ambiguity.

The site at the utmost north-western-coast of Norway, presented it with some harsh and always changing weather conditions including a daily spray of salt water.

Finally the building turned out looking both new and old. The main forms, in their abstract expression and lack of cornice, are typical modern looking, while the exterior surface is typical old-school with the wood panels coated in tar, just like the traditional waterproofing for local wooden boats. The tar, whilst bringing out the visual depth of the wood, also makes the building quite charming in the low evening sun.

The building in its closed position gives somehow the impression of an old prudent virgin preparing herself for the winter storms, whilst in its open position it is a decorated shed blooming in the midsummer night. All over the final result is also a Stonehenge-like place to be with its high and heavy features transported there from hundreds of miles away.

If the sun is out, but the northern wind is a bit chilly (which is a typical condition in this area), sliding out the doors from the smaller sheds will form a continuos embracement of the small piazza. At the same time the back walls of the sheds are made of glass, such that the ocean view is maintained.

If the weather is warm, but there is some rain in the air, the upper roof of the main building can be slid out by an electrical engine, simultaneously uncovering a skylight inside.

This glass roof is the main-roof of the building in terms of waterproofing, leading water away from the piazza to the back of the building, whilst the wooden roof on top is tilted the opposite way, to face the stronger western winds and also taking the snow burden during winter.

Making the roof slide back and forth gave the project a tiny hint of Leonardo da Vinci-activity, with its wheels, wires, sliding-beams and counter-weights.

In this problem-making, as much as problem-solving, the building generates interested smiles from engineer-hearted passers-by, as well as solving the original program and satisfying the clients.

Project name: Hustadvika Tools
Architects: Rever & Drage Architects
Design team: Tom Auger, Martin Beverfjord, Eirik Lilledrange
Location: Hustadvika, Norway
Area: 15 sqm

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with sliding doors and a retractable roof appeared first on Dezeen.

Scottish studio Groves-Raines Architects have completed a composting shed in Edinburgh made of the bars normally used to reinforce concrete. (more…)