Cedar shingles typical to New England houses have gradually faded from warm beige to a soft greyish brown on the walls of this residence in Maine by Los Angeles office Bruce Norelius Studio (+ slideshow).
Recent photograph of the house, courtesy of Kelly Bellis
Bruce Norelius Studio completed House on Punkinville Road in 2008 for a couple looking for a change of lifestyle as well as a new residence. Five years on, the pair say the best quality of the house is its adaptability to the changing seasons.
Recent photograph of the house, courtesy of Kelly Bellis
“During a snowstorm, we don’t watch the storm, we’re inside the storm,” said the client. “The amount of glass and the way the glass is placed takes every advantage of the site. And the sun is a constant presence.”
He continued: “As the light changes from hour to hour, from room to room, from season to season, it changes the rooms. The living area is not the same room at sunset as it was at sunrise, nor is it the same in winter as it is in the spring.”
Located several kilometres inland from Smelt Cove, the house sits on an elevated site surrounded by juniper trees and blackberry bushes. A concrete base grounds the structure into the landscape, while the main walls are all clad with the humble cedar shingles.
“It’s gratifying to know the clients are enjoying life here, even during the harsh Maine winters,” said the architects. “The facades are simple, confident and holding true, telling their time naturally, which is a narrative we continue to embrace in our work.”
The building is primarily made up of two rectilinear volumes stacked over one another to create an L-shaped plan. This creates a sheltered driveway at ground level and a generous roof terrace on the first floor.
Proportions were based around a prefabricated window module, which is used throughout. Combined with a specification for a simple timber structure, this design concept allowed the architects to deliver the project on a low budget.
The interior layout was also kept as simple as possible, with a pair of bedrooms and bathrooms on the ground floor and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space above.
Photography is by Sandy Agrafiotis, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s a project description from Bruce Norelius Studio:
House on Punkinville Road
The genesis of this project came from the clients, a couple who had lived many years in a treasured 19th century cape, and who sought a significant change in lifestyle. Their deep appreciation of that cape and its particular relationship with its site made them realise that their new site – a spectacular inland promontory on ledge, juniper and blueberries with extensive views – required a very different architectural solution.
The concept that evolved was a perpendicular stacking of two simple volumes. This allowed a relatively small footprint on a pristine site, and also created useful negative space – a carport below, and an expansive deck above. Furthermore, it guaranteed that the house took advantage of the entire site, ensuring each space its own particular, appropriate relationship to sun, passive solar gain, and views.
The plan is simple and rigorous, based on the module of a single prefabricated window unit that is used throughout. The entirely-wood structural system was edited and refined to allow speed and clarity in the construction process.
The sober expression of the house responds intentionally to the climatic demands of the site, and is clad humbly in white cedar shingles, the most traditional of New England building materials, and exactly what was used on that cape built a century and a half ago.
The priority on the interior was to create calm spaces deeply influenced by the seasons and weather. A remarkably low construction cost was achieved because of the clients’ ability to prioritise goals, the design team’s search for simplicity in both aesthetics and construction techniques, and the builder’s ability to propose alternative, less expensive solutions for aspects of the building.
The shingle-clad upper storeys of this house on the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz by Vienna practice Destilat are rotated to create a cantilevered overhang above the entrance (+ slideshow).
Destilat was asked to convert the existing property on a hillside in the Bachlberg suburb of Linz into a property accommodating three self-contained apartments.
The original house was gutted and rebuilt from the level of the existing concrete pedestal, with the storeys above rotated slightly to shelter the entrance and make the most of views towards the Alps.
Grey shingles covering the upper storeys give the exterior of the building a monolithic appearance, while the gabled profile typical of Alpine properties is interrupted by a scattered arrangement of windows.
At the front of the house a variety of outdoor spaces are created by openings in the facade.
A gap in the pitched roof provides a small balcony outside the dining space of the penthouse, while the first floor features a terrace framed by a long aperture.
Each of the storeys above the basement garage contains an apartment with its own sleeping, eating and living spaces, with the top floor also incorporating a mezzanine area housing a gallery and guest bedroom.
The ground floor apartment occupies an area previously used as an indoor pool and provides multiple points of access directly into the surrounding garden.
The penthouse apartment features an open plan living space with a fireplace that projects from one wall to provide some separation from the dining and kitchen area.
A black concrete base and rough plaster hood add to the monolithic and sculptural look of this central feature.
The massive ceiling height and pitched roof are accentuated by pendant lights suspended above the dining table.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
House B.A.B.E.
B.A.B.E. stands for exclusive living at Bachlberg.
The former domicile of a family of entrepreneurs from Linz is located near the top of Bachlberg, in very quiet area near the woods, overlooking the provincial capital of Linz, with a panoramic view of the distant Alpine foothills.
In cooperation with W. Wimmer, this run-down object with its spacious garden was converted into a modern apartment house with three living units. The original structure was gutted completely and extended by an additional floor with insulated timber framing.
Starting at the socle storey, the entire structure was slightly turned to optimise its viewing angles.
Covered entirely with grey shingles made of asbestos cement (Eternit), the building has a very monolithic and sculptural character due to its seemingly random distribution of apertures for windows, loggias and terraces.
The apartments of this house have very diverse characters and usable floor areas ranging from 140 to 200 sq m.
The former indoor pool area on the ground floor was converted to an apartment with direct access to the property’s garden.
However, the crown jewel of this building is the penthouse with its open living, kitchen and dining area and up to 6.5 meter high, open pitched roof and a gallery. A massive open fireplace is the almost archaic centre due to its reduced design as well as its concrete base and rough plasterwork.
Besides the impressive main room, which includes a gallery, the entrance area as well as the bathrooms were individually designed to meet the client’s requirements.
This asymmetric Alpine cabin by Austrian architect Peter Jungmann has been named Ufogel because its owners think it looks like a cross between a UFO and a “vogel” – the German word for bird (+ slideshow).
Located on a grassy slope in the East Tyrolian village of Nussdorf, the small shingle-clad structure is a rentable holiday home that sleeps up to four people, but contains only 45-square-metres of floor space.
The building is raised off the ground on metal feet, but is otherwise built entirely from wood. Larch shingles clad the outer walls and roof, while the interior surfaces are lined with timber panels to create a distinctive smell.
A gentle staircase leads up into the main floor of the house, which features a small kitchen and a dining table that can seat between six and eight people at a time.
A small lounge area filled with cushions sits half a storey up, beside a long window that angles upwards to frame views towards the peaks of the Lienz Dolomites.
Stairs continue up to a bedroom level with a curved ceiling, containing both a double bed and a separate bunk. The shower and washroom are also located on this floor.
Underfloor heating helps to distribute warmth throughout the space, but can be supplemented by a wood-burning stove.
Here’s some more information from the Ufogel website:
Ufogel
Explore the difference in our house UFOGEL in Nussdorf/Debant near Lienz in East Tyrol!
Our exclusive and bizarre holiday house – Ufogel in the picturesque Nussdorf near Lienz has an unusual architecture. It is built on stilts and floating above the meadow in a peaceful and unspoiled nature. The panoramic windows offers a unique view of the breathtaking Lienz Dolomites, the Val Pusteria impressive mountain peaks and the so-called “Carinthian Gate”.
Your exclusive holiday home for your unforgettable holiday is a compact building, made entirely of wood, both inside as well as outside. The smell of wood flows through the room. A generous, as the only access bridge-like connection to the seemingly floating building. Almost like at home standing in the entrance area with slippers.
Following you will find the kitchen with a spacious kitchen, sink and hob. A stove with optional hotplate complements the kitchen and spreads warmth throughout the house. The cantilevered table can comfortably accommodate 6-8 people. For more generosity, the seat can be folded down. The huge panoramic window with a lawn on the mezzanine bridge the gap to the surrounding nature. A feeling like the convenience of Inside Outside. Natural materials, coupled with quality products – the best of the region. Substances (Villgrater nature) not far distant from the production Ufogel give more softness and comfort. Whether you relax comfortably watch TV, play, sleep, cook or just want to switch off – nothing seems impossible.
Upstairs there is a spacious double bed in pine, which can be transformed into a bed when needed. Another, separate bunk offers the special recreational value for two. An open glass cabinet with a view into the shower creates sufficient space for luggage. The barrier-free bathroom, overlooking the East Tyrolean mountains makes the shower experience. The Ufogel has a floor heating, which can optionally be supplemented by the stove. A refrigerator and a storage box with several areas are available. For hot summer days, a fully automatic sun protection system is installed, which can be operated manually. Experience the extraordinary – in Ufogel.
Cologne 2014: two shingle-clad houses converge to form this year’s Das Haus home of the future installation at the imm cologne fair by Copenhagen designer Louise Campbell (+ slideshow).
Das Haus is an annual commission that allows a designer to imagine what their ideal future home would be like.
Louise Campbell designed a 240-square-metre dwelling devoid of interior walls, with openings at each end rather than doors.
“There are no walls dividing the various zones, only soft textiles that can be rolled up or down as desired,” said Campbell.
Two timber-framed buildings intersect at an angle to one another, with the exposed beams and columns inside coloured grey and white to distinguish the different structures.
These two elements are designed to represent the coming together of masculine and feminine within the home. A long dining table sits in the centre of where they meet.
“There are no secrets and no pressure – the ideal marriage. Perhaps indeed the ideal house,” Campbell said.
A line of beds for sleeping and lounging runs along one side of the space, in front of patterned fabric panels that line the walls.
Campbell modelled the kitchen on a workshop, hanging 573 tools on the white pegboard wall behind the counters.
“Personally I feel very much at home here,” said Campbell. “Where floral wallpaper in a kitchen would not naturally present itself at the top of my list, plenty of fine tools do. Even so, I’d much rather sleep in an imaginatively decorated space than in a bare white bedroom.”
A 100-year-old stoneware bathtub has been placed in the middle of the living area and an upside-down canoe is balanced in the rafters.
The house is clad in larch shingles with coloured tips and the roof is perforated with a pattern of diamonds, which becomes less open at the top of the walls.
Campbell’s design is installed at the centre of this year’s imm cologne design trade fair, which continues until Sunday.
Read on for more text sent to Dezeen by imm cologne:
A house with two sides
» Das Haus – Interiors on Stage 2014 by Louise Campbell: a slow house full of handmade things » Under the title 0-100. (Made to measure), Louise Campbell sounds the depths between man and woman, reason and emotion » The very personal vision of a home the Danish designer has created for the imm cologne is unreservedly playful and sensuous
What Louise Campbell has erected in Pure Village (Hall 2.2) at the imm cologne with such incredible passion for detail isn’t one house, it’s two! Two timber-framed, prototypical houses with an exposed beam structure that look as if they were positioned at an angle to one another on the floor of the hall and then pushed inside one another like a telescope. The posts of one house have been painted white, those of the other a light grey. The rectangular overlap in the middle created by the intersection of the two volumes marks the spot where opposites are reconciled and the two houses merge into one.
Half designer portrait, half visionary blueprint
Das Haus – Interiors on Stage is the simulation of a home at the international interior design fair imm cologne. Every year, the imm cologne nominates a new designer whose plans are then used for the layout and furnishings. The furniture, colours, materials, lighting and accessories chosen by the Guest of Honour add up to an individually configured interior design. But this holistically conceived proposal isn’t just meant to be forward-looking; it should be practical as well – and above all authentic. Das Haus is an example of how it is possible to create a world of one’s own that becomes an expression of one’s own personality. Besides picking up on current interior design trends, the project also addresses the public’s aspirations and social change.
Louise Campbell turns Das Haus into an attractive stage for relationships
The structure, which has a footprint of 240 square metres and is made of wooden beams, larch shingles and lots and lots of fabrics, turns out to be a thoroughly attractive and seductive experimental setup. Louise Campbell wants to figure out how opposites can be reconciled through design. And in her eyes, the biggest conceivable contradiction in our lives is the (in-)compatibility of man and woman, of reason and emotion – which makes a partnership between the two the biggest experiment of all.
“I don’t understand why we don’t question something as fundamental as love more,” explains Louise Campbell provocatively. “What is love? How does a designer approach these questions? By circling around our physical bases through form.” She wanted to design Das Haus as a home “for him and her, for slow and fast, soft and hard, light and dark, colour and material, British and Scandinavian – with a tranquil space in the middle where everything fits together with some quirks, but no conflicts.” And in this case, “him and her” doesn’t just mean male and female, but the masculine and feminine side within each and every one of us.
Interior philosophy: omitting walls gives the other person more space
The Danish designer shows how both “he” and “she” can make themselves very much at home within these contradictions – and does away with various interior conventions in the process: Das Haus is one big, open space, the bed is a 16-metre-wide piece of furniture for sprawling, lounging and sleeping on, the bathtub stands in the middle of the living area and the kitchen is located in the man’s domain. In the middle, he and she meet at the big table in harmony. There are no proper rooms; instead, the various areas of the home are defined by the furnishings and accessories.
Besides featuring Louise Campbell’s own designs such as the LC Shutters lamps from Louis Poulsen and Zanotta’s Veryround Chair, Das Haus also contains a variety of products by other designers. Everything else was made by hand in Louise Campbell’s Copenhagen studio. And because she felt it was important to include something old as well, a 100-year-old stoneware bathtub was borrowed from the museum collection of Villeroy & Boch AG and set up in the middle of the living area. “There are no walls dividing the various zones, only soft textiles that can be rolled up or down as desired. There are no secrets and no pressure – the ideal marriage. Perhaps indeed the ideal house,” says Louise Campbell of her interior concept, in which everything is designed from the inside out.
A tool wall with 573 tools
A large wall surface in the kitchen zone is one of the highlights of Das Haus. For Louise Campbell, the kitchen is both a workshop and a place to cook, and she has thus hung around 573 tools of every kind imaginable on the exterior wall. The big table is used for stirring, mixing, sawing, painting, hammering and sewing. And whilst technology is notable only by its absence, the house contains the instruments required for every conceivable kind of handicraft. Finding the right measure – the right balance between reason and emotion, perfection and cosiness, technology and craftsmanship, hectic activity and total relaxation – is a key theme for Louise Campbell, both in her design and in her version of Das Haus, which is why she has so aptly named it: 0-100. (Made to measure).
A playful house that exudes sensuousness
“Personally I feel very much at home here,” says Louise Campbell of her Haus. “So where floral wallpaper in a kitchen would not naturally present itself at the top of my list, plenty of fine tools do. Even so, I’d much rather sleep in an imaginatively decorated space than in a bare white bedroom.”
Louise Campbell’s house is a celebration of physical existence in the here and now. Digital projections are entirely absent. The warm lighting, exquisite textiles, comfortable rest zone and many playful details and accessories are a reminder of what is truly responsible for the quality of our homes and lives. Louise Campbell exemplifies this attitude by lending a willing hand with the construction of Das Haus, stapling, painting and draping as it takes shape. By celebrating classical sensuality and all that is handmade, her interior concept is the diametric opposite of the technophile tendencies that have become so widespread in today’s world. The designer cites Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Sherril Jaffe’s Scars Make Your Body More Interesting, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and The Cure’s Wild Mood Swings as the sources of her creative inspiration.
Das Haus 2014 is a beacon of feminine design
By creating a low-tech house with open spaces that can be used flexibly to provide scope for all its occupants’ (contradictory) facets, Louise Campbell is continuing the Das Haus – Interiors on Stage series with a design that is just as remarkable as its predecessors. In 2012, Anglo-Indian designer team Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien were in charge of the new format’s debut, staging what was effectively an organically evolved space that permits communicative interaction between occupants and cultures. In 2013, Italian product designer Luca Nichetto created the next instalment of the design event as an elegant ensemble open to nature on all sides. Das Haus is located within the Pure Village format, which has been given a spacious new home in Hall 2.2 at the 2014 event.
A triple-height gallery housing a collection of prized paintings is concealed behind the wooden shingle facade of this house in Stuttgart by German architecture studio (se)arch (photos by Zooey Braun + slideshow).
Located to the south of the city, the gabled four-storey Haus B19 was designed by (se)arch as the home for a family of five, but the architects were also asked to include a gallery where the occupants could present a collection of artworks by “old masters”.
Three of the house’s exterior walls are clad from top to bottom with handmade Alaska cedar shingles, which will naturally fade from a warm yellow colour to a silvery grey tone. Meanwhile, the south-facing rear elevation is glazed to offer views of the distant mountains.
The lofty gallery is positioned on the northern side of the building and is separated from living areas by a bulky concrete core that contains small rooms, utility areas and the main staircase.
A kitchen is one of the spaces contained within the concrete volume, and it features windows on both sides to allow views between the gallery and a large living and dining room on the southern side of the house.
Sliding glass doors allow the living room to be transformed into a loggia. This design is repeated on the first floor, where three bedrooms open to a balcony spanning the width of the building.
A selection of walls throughout the house are painted with a dark shade of pink, standing out against the exposed concrete of the central structure and the warm brown joinery of kitchen units, doors and bookshelves slotted into its recesses.
Clerestory windows bring light down into the gallery at eaves height, while a narrow skylight along the ridge of the roof lets daylight flood into a master bedroom on the uppermost floor.
The bathroom is on the first floor and includes a window offering residents a view down to the gallery when taking a bath.
The double pitch roof building is located in a peaceful residential area in the south of Stuttgart.
The building houses a family of five and offers living space on several levels and it creates space for a private exhibition area. The client has a collection of paintings with works by old masters and the gallery space is an adequate framework. The floor plan principle consists of a functional bar in the centre of the building. This divides the gallery space and family living. This massive concrete core, which extends over all four floors, includes serving elements such as stairs, kitchen, bathrooms as well as technical supplies.
This also creates an exceptional entree: behind the door, the porch extends into the gallery space, which rises to below the fully glazed roof ridge. The closed, painted in warm brown north face offers a serene setting for the paintings, which will be staged by the interplay of natural and artificial light. In combination with the brittle surfaces of the concrete bar, this dynamic sculpture emerges anywhere in the room and captivates with a delightful interplay.
The living room on the south side is communicative family meeting place, a room with fireplace and dining area. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors open it over the entire width of the building of the offshore loggia and provide a view into the landscape. Similarly, the private retreat rooms on the two upper floors benefit from the beautiful distant view of the Swabian Alb. Picturesque perspectives, however, offers the bathroom on the first floor, which holds a glass eye contact with the gallery. Openings in the serving rail provide visual references and link free gallery and living room together.
Structurally, the concrete core, which results from the massive garden level is covered by a solid wood construction, which describes the outer shell of the building. The outside of the timber construction is covered with wooden shingles. The shingles of Alaska cedar are split by hand and are not only extremely durable, they gradually get a silver-grey patina and envelop the house with its natural environment.
Danish architects COBE and Transform have completed an aluminium-clad museum of maritime history in Norway with a zigzagging profile modelled on the shapes of local wooden buildings (+ slideshow).
Located south-west of Oslo in the harbourside town of Porsgrunn, the Maritime Museum and Exploratorium was designed by COBE and Transform to relate to the scale of its surroundings, which include a number of small wooden residences and warehouses.
Photograph by Rasmus Hjortshøj
The architects broke the volume of the building down into eleven blocks, with asymmetric roofs that pitch in different directions. Combined, these shapes give a zigzagging roofline to each elevation.
Photograph by Rasmus Hjortshøj
“We wanted to understand the area’s characteristics and then we wanted to strengthen it but at the same time create something new and contrasting,” said COBE founder and director Dan Stubbergaard. “The abrupt building structure of downscaled building volumes and the expressive roof profile are, for example, clear references to the area’s historic small wooden buildings, which all have their own particular roof profiles.”
Photograph by Rasmus Hjortshøj
“This interpretation of the area’s pitched roofs and small wooden building entities sets the final frame for a unique and characteristic contemporary building,” he added.
Aluminium shingles give a scaly surface to the outer walls and roof of the museum, and pick up reflections from the river that runs alongside.
Opening today, the museum’s exhibition galleries chart the town’s maritime history and tell the story of its dockyard industry.
A grand staircase leads visitors up to a large exhibition hall on the first floor, while smaller galleries and events rooms are housed on the ground floor.
Transform principal Lars Bendrup said he hopes that the building will help to revitalise the formerly industrial section of the town.
“Our general vision was to turn a backside into a frontside,” he said. “With the new museum, the town will now orientate itself towards the beautiful river that for much too long has been Porsgrunn’s industrial backside.”
Photography is by Adam Mørk, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from COBE and Transform:
Porsgrunn Maritime Museum and Exploratorium
Today is the grand opening of a new spectacular Maritime Museum and Exploratorium in the Norwegian town Porsgrunn. The building is designed by the Danish architects COBE and TRANSFORM, and has already, before the opening, become an architectural landmark of the town.
From backside to frontside
Porsgrunn Maritime Museum and Exploratorium is situated in the Norwegian town of Porsgrunn, 100 km south west of Oslo. The new museum will tell the story of the town’s dock yard industry and its maritime history, which has employed thousands of people from the whole region. In addition, the attractive location of the museum right on the riverside opens up an important process for the city concerning the future extensive urban renewal of the entire Porsgrunn Harbour area.
“Porsgrunn is an industrial town, which is reflected clearly in the museum’s surrounding context. It consists of small to medium sized industries in the shape of small characteristic wooden buildings. It was important to create a museum with a high level of sensitivity towards these surroundings, yet at the same time for the new Maritime Museum and Exploratorium to stand out as a spectacular contemporary building and become a landmark of Porsgrunn,” Lars Bendrup explains, owner of TRANSFORM, and continues: “Our general vision was to turn a backside into a frontside. With the new museum the town will now orientate itself towards the beautiful river, which for much too long has been Porsgrunn’s industrial backside.”
New meets old
The new Maritime Museum and Exploratorium is composed of eleven smaller square volumes, together amounting to almost 2,000 m2. Each volume has a different roof slant that assembled make up a varied roof structure. A characteristic aluminium facade, locally produced in Porsgrunn, not only holds the dynamic building structure together, but at the same time it reflects light and colours from the surrounding Norwegian mountain landscape.
Dan Stubbergaard, founder and creative director of COBE, elaborates: “It is a sensitive art adding new to old in a historic area. First of all we wanted to understand the area’s characteristics and then we wanted to strengthen it but at the same time create something new and contrasting. The abrupt building structure of downscaled building volumes and the expressive roof profile are for example clear references to the area’s historic small wooden buildings, which all have their own particular roof profiles. This interpretation of the area’s pitched roofs and small wooden building entities sets the final frame for a unique and characteristic contemporary building.”
He continues: “The goal was to create a house that not only understands and shows consideration for its surroundings, but also contributes with something radically new and different.”
Porsgrunn Maritime Museum and Exploratorium Porsgrunn, Norway Client: Telemark Museum Architects: COBE and TRANSFORM Engineers: Sweco Gross area: 2.000 m2 Construction period: 2011-2013 Total construction costs: 34 mio.
Curving iridescent structures resembling the scaled bodies of a pair of dragons slump over the top of this new wing created by French studio Agence Jouin Manku at an office campus outside Paris (+ slideshow).
Agence Jouin Manku was asked to design a new amenities wing for the headquarters of Société Foncière Lyonnaise, France’s oldest property company, which is housed within a converted 1920s factory building on the banks of the Seine in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Entitled In/Out, the new wing comprises a curving three-storey building that revolves around a tube-shaped concrete tower. Blocks extend out from both sides of the tower and are both topped with curving structures clad with shimmering stainless-steel shingles.
“The roof is designed like a shell made of scales,” Aude Planterose of Agence Jouin Manku told Dezeen. “We can’t ignore the reference to an animal; it could be a beetle or a dragon.”
The iridescent tiles appear green when viewed straight on, but change colour from blue to purple when viewed at an angle.
“The building changes each time that you look at it,” said Planterose. “These tiles are perfect for facade or roof, and it is actually the same technique used for the slate tiles you find on all Parisian rooftops.”
Below the tiles, the glazed exterior walls are screened with vertical timber slats that vary in density depending of the lighting requirements of the rooms behind, which include cafe and restaurant facilities for the offices, as well as new boardrooms and a 200-seat auditorium.
A staircase connecting the floors of both blocks is contained within the central concrete tower, while a footbridge creates a link between the new and old buildings at first-floor level.
Agence Jouin Manku also renovated the lobby of the original building, adding new seating areas and a large oval reception deck.
This space leads through to a courtyard, where the architects have constructed a glazed pavilion supported by a lattice of branch-like wooden beams that meets the ground at only one point.
Photography is by Thierry Lewenberg-Sturm.
Here’s a project description from Jouin Manku:
IN/OUT by Agence Jouin Manku
An office “campus”, for Société Foncière Lyonnaise, an ambitious architectural project including the transformation of the lobby with the construction of a glass microarchitecture as well as the creation of a new wing.
80 years of history
Built in 1927 by the architect Adolphe Bocage, this building, a landmark of the golden age of industry, had long been used to produce telephone control units. Located on the banks of the Seine, the site, with nearly 7 acres and a 6-storey building, used to hold the lMT society (le Matériel Téléphonique). The building soon became a symbol of industrial innovation.
The site had been designed in keeping with the great principles of the Modern Movement in architecture using simple geometrical shapes, and reinforced concrete. In 1976, Thomson-CsF took control over lMT, who, at the time, employed 10 000 people.
In 1988, seventy years after its construction, Thomson Multimedia transformed the factory into offices and set up its headquarters in the building, until 2009. SFL then decided to restructure the building, aiming for it to become a benchmark in the tertiary sector, focusing on innovation as well as on wellbeing at work. It is this ambitious decision that gave birth to the major IN/OUT project.
The site’s new organisation
After our first commission to design a series of spaces for the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Paris, Société Foncière Lyonnaise (SFL), has asked us once again to embark on another adventure. This time, they have commissioned us to design a new amenities wing of their ambitious In/Out office campus, a landmark office project that is re-defining work spaces in France which houses a cafe, restaurant, board rooms, an auditorium as well as various technical spaces and the lobby, with his pavilion, of the historical building.
The IN/OUT project involves an office campus of more than 387 500 square feet. It is located on a former industrial site in Boulogne, at the West of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine River. This factory, which used to manufacture telephone tools in the 1930s, underwent a complete rehabilitation done by DTACC Architecture, such as many industrial sites in Boulogne.
Visitors enter the historical building and are welcomed into a large vast space similar to a hotel lobby. At the entrance lies a large oval desk that leads visitors to what used to be an exterior courtyard. In the courtyard one discovers a surprising micro-architecture: a glass pavilion that is held up by a series of intertwined and woven wood beams. An ethereal floating lattice which at one point swoops down and gently balances on the floor below on just one point. This new glass canopy in the central courtyard, creates a natural transition between the lobby of the historical building and the amenities wing.
This new amenities wing is nearly 40 000 sq ft.including the interiors. This building was further developed in collaboration with the engineering office TESS for the structural elements and the skin of the building and with architectural agency DTACC for the technical development and architectural execution.
The amenities wing
Agence Jouin Manku has conceived the new amenities wing (nearly 40 000 sq ft.), as well as the interior design of the wing. The building has been further developed in collaboration with the engineering office TESS and DTACC. The new wing also holds a series of services and amenities, alongside the workspaces within the ‘Bocage’ building (thus completing the IN/OUT campus). The wing holds: a 103 seats cafe, a 462 seats restaurant, a 200 seats auditorium, as well as corporate board rooms, lounges, 2 large terraces and a fitness centre.
A dynamic shape, symbol of an avant-garde building
How can workspaces in big companies be improved? What is missing? This interrogation has guided the design of the amenities wing. Agence Jouin Manku decided to create a very different atmosphere to complement the ‘Bocage’ building. This gives employees a healthy balance between formal and informal, as well as between work and play, an idea at the heart of the In/Out Campus.
The structure of the ‘Bocage’ building evokes nostalgia, professionalism and rigour. In contrast, the new wing has been conceived as a building of contemporary architecture, designed around the idea of movement and flow. Its shape has been made to create a series of intertwined spaces. The building is organised around the idea of passage: passing of people, light and air. It is also a place which evokes movement, production, action and dynamism.
The concrete heart: the centre of the building
The building is organised around a central tower, made of bush hammered concrete, which holds all vertical circulation. The choice to use concrete for the centre of the building was to create a coherence and dialogue with the neighbouring ‘Bocage’ building, which is made of the same material and clearly shows its original industrial character. Two wings revolve and wrap around the central tower, but they never meet. Their architectural lines are softer and each wing is a curved form, made of curved glass and vertical wood cladding. The spaces between the concrete centre and the wood wings are filled with glass, which allows light to penetrate almost everywhere in the building, vertically or horizontally.
On the outside, the density of the vertical wood cladding increases and decreases, depending on its position, and which indoor space it corresponds to. The pattern starts out smoothly, then its texture, created by adding chamfers, changes. These edges catch light differently and create a sense of depth on the facade. Inside, the main materials are wood, bush hammered concrete, plaster and curved glass. The curved wood that wraps a large part of the interior adds to the sense of warmth, while the simple use of glass and concrete add a crisp modernity to the project. A footbridge connects the two buildings. This bridge, made of white painted steel and wood, makes access easy between the two buildings, and acts as a symbolic link betweenthe two architectural signatures, and the birth of a common project.
An architecture inspired By nature: an inside out and outside in design
Inspired by the Saint-Cloud park, the Seine river and the lush nature just close to the site, the amenities pavilion has been designed to allow these elements to penetrate the building, as well as to create spaces that would allow one to enjoy the gardens and terraces, created as an extension of the building. The flowing shapes of the project recall the movements of nature. To underline this idea, the roof of the wing has been designed as a coloured envelope wrapping the building. The coloured stainless steel tiles were chosen for their particular iridescent character. In front view, the tiles are green, but their colour changes as the angle and light move. This gives the building a dynamic and always changing character, echoing the variations in the sky and sunlight.
The insides
The interior design and furniture have been thought out as a continuation of the outside lines of the building. While the central concrete core holds the curved staircase that links the various levels of the building, each level opens out on spaces filled with light: simple yet warm spaces, spaces that open out on terraces and gardens, as well as spaces that invite one to discover the next room. The circulation is therefore fluid, and the connection between each space is harmonious. Employees can thus enjoy each space, and will always be invited to discover the next one.
The transformation of the lobby: a micro architecture at the heart of the ‘Bocage’ building
On the outside, the ‘Bocage’ building still looks like an industrial fortress from the 1930s. Yet inside, gently perched in the space of the old atrium, Agence Jouin Manku has designed a ‘soft’ space, filled with light, which is one of their trademarks.
Visitors enter the building and are welcomed into a vast space, similar to a hotel lobby. at the entrance lies a large oval desk, which leads visitors to what used to be an indoor atrium. In the newly created courtyard, one discovers a surprising micro-architecture: a glass canopy, held up by a series of intertwined wood beams, an ethereal floating lattice, which at one point swoops down and gently balances above the floor.
This structural frame was a complex element that required the expertise of TESS, an engineering firm with whom Agence Jouin Manku regularly works.
This lobby is the new heart of the ‘Bocage’ building. It is a central meeting point between different spaces. It also invites visitors or employees to have a break. Both simple in its design and complex in its realisation, the glass pavilion foretells the bold amenities wing designed by the agence Jouin Manku.
The vertical circulation spaces
The other major architectural work is the transformation of the office spaces, especially through the vertical circulation spaces and service points, which now stand on the inside corners of the courtyard.
This has created new circulation spaces around the lobby. In the upper floors, natural light now floods largely into the workspaces. Corridors and stairs are highlighted by a strong yellow colour. This creates a contrast with the rest of the building and encourages one to use the stairs as well as the elevators.
Conclusion
IN/OUT is an ambitious architectural project by DTaCC architecture and agence Jouin Manku; together, they created two unique buildings for SFL. The campus offers a new approach to workspace based on the ideas of sharing, wellbeing and collective activities. The renovation and construction have greatly improved the campus’ amenities, for the benefit of the future users. This project also transforms a typical scenery of the Seine river.
Rounded shingles create wooden scales across the walls of this small house in Hackney that architect Laura Dewe Mathews has built for herself (+ slideshow).
Nicknamed the Gingerbread House by neighbours, the two-storey house sits behind the reconstructed wall of a former Victorian box factory and its tall windows overlap the mismatched brickwork.
“I and the planners were keen to retain something of the original building envelope,” Laura Dewe Mathews told Dezeen. “The pale grey/blue bricks were part of the workshop when I bought it and the clean London stock bricks were infills.”
The architect drew inspiration from decorative vernacular architecture in Russia to design the cedar-shingle facade, then added windows framed by thick galvanised steel surrounds.
“I was keen that the cladding somehow softened the sharp silhouette of the overall, stylised building form and thought the round ‘fancy butts’ might achieve this,” she said. “Contemporary architecture can often be perceived to be severe and alienating and I wanted to avoid that. I hope the balance of the sharp galvanised steel window reveals and cills versus the round singles manages to be more friendly.”
To avoid overlooking neighbouring houses, all windows had to be placed on the north-facing street elevation, so Dewe Mathews also added a large skylight to bring in natural light from above.
A double-height kitchen and dining room sits below this skylight on one side of the house and opens out to a small patio. The adjoining two-storey structure contains a living room on the ground floor, plus a bedroom, bathroom and small study upstairs.
Walls and ceilings are lined with timber panels, while a resin floor runs throughout the house.
Here’s a project description from Laura Dewe Mathews:
Box House / “Gingerbread House”
This is the first new build project by Laura Dewe Mathews. The motivation for the project was to create a domestic set of spaces with generous proportions and lots of natural light while working with a limited budget.
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
The site was originally part of the garden of an early Victorian end of terrace house in Hackney. It was first built on in the 1880s, to provide Mr Alfred Chinn (the then resident of the end of terrace house) with space for his box factory, making wooden boxes for perfume and jewellery.
Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image
In discovering the history of the site, Laura Dewe Mathews was drawn to assemble yet another box inside the original envelope of the factory.
Above: cross section through kitchen and dining room
The one bed, new-build house was recently completed using a cross-laminated timber super structure, placed inside the existing perimeter brickwork walls and rising up out of them. The timber structure has been left exposed internally. Externally the palette of materials is limited to the original and infill brickwork, round “fancy-butt” western red cedar shingles and galvanised steel flashings, window frames and window reveals. The soft shape of the shingles contrasting with the crisp edges of the galvanized steel.
Above: cross section through living room and bedroom
The form of the proposal was a response to tricky site constraints, common for urban developments in already built up areas. The neighbours’ rights to sunlight, daylight and privacy needed to be respected. Consequently the only elevation that could have any windows was the north facing, pavement fronted elevation. The proposal counters this with large south facing roof-lights; added to this, light is brought into the main living spaces via a new private yard.
Above: front elevation
At 80msq the result is a small yet generously proportioned house. At ground floor level it retains the openness of the original workshop while feeling a sense of separation from the street immediately adjacent.
Above: side elevations
Structural engineer: Tall Engineers Main contractor: J & C Meadows, now incorporated within IMS Building Solutions
Above: rear elevation
Sub contractor/suppliers: KLH – cross laminated timber super structure Stratum – resin flooring Vincent timber – cedar shingle supplier The Rooflight Company – roof light supplier Roy Middleton – bespoke joinery including kitchen MPM engineering – stainless steel to kitchen
This terrace of eight houses by Peter Barber Architects is clad with timber shingles to match the neighbouring fences and sheds of a housing estate in east London (+ slideshow).
“The building sits at the rear of a 1960s council estate, where there are little rear gardens, rickety sheds and a patchwork of wooden fences,” Peter Barber told Dezeen. “Our building shares a similar aesthetic.”
The timber shingles also create an analogous pattern and texture to the brick walls of the surrounding residences, which face onto the same community garden as the new houses.
Each house has at least two small terraces, whether on the roof or at ground level, and Barber hopes over time these will “get planted and personalised by the people that live there”.
The largest residence has seven bedrooms, while one has six and the others have either three or four.
Half of the houses will be allocated to social housing tenants, while the other half will be sold.
Here’s a few details from Peter Barber Architects:
Hannibal Road Gardens/Beveridge Mews
Hannibal Road Gardens is a social housing project set around a community garden in Stepney.
The proposal replaces a problematic strip of garages and creates a fourth side to a square within an existing housing estate with 3 slab blocks forming the other sides.
Typical ground floor plan – click above for larger image
The newly landscaped and densely planted community garden created in the centre of the square will be overlooked by a delightful new terrace of eight contemporary family houses.
The new row of houses is conceived as a continuation of the timber garden fences of the existing housing blocks, being constructed from timber and configured as a series of stepped and notched south east facing garden terraces.
Typical first floor plan – click above for larger image
The accommodation is predominantly made up of large family houses (3, 4, 6 bedrooms). These will be 100% affordable, 50% of which are to be socially rented.
Typical second floor plan – click above for larger image
Key features:
» High density, large houses created on a difficult, single-aspect site; » Innovative notched terrace typology, creating a variety of amenity spaces and outlooks; » All courtyard houses have their own front door and a minimum of two large courtyards / roof terraces; » Great example of collaborative approach to planning, working closely with Tower Hamlets Planners and Highways Officers.
Typical roof plan – click above for larger image
Client: Southern Housing Group Contract Value: c£1.5 million London Borough of Tower Hamlets
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