The renovation and addition to this partly 2 storey home was designed to accommodate an extended family of eight on a relatively modest site within a dense urban context. A bedroom for each of the four children, one for the parents and another possibly for grandparents, generous living spaces and a swimming pool were key to the brief. Situated in a relatively intact her...
March Studio’s description Situated in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Kensington, ‘The Mullet’ performs contorted gymnastics in order to facilitate an ambitious brief on a small, yet opportunistic site. The clients, Scott Smith and Phoebe Moore, wanted to commission not only a new and comfortable home, but also sought a challenging design. Running a family business in...
The architect’s description Nestled at the edge of a subalpine meadow in the upper Methow Valley, the Ranchero is a base camp for year round outdoor adventure and a social hub for gatherings of friends and family. The plan emphasizes simplicity, abundant natural light and a strong connection to the surrounding peaks and adjacent aspen grove. The public wing features an...
People typically cool their homes with air conditioning, but it results in expensive electrical bills, and it’s not environmentally friendly to use that much energy if you can avoid it. So when Kevin Daly Architects designed this affordable housing in Santa Monica, they included these custom window frames that protect the apartments from the daytime sun hitting the windo...
The architect’s description This house has been worked on to look like a massive block, which has been excavated to generate different areas in the inside. The house has three different levels: the basement, first floor and the terrace. The basement is connected with the exterior by tall windows, which allow plenty of sunlight and cross ventilation for every bedroom. T...
Tucked away in a remote desert location just outside of the U.S. Capitol Reef National Park is a plot of land with some of the most impressive rock formations in the world. The owners of the plot, two highly intelligent professionals with minimal design sensibilities and sharp wit, came to Imbue Design requesting the design of a small campus of structures to occupy the d...
The home sits right on the edge of the property to provide a panoramic view of the river below. Located at the bend of a meandering river, Rock River House is designed to provide its owners with panoramic views of the glistening water below and forested nature preserve beyond. The family had admired the small, overgrown site for years, recognizing its potential at the e...
The architect’s description This residence is situated on approximately 2 ½ acres with direct access to, and views of, the Connecticut River. Located at the end of a private drive, it allows the owners a secluded spot within the neighborhood. The challenge was to design a modern home, as requested by the owners, within the traditional environs of Essex, Connecticut. T...
The architect’s description An elegant modern addition to a traditional beach house, renovated by SYA years earlier, forms a dramatic backdrop to a 66’ long infinity pool and creates an expansive outdoor gathering space for family and guests. The pavilion is raised above hurricane flood level and finished beneath to provide shaded living spaces cooled by sea breezes. T...
The architect’s description Located within close proximity to Rock Creek Park, and with easy access to the shops and restaurants on Connecticut Avenue, this large lot in Northwest Washington, DC presented a desirable opportunity for a young family to build a new house in this sought-after neighborhood. Designed to respect both the scale of neighboring houses and the rh...
The architect’s description The Mountain Wood residence embodies the San Francisco firm’s belief that architecture should be expressive, timeless, and always united with the natural beauty of the site—in this case, the small rural town of Woodside, California. To create a variety of complementary indoor and outdoor living experiences, Walker Warner arranged three zinc-...
They have similar dimensions but distinct orientations. Three of the volumes are orthogonally organized around a core, whilst a fourth rotates to match the direction of an existing neighbouring building. The proximity between the two constructions led to a desired dialogue. The modest dimensions of the existing building determined the scale of the house while the vernacu...
The project’s description The Kent house is a collaboration between Architect David Watson and Builder, AGUSHI Pty Ltd. The client presented the design team with a brief – to create a contemporary, minimalist and low maintenance house, which would be bright, spacious and homely. The house was to have four bedrooms with three bathrooms, basement garaging for at least fi...
The designer’s description Set on a verdant land parcel dotted with large mature trees, the Three Trees House house is nestled -much like a fork- between three large trees. The premise for choosing to situate the building amidst the trees was to preserve the existing trees while enjoying the natural setting in close proximity of the habitable areas. The house is conceiv...
The renovation and addition to this partly 2 storey home was designed to accommodate an extended family of eight on a relatively modest site within a dense urban context. A bedroom for each of the four children, one for the parents and another possibly for grandparents, generous living spaces and a swimming pool were key to the brief. Situated in a relatively intact ...
It’s here, surrounded by a Mediterranean garden full of local species and carefully designed in the Sicilian tradition that you can find Casa Faro, a refined detached villa constructed by the Milanese studio NCB ARCHITETTURA. All the quarters gravitate towards the central patio, which is the focal point of the house connecting the different areas. “Mediterranean arch...
The architect’s description In a time of rising land prices and energy costs, these three townhomes fit on what was an underutilized single family home lot in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. Each of the houses in the overall project is unified and distinct, each structure is composed as a unit, and each home is clearly distinguished. In this way it simultaneou...
The architect’s description The Port Ludlow Residence is a compact, 2400 SF modern house located on a wooded waterfront property at the north end of the Hood Canal, a long, fjord-like arm of western Puget Sound. The house creates a simple glazed living space that opens up to become a front porch to the beautiful Hood Canal. The east-facing house is sited along a high b...
This 4,500-square foot residence is located near Jackson Hole, Wyoming in a neighborhood with flat, open, grassy sites with expansive views of Glory Peak and the Teton Mountain Range. Taking advantage of adjacency to 120-acres of open space to the south and the dramatic mountains to the west and north, the house is site responsive with simple and modest forms that blend...
The architect’s description Set in a rural valley of ranches and orchards, the owners named the project “New Caelifera” after the scientific name for the grasshoppers that live on the site. Like a grasshopper, the building sits lightly on the meadow with a low profile. The owners like the angular aesthetic of origami. We responded by metaphorically lifting the landscap...
The designer’s description A house of two halves, the two-storey ‘Quad’ inspired front portion takes advantage of park views from the first floor master bedroom and lounge.A single storey pavilion-like structure accommodates the kitchen, meals and living area at the rear.A double sided fireplace separates the meals and living space, where exposed concrete blocks mimic t...
The house is located in a district in the east area of Santiago, and one of its characteristics is the presence of old trees. The spaces are organized in an “H” shaped plant adapted to the lot, having great care for the trees and creating patios that reinforce their presence from the inside. The first level is organized around a native Peumo (cryptocaria alba) that...
The spectacular 3,000-square-foot waterfront private residence was designed to reconnect its inhabitants with nature, encouraging a greater consciousness of the elements and their manifestations. In a time when architecture has become fixated with computer generated forms and over-the-top modern design, House on a Dune is elegant in its simplicity – designed to heighten...
The architect’s description It’s shape is defined by the same number of individual volumes. They have similar dimensions but distinct orientations. Three of the volumes are orthogonally organized around a core, whilst a fourth rotates to match the direction of an existing neighbouring building. The proximity between the two constructions led to a desired dialogue. The...
The architect’s description Our clients for this project were a family intent upon staying closely connected even while moving to a considerably larger home. This was accomplished with the use of energy efficient glass walls throughout, an open floor plan, and sight lines between floating levels and rooms allowing the family members to stay connected visually throughout...
The architect’s description MSA’s renovation opened this single-family townhouse to the outdoors, light and views. With a narrow building footprint, MSA’s design focused on creating large, comfortable, open spaces, by minimizing internal walls and divisions. Living areas and the kitchen are separated naturally by furniture and cabinetry, so that light and air moves unin...
The architect’s description The house locates at a peaceful uncrowded neighborhoods in Binh Chanh Distinct, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After 10 years working and saving, the couples bought a 7m x 16m (22 ft x 52 ft) ground. They wanted to have a comfortable house for kids: 3 rooms for family members, 1 room for grandparents’ visit, garage, and functionalities (working ...
From the designers Mölle is an extreme location with regards to topography and landscape, as well as history and aura. Around the turn of the century 1900, Northern Europeans were migrating to “Sinful Mölle” – where men and women were allowed to enjoy each other’s company at the same beach – leaving a trace of eccentric and experimental architecture from the first half ...
Lake Cle Elum sits north of Snoqualmie Pass and east of the Cascade Crest. It is a large and somewhat remote lake which enjoys the heat of the summer and the snows of the winter. “Base Camp” was conceived by Johnston Architects as a retreat and eventually primary home for an active family of seven. It sleeps over 20 people, but more importantly acts as a recreational ba...
From the designer This house is 35m long and 6m wide consisting of two main structures. The lifted element contributes to the illusion that the house is floating in the forest, as well as creating a covered outside space. The first floor contains the main entrance and the storage areas of a bicycle pod, kayak pod and technical pod. A library is situated in the roof of ...
The building was thus designed as a shifted, irregular volume, ensuring the existence of several “centres of interest” on each of the two levels, and, at the same time, the opening of several areas towards the outside. Inside, despite the varying functions, the spaces openly communicate with each other and there are very few enclosed areas, which contributes to a sen...
The owner’s father built the original house and the building was in an awkward position on the plot. According to the brief, the client wanted to have two master bedrooms along with four bedrooms – this required additional floor area as the original house area could not comfortably fit in the extra rooms. However, the architects resolved to make use of the existing struc...
The ambition was to capture fantastic views across the valley, so the owners together with the architects decided to place the chalets on top of the mountain crest in order to provide 360 degrees views. Due to the existing forest along the crest, the architects derived their concept from bird nests and developed it into chalets which are floating above the landscape. ...
Throughout this home are numerous encounters with nature whilst still being very much indoors. The architectural placement of the building allows for the viewing of the feature tree from all of the main spaces, from either of its two storeys right down to the basement. First Floor A granite wall at the entrance made from interspersed panels creates a series of holes ...
The slender and lengthy shape is a product of the property boundaries and makes for a straightforward exception among the neighbouring structures. The floor plan is organised as a sequence of spaces that allows for a practical arrangement of all the ancillary rooms and eventually leads to the generous and open living and working spaces. The building accommodates the home...
The Background: A traditional ‘agraharam’ house is a long rectangular temple street house stacked around the four streets that bound the temple. These street-fronted houses have a deep social and cultural value in their organisation of space - being narrow and linear, the hierarchy of rooms range from public areas up front to the more private family spaces deeper in. Cl...
