Located in a suburb at the edge of Aarau, the capital of Aargau canton, the area's green vistas took centre stage in the design process. Subsequently, the team focussed on creating a generous top floor, from which the owners and their guests can take in the area's picturesque scenery. The house's location – at the foot of the Jura mountains – and local planning regul...
With the Sungei Bedok River as its backdrop, large openings with views out onto surrouding garden foliage and a striking green wall cleverly integrated into the project, this sleek glass house seems at one with nature's touch. The project is in clear dialogue with its surroundings, but it was also designed as an exploration of the fundamental role of a home; it was co...
1500 West Georgia, the proposed 48 story residential tower by Bosa Properties poised on two ground levels and six basement floors, could well become Vancouver’s new urban beacon. Not only does it delineate the end of Stanley Park as it merges into built environment, but it also heralds the beginning of ‘downtown,’ says the Bejing-based German architect, known for his inn...
Created by local architect Susan Fitzgerald and her builder partner Brainard Fitzgerald, the project was conceived and built by the family team and neatly encompasses more than one uses under one roof. It comprises the Fitzgeralds' own home, a workspace for their architecture and contractor studios (with equipment storage on site), as well as a separate two-storey rental...
The plot, located in Hammersmith, London, had been designated as contaminated land when the architecture team took it on. This didn't stop them. Armed with an inspiring new design, vPPR completely transformed the site, which now, tucked away behind its original garage doors, hosts the award-winning Vaulted House. In order to de-contaminate the site, a deep excavation...
The interdisciplinary practice's Haus JJ – located on the fourth and fifth floors of a terraced pile in the central Berlin district of Kreuzberg – is a two floor, modernist family home arranged around a central 'pivot point' hall that connects the levels by way of a spiral staircase. It's not a hugely expansive space, but the the delineation of the floors as private ...
Commissioned as a collaboration between its clients - a young family with two children - and the Scandinavian wood manufacturers Moelven, the scheme was conceived as a private home, but also acts as a showcase and showroom for the sponsors involved in its construction. Villa Moelben is made entirely from Nordic wood products and aims to be a modern and comfortable fa...
And yet, Barcelona-based Josep Ferrando's latest house in Spain's Sant-Cugat - a Catalan town known for its rich cultural heritage - does just that. Casa Sant-Cugat is a hidden gem within a historical hub. The architect kept the existing street façade and it is only when entering the house that the contrast between old and new becomes visible. With this project, cons...
There are no large swathes of glazing, typically found on the south elevation - in fact there are essentially no openings on the house's two longest facades - eschewing the perennial go-to for so many 'light bathed' new builds. It also doesn't doff its cap to the vernacular forms dotted all around this beautiful Highland landscape. Formally it's quite unlike any of its t...
152 Elizabeth Street, a beautifully formed, seven-storey, seven-residence building situated in the heart of Nolita that is scheduled to complete at the end of 2016, is Ando’s first residential building in Manhattan. Developed by Sumaida + Khurana, a local firm that is making it a point to work with renowned architects that have yet to build in New York City, 152 Elizabet...
The project description This residential project has been specially designed by MU Architecture to be in harmony with the style of the original red brick worker’s residence. The building required a significant structural intervention in the basement to straighten the skewed frame and support the new mezzanine. In addition, the ventilation system of the restaurant had t...
The architect’s description Casa Meztitla is an intervention of a natural scenario. It showcases the luxurious value of leisure, the tropical weather, the intense sunlight, the smells of nature, the over 500 year-old landscaped terraces and the ever-present rock mountain: El Tepozteco. It is context in itself. The house, built out of rough stone, crawls low under the t...
“Twenty three-02″ features an 800 square foot glass and steel addition with a walnut and marble kitchen and a master bedroom suite. The existing Carriage House was remodeled in to a Guest House re-using the old wood floors.
The architect’s description K.P.D.O is proud to be at the forefront of Hong Kong’s growing interest in its own architectural heritage as it launches the Tung Fat Building in Kennedy Town. Originally a low-rise tong lau built in the 1960s, the Tung Fat Building is located on Kennedy Town’s waterfront in the Western District of Hong Kong Island. K.P.D.O. was tasked with ...
The contemporary houseboat is almost completed, but has purposely been left unfinished, so the new owners can complete it to their own taste. This impressive floating home, which has over 3,000 sq ft of internal accommodation, was designed by MAA Architects and can be found on the sought-after Taggs Island, close to Hampton Court Palace. The houseboat comes with a rare...
The architect’s description The house is located in the Patagonia región in Argentina in a site with a subtle slope and views towards the Gutierrez Lake and the Catedral, Ventana and Otto Hills. On the first approach, two interrogations arise: what is the relation between the project and the landscape and how does one live in a spacious home. We are looking for a build...
Inside the apartment, there is a fireplace with a large sculptural surround that hides a concrete column.
Here is what Chris Price has to say about the project… Located on 230 Parkview Dr, Summit Park, Park City UT lies one of the most efficient houses in the country. The Summit Haus is an exploration in design and construction of advanced high performance housing. Seeing a rising demand for sustainable housing along with rising Carbon emissions leading to global warming, ...
The architect’s description Though many buildings are made from wood in Japan from the old days, it is getting more and more difficult to use wood for houses in the urban area. Especially for the exterior. The reason for this is because lot of effort has been put on to fireproofing buildings in the urban area for fire at the occasion of earthquake and also since we lost...
Hidden inside, is a contemporary ensuite bathroom. The box floats within the historic environment, and demonstrates an attempt to respect the past, while offering an updated amentiy.
The designer’s description Design project of the apartment has been developed at the end of 2011. After that we have been working on its realization avoiding bringing any changes into its original planning and design. The owner of the apartment requested to create cozy open space for herself and for hosting guests. The architects planned the apartment using minimum doo...
The architect’s description Located within an eclectic community in the north end of Halifax, Nova Scotia is a self-commissioned mixed use project by Susan Fitzgerald Architecture and her builder partner Brainard Fitzgerald. Neighbors include: the city crematorium, the Centre for Islamic Development Mosque, a print shop, a legal marijuana grow operation, a recycling dep...
The architect’s description Sited gently on the lower slope of a dramatic sixty foot high coastal bank and surrounded by miles of undeveloped Cape Cod National Seashore beaches and scrub pines is a warm, modern beach house that is more than just a place to enjoy uninterrupted ocean views and sea breezes. Our clients dreamed of a house that would work equally well as bo...
The designer’s description This approach necessitated completely tearing down the rear façade and improper installations of an Antwerp residence, and replacing it with the largest glass pivoting doors in the world. The sleek, contemporary glass rear with gigantic custom-made doors (3m wide, 6m high) stands in stark contrast to the solemn front. The stunning three-level...
The designer’s description The traditional, street facing facade remains untouched, concealing the dramatic change to the interior and rear facade. Given the clients goals for cleanly detailed spaces oriented to the northern view of the Ship Canal, the rear facade of the existing house was blown open and replaced with an aperture that spans the entire width of the struc...
The architect’s description The house stands on the island of Vega in the Norwegian archipelago not far from the polar circle. The site is distinctive for its grand and harsh northern landscape with wide panoramas of the Norwegian Sea and the jagged mountains rising from it. Not far from the site, near the ocean shore, stands a group of traditional seaside huts, in Nor...
The architect’s description The Spiegel Haus is home to a young family and a home-away-from-home for a string of overseas visitors, so it was important to our clients that the spaces be not just beautiful, but restful, robust and low-maintenance. With frequent guests and a house operating across three levels, grey-ironbark was used to line and demarcate the circulation...
The architect’s description The client brief called for one renovated 1890 cottage and one small concrete house, both on a single steep waterfront site in Hobart, Tasmania. Heritage constraints and eventual Planning Appeal success resulted in a single residence which can be zoned into separate living environments. The suburb of Battery Point has great historical import...
The designer’s description Positioned on Edgevale Road in Kew, the property belongs to a young couple and their two children. The couple purchased the site in 2010, with the intention of creating something extraordinary. Living in the house for two years gave them a better understanding of the type of spaces they wanted to inhabit; spaces with an emphasis on raw materia...
The designer’s description This apartment for a young couple is located in one of the most picturesque sights of Kyiv, on slopes of Dnieper river. Light hits and fills the space from dawn till sunset offering splendid colour change on both sides of the window. This time the architects decided to stick to the minimal urban loft which remains an unusual choice for family...
It all started as a simple snapshot; At a very steep site with clear view towards the sea a holiday retreat protects its inhabitants from the sun heat and the strong winds while soothing the senses under the moonlight. We have placed the building at the only available naturally formed plateau of the site in order to avoid unnecessary groundworks that could spoil the reli...
The architect’s description This project is set against the backdrop of the pre-Andean landscape of the Central Valley, famous for its remarkable landmarks. Facing the breath-taking mountain range of the Andes towards the South and the East, and looking onto a rolling, luxuriant valley of almond trees to the West, the house is located eastward next to a water reservoir,...
The architect’s description Apartment owners – family of two and a dog – re-planned a 2-bedroom flat into a spacious studio filled with natural light and air for the most part of the day. Defending every square meter of the space, architects assigned functional zones in the most effective way. Architects used only natural materials in a perfect mixture with steal, rust...
The designer’s description The “L” shaped house generates a square garden in which there is a huge ash. In order to keep the magnificent tree and to avoid seeing the house from the inside of the studio, two main windows will focus the views to the corners of the garden. The plan of the studio is cross-shaped, where the main working space is double-height while the othe...
The architect’s description The conditions of the existing house lack of an optimum spatial and functional distribution that could fulfill the needs and the manners that the summer house is being lived and experienced: the existing house sits far away from the lake shore neglecting the most privileged views towards the lake and its landscape, while at the same time both...
The designers description This prewar loft in NYC’s Greenwich Village is an essay in materials. Wood, steel, Corian and plaster are treated as a narrative through the space. At the entry, these materials are at their most raw, elemental form, and moving back through the loft they are treated with an increasing degree of sophistication and precision. A ladder on a rail...
