© Anthony Coleman

Architects: Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
Location: London, UK
Project Team: Brian Vermeulen, Richard Cottrell, Simon Tucker, SangSoo Bae
Client: I-Foundation
Temple Design: ARP Associates
Planning Consultant: DP9
Photographs: Anthony Coleman

© Anthony Coleman

Krishna-Avanti Primary School is the first voluntary aided Hindu School in the UK. Cottrell and Vermeulen Architecture attended workshops with the school community to understand the religious and cultural ambitions that the community had for the school and to establish an appropriate architecture. Specific requirements came out of this process: a Hindu chapel built in traditional Vedic style as the focus of the school; a music and drama space; a spiritual japa garden; zones where pupils can be barefoot and environmentally friendly construction materials. The school architecture reflects the Hindu community, whilst being a state of the art educational environment and a sustainable building with an integrated engineering approach that provides a low impact, energy efficient solution. The school has one of the highest BREEAM scores for a school in the UK and is fully accessible and inclusive. It was completed in September 2009 for a budget of £7 Million.

The Hindu religion, teaching and the building’s architecture are integrated at the Krishna-Avanti School. At the centre of the school (in plan and symbolically) is a traditional temple and the school is aligned on the site in keeping with Vastu principles. Teaching spaces are arranged around a courtyard facing onto the temple. The whole school is seen as a learning environment, and it is intended that the environment and landscaped grounds becomes a curriculum resource.

© Anthony Coleman

The classrooms can be extended out in two directions; towards a spiritual courtyard garden and towards covered outdoor teaching areas and playgrounds and each contains a classroom shrine & quiet area, an area for ICT / whiteboard projection and an area for art & science experiments. Children wear indoor shoes throughout the school and all classrooms have a view of the temple. The classrooms are designed for maximum natural light and optimum thermal comfort using insulation, under-floor heating, acoustic linings and natural ventilation. CO2
The dining and music and drama rooms are an example of a cross-curricula approach. The spaces interconnect with the temple, the main hall, the kitchen and the school allotments. The deities installed in the temple watch over the pupils. Dance, music and Yoga are part of the curriculum – they are also an important part of Hindu worship, hence the connection to the temple. School dinner is a highlight of the school day. All of the (organic vegetarian) food is blessed by the deities and eating becomes an act of worship. Hand rinse and mouth rinse facilities are located in the dining area for hygiene as well as religious ritual. Children and staff sit together on the floor to eat and eating also becomes a lesson in social etiquette and respect. Some food is grown on site in the school’s allotments.

© Anthony Coleman

Krishna-Avanti School buildings are also integrated carefully with the school landscape. The landscape is conceived as a series of outdoor classrooms, educational gardens, play gardens with fruit trees and herbs, spiritual gardens, exercise gardens, ecology and wildlife habitat, recycling gardens, outdoor dining, and frameworks for future expansions. The landscape provides learning resources, fuel sources, building resources, food sources, & pollutant cleaning.
Habitats have been created to encourage diverse insect, animal and plant populations. Wildlife corridors have been created across the site to provide safe passage for animals and insects. Ecology is studied and science experiments can be set using the elements. A flood reservoir and a wildlife pond with dipping platform become an outdoor classroom.

The original landscape features were a resource to be used in a positive way. Earth from the building excavations was used to make acoustic bunds and children’s play mounds which also act as sound buffers to control noise transmission from the road traffic and from the playground to the surrounding housing.
A vegetable garden and orchard provide a teaching resource and healthy organic food to be used in the school kitchen. Rainwater collected from the sedum covered roofs is used to water the garden.

© Anthony Coleman

Interesting and cultural water features, natural environments and further aspects of Vastu which utilise natural resources encourage children to be sensitive towards all living beings, other religions, cultures and to the environment around them, whilst promoting good character and responsibility. Areas of Ayurvedic plants planted in the landscape teach Hindu symbolism and can be used for cooking and therapy.

The school was the recipient of the 2010 Harrow Architectural and Environmental Award run by the Harrow Heritage Trust and Harrow Council and was listed in the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Top

Kirshna-Avanti Primary School and Sustainability:
Hindus are taught to revere life and nature, considering both as sacred gifts from God. This scriptural tenet is an important principle for the School. Krishna-Avanti Primary School aims to produce socially aware citizens who adopt responsible lifestyles that help sustain our planet.
It is intended that the school be a beacon of sustainability, and waste reduction and recycling will be integrated into the curriculum. Composting bins are provided for all classrooms and the school will be provided with a textile bank as part of a Harrow Council initiative. The school’s vegetarian food policy also markedly reduces the amount of waste which cannot be composted. Some food for the school will be grown on site reducing the need for ingredients to be delivered to the school.

foor plan

A key driver for the client was to create a sustainable school environment. From the outset, the design team and client set up consultations and strategies to define the material palette, low/renewable energy technologies, community involvement, and future adaptability in order to ensure a sustainable and future proofed design (for example the foundations have been designed to allow the walls to be opened up if open-plan teaching is required in the future).
The environmental engineering systems for Krishna-Avanti Primary School have been conceived and designed to reduce energy consumption and minimise carbon production in a number of fully integrated ways:

Landscape Plan

Passive Technology: The starting point of the low energy consumption strategy has been to minimise active use of primary energy and harness natural resources where possible:
• Thermal mass has been included to act as a passive buffer to peaks of internal temperature
• Enhanced performance thermal insulation with low U values
• Rain water harvesting and re-use
• Green roofs for enhanced ecological benefit
• Integrated scope for future school expansion
• Natural ventilation with automatic controls
• Teaching spaces and halls optimised for natural daylighting
• External solar control louvres to limit solar gain and direct glare
• Sustainable urban drainage and on-site storm water detention pond

 

Section

Active Technology: Where active means have been necessary in order to service the school building, a range of integrated low energy and renewable technologies have been specified:
• Ground source heat pumps have been installed to provide up to 68% of the space heating demand of the school building
• Under floor heating works in concert with the ground source heat pumps
• Local thermostatic controls have been specified for control of maximum hot water temperature at taps
• Use of recycled water for garden irrigation
• Heat recovery ventilation systems for classroom sanitary accommodation
• Absence detection, low energy artificial lighting controls
• Daylight sensing and time-clock control of external lighting to minimise energy consumption and light pollution
• Metering of all primary energy use
• Fully automatic and self learning, BMS control system with graphical user interface to optimise control and operation of M & E systems
Energy efficient construction procedures: Contractors practiced reduced waste on site; co-ordinated deliveries; used recycling skips; water use on site was monitored; earth excavations were re-used; hoardings were recycled; recycled crushed concrete shingle and sand were used wherever possible.

Site Plan

Education Integration: The Building Management System is available to staff and pupils via a graphical front end and a visual display showing the operation of the heat pumps is located in the school entrance foyer. The internal environmental conditions in each of the classrooms, the ICT suite and the multi-purpose halls will be constantly monitored by the automatic building management system (BMS). Each classroom is provided with a visual indicator unit with simple traffic light signal lamps to show the teacher and children, the current carbon dioxide concentration within the space. This visual indication is intended to give the teacher an immediate and educational indication of deteriorating internal environmental conditions. The BMS acts on the CO2 sensing to instigate the timely opening of a window to increase fresh air and increase the rate of natural ventilation. The main plant room has a window installed adjacent to the front entrance of the school to allow children and public to view the renewable energy plant.

Cite:

King , Victoria . "The Krishna-Avanti Primary School / Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture" 20 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 10 Oct 2012.

House C

House C by RTA-office

Wooden House by Atelier Martel

Paris architects Atelier Martel have completed a house with four gabled facades in the Vosges mountains in France.

The project resulted from a study of vernacular building methods in the area and is a combination of two farm-building typologies.

The house is clad in wood and has sliding shutters at all openings, which appear randomly distributed across the building’s surface.

Photographs are by Barbara Bouyne.
The following text is from Atelier Martel:
–
atelier martel
architectes associés
This plan settles the question of a new vernacular in the architecture of mountain in France. The architecture of this home asks the question of the place, it seems familiar because it borrows the archetypes of vernacular building surroundings. This position is partly owed to the will to be confronted with the real, simplicity, poor laiss materials. The culmination of a theoretical research is observable through the reinterpretation of forms of traditional building. This home of 265 m ² is constructed within the limits of a budget very controlled considering program and of environmental step.

It has an insulation reinforced by the outside, the internal temperature is supported in 14°C thanks to a system of Canadian well. Energy to achieve a comfortable temperature is so minimized. Rainwater is recovered for sprinkling and toilet.

“Do not build so picturesque, the colorful leaves to the walls, mountains and sun. The person who dresses so picturesque is a buffoon. The peasant dresses do not so picturesque. But it is. ” Adolf Loos, Bauen in den Bergen, 1913
Adolf Loos, who is this reflection, attached great importance to the forms used by farmers for their buildings because they are in his part of the heritage bequeathed by our ancestors. Loos believed it important to discover the origin of these forms, but only if technological advances allow us to improve, we must take advantage of it. Changes to traditional construction methods are acceptable only if they provide an advantage. These could be a basis for the evolution of architectural production in rural environments. Far from purely regionalists, to use a set of forms or materials supposed to represent the architecture of a given region, they could allow some interpretation of the tradition and the vernacular architecture in general.

Architecture
The architecture of this home asks the question of the place. It sounds familiar, almost normal, but has something unexpected, intriguing and even disturbing. Familiar, because it footprint archetypes of vernacular buildings around, simple volume pierced windows, doors and wearing a “roof”. Strange also because the reading of these elements is disconcerting: the size and number of windows, the roof is four slopes and the traditional modénature (cornice, gutters, around windows, ….) Is reduced to a fold in a line of contact between two surfaces. Strangely familiar yet because its formal characteristics (volume monolithic unit forms, facade materials, sealing system, …) in fact a relative of construction near existing,”already there.” The openings of the four facades are treated as holes arranged almost randomly.

My position is due in part to the willingness to face the real me, simple volume, raw materials and poor left character”ordinary”. I conducted a thorough typological analysis of farm buildings. The outcome of this theoretical approach are evident through reminders and reinterpretations in the materialization and form of traditional buildings. The new typology is inspired by the vernacular architecture of the valley but redefines by hybridization of two archetypes farms. The original farm embedded in the slope, the ridge perpendicular to contour lines, the largest façade oriented towards the valley. Does not allow expansion, this type of construction is abandoned in favor of the new farm height is parallel to the direction of the valley offering an opportunity to spread easily on the side gables. Four gabled facades, two parallel to the natural terrain and two directed perpendicular to the valley, and a hybrid roof square spread ambiguous image of the new house in the landscape of fields, pastures and forests of the region.

The definition of a close relationship with the volume of the barn built before the house and the successive curves undulating landscape in the background is affirmed by the sharp edges and no eaves. The four facades, in which the timber provides visual unity, then respond individually to the sensibilities of each orientation.

Atmosphere.
The architecture is made with all his senses, and memories of spaces and atmospheres. The hearing, smell, touch and of course to make the images and forms signifying their relationship built up in the integrity of the project. Here, there is no space for movement, all the parts are entities and have their own character. The plan of the traditional houses seems generated by the juxtaposition, the addition or compression. This principle is set up to design this house, as if two houses were condensed to form a whole. The production of original types of plans is done by adding rows, kind of parts in a row parallel to contour lines. These”row”are the limits imposed by the structure of the frame just take ground support equipment.

Courtesy of LÜPS

The proposal by LÜPS for the Energy Center, Woodchips Energy Plant at the the convent of arch abbey St. Ottilien aims to stand out from the existing, architecturally less appealing buildings. Above a massive concrete architrave block, a transparent facade arises, made from frame-less polycarbonate sheets, allowing a view onto the wooden branch-like structure inside the building. Lying in the north of the convent grounds, between agriculture and hen-houses, the energetic project finds its importance represented by the impression one gets of the newly constructed building. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Courtesy of LÜPS

Following the renewable Energy discussions, the convent of arch abbey St. Ottilien decided to convert their Energy gaining system, in order to heat the entire facilities (40 buildings), including the high-school, into a lasting, self-sufficient central biomass complex. The majority of the raw combustion materials are won from the convent-owned forests. Through he new machinery with a total power of 1.945 kWh, the carbon dioxide emissions will be decreased by 85 percent, in comparison to the previous heating through oil.
A vital element of the energy central is the burning flame of the fire. It becomes visible due to a light installation with dynamic in- and decreasing light impulses, which atmospherically express the functional objective of the building in the convent. Furthermore, it allows the building to be illuminated and distinguished also from far away at night.

Courtesy of LÜPS

The actual building construction was completed to a large extent by the monks themselves. An elongated roof, constructed of exposed concrete allows display boards to be viewed in any weather condition. These boards inform visitors about the individual energy system used in the convent and provides them with a view of the heating room. In addition, they offer information on renewable Energy resources for the future.

The neighboring warehouse stands in hierarchical contrast to the heating complex in both shape and volume. This is already emphasized through the choice of the outermost material. Up to 400 m³ of wood chips are stored behind the horizontal wooden bar structure. These are transported underground via a conveyor belt to the heating furnaces inside the other building. Large rolling gates allow the emptying of trucks directly into the warehouse.

Courtesy of LÜPS

Light Installation
The construction is not another anonymous industrial building, inconspicuous within the convent grounds, rather a both functional-energetic, architecturally and atmospherically pleasing corpus integrated within its surrounding. We want to make Energy visible. An understanding for this valuable resource is key to our concept. Modern combustion sites hide the central core of their purpose, the open fire, the flame itself. Our goal is to present this vitality of combustion to the viewer.

Therefore, we propose the installation of a dynamically changing light source, in form of a in- and decreasing vital light pulse, which enhances the architectural, atmospherical, and functional identity of the building at various points in time. On multiple intertwined, spherically organized constructions made of metal, energy efficient LEDs (1W) will be mounted as light point sources. Due to the different activation possibilities of the red-green-blue LEDs, the spherical form can be illuminated in different pulsating colors.

Courtesy of LÜPS

The specific shape of the construction can be described as a mathematical fractal, namely an L-system. L-systems are mathematical models, which graphically describe the growth of plants, such as the branching out of a tree. Out of the center ‘grows’ L-systems with 2 iterations. The logically constructed branching hierarchy is vital for the consequent electrification and branching out of the control devices. This also leads to a repetition of metal elements and angle measurements, which allow an easy and affordable production thereof. On purpose, the lights are kept visible and there is no attempt to hide the construction. Consequently, the light object clearly sits within the machinery and technical aspect of the building and becomes an important part of the whole.
Architects: LÜPS
Location: Arch abbey St. Ottilien, Germany
Light Design: Mauritz Lüps
Collaborators: Peter Megele
Construction Management: Günther Schmitt-Bosslet
Structure: IB Heinrich
Specific Planning: Wärmeversorgungstechnik; Ebert-Ingenieure GmbH & Co. KG
General Contractor: Imtech Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Energy Analysis: Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e.V.
Contractor: Ditsch Bau GmbH & Co. KG
Carpenter: Convent St.Ottilien
Locksmith: Convent St.Ottilien
Photo Credits: Thomas Huber, Hans Engels, Atelier Lüps
Materials: polycarbonate panels, rolling shutters, LED light, conveyor belt
Property Area: 5.275 m2
Usable Area: 670 m2
Begin of Planning: 08/2007
Completion: 09/2008
Awards: European Energy + Architecture Award 2011
Year: 2008
Cite:
Furuto , Alison . "Energy Center, Woodchips Energy Plant / LÜPS" 24 Mar 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.

Hunsett Mill by Acme

This extension to a mill-keeper’s house on the Norfolk Broads by London studio Acme has been awarded the RIBA Manser Medal 2010 for the best new house in the UK.

Called Hunsett Mill, the project involved extending the existing mill house by adding several volumes with pitched roofs uncurling from behind the original structure.

These volumes are hidden behind the original brick building from specific viewpoints.

The new part of the building is clad in black charred timber.

Photographs are by Cristobal Palma.

The following information is from the RIBA:

Hunsett Mill is a very specific response to a very specific space: an arcadian setting on the Norfolk Broads. The windmill and its out-buildings appear on jigsaws, postcards and chocolate boxes as a famous view from narrow boats. The new building is conceived as a shadow sitting within the site lines of the retained cottage so that the new building is invisible from that specific viewpoint.
The new building is clad in black, charred timber so that it is truly a shadow, with flush glazing that add to the sense of insubstantiality. The overall impact is very arresting – more akin to the response to a piece of art than to a piece of rural, domestic architecture.
The judges enjoyed the constant inventiveness of Acme’s approach seeking new materials, using intriguing structural forms to create interesting forms, values and visual effects. The building is used as a weekend/holiday home by a number of families based in London and Hertfordshire. This allows the interiors to continue the inventiveness and drama of the exterior forms without too many domestic constraints.
The roof forms are particularly enjoyable, creating a series of linked gables that are asymmetric but rhythmic. Internally the structural timber slab is open to the rooms but further changes of angle are added to create a series of interesting spaces, with the first floor walkway to the bedrooms particularly special. The whole is consistently detailed and well crafted with interesting use of off-site construction.
Overall the restoration of the cottage and the new building, which are linked internally, is an exciting and intellectually stimulating response to the unique rural setting. A cultured client has given free reign to the innovation of his chosen architects Acme and engineers Adams Kara Taylor.
Hunsett Mill proves that good architecture can be delivered on a budget and that it can be achieved in the most restrictive of situations. The resulting project balances value and quality and is one that many people could aspire to.
Hunsett Mill on the Norfolk Broads by Acme architects has scooped the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) prestigious Manser Medal 2010 for the best new house or major extension in the UK in association with HSBC Private Bank. The presentation of the award took place at a ceremony at the RIBA last night, at which the winner received an increased prize of £10,000 and a new specially commissioned trophy designed by artist Petr Wiegl from presenter, designer, author and host Kevin McCloud.
Acme architects has won the award for its arresting extension to Hunsett Mill, a nineteenth century Grade 2 listed mill keepers house on the Norfolk Broads. Building a major extension that more than doubled the size of the original house on a uniquely picturesque site was challenging. Acme created an extension in the form of a shadow of the original house, which the judges describe as “more akin to a piece of art than a piece of rural, domestic architecture.”
Speaking about the winning building Ruth Reed, President of the RIBA said:
“Hunsett Mill, like a lot of really good architecture, results from one simple, strong idea. Instead of creating either a pastiche of the Victorian red-brick cottage, or a self-effacing glass box, the architects’ truly inventive solution was to create a kind of triple-shadow of the original, in black charred timber, crossed by the shadow of the neighbouring windmill’s arms.
“A private house commission gives the architect an opportunity to get inside the ambitions of the client and produce a shared personal statement. It is a building type in which every detail matters and in which they matter to client and architect in equal measure. Houses like Hunsett Mill do not get built without the extraordinary faith in and commitment to the architects by their clients. The RIBA is grateful to HSBC Private Bank for its strong support of this award.”
Declan Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Private Bank, said:
“Private homebuilding and redevelopment is becoming increasingly popular with owners expecting more from their homes. Developing your own property means that particular expectations and potentially more difficult requirements can be met, as Hunsett Mill brilliantly demonstrates. As a bank that offers unrivalled property expertise for private clients, we are delighted to support an award that recognises superb design and innovation.”
The five other shortlisted houses were:

• Bateman’s Row, London by Theis and Khan
• Furzey Hall Farm, Gloucestershire by Waugh Thisleton Architects
• Leaf House, London by James Gorst Architects
• Martello Tower Y, Suffolk by Piercy Conner Architects with Billings Jackson Industrial Design
• Zero Carbon House, Birmingham by John Christophers

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

Architect: RS+ Robert Skitek
Location: Tychy, Poland
Project Team: Robert Skitek, Robert Wilczok, Barbara Kotas, Dawid Marszolik
Structure: PROBEX Marian Urbanik
Completion: 2011
Project area: 371 sqm
Model: Piotr Witański
Photographs: Tomasz Zakrzewski

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

The house is located in the district of detached houses, among the chaotic and varied building which is a typical for the majority of contemporary Polish suburbs.

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

The client’s request was a bungalow – the utility program has a living area a private night area and separated space which serves as a cabinet and a spare room. In the future it can be a room for senior.
The problem was connected with the neighborhood houses which have a look-in the site. The Investor has wanted to have a not introverted house with opening towards the garden.

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

The solution was to create the principal terrace which is lee from three sides. In this way it became an intimate space for spending free time with friends during warm months.
The house’s composition consist of the ground floor area and the two small sections which are situated above it. The pieces are covered by penthouse roofs which have opposite inclinations. In one of them there is a little loft and the another one is a top part of the living room.

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

Of the south-western site in the future there will be the shallow pond being complement of the terraces and pergolas composition.

Entering the building we occur in the center of the living area, between the living room and the kitchen (with view of the site’s entrance) and the dining room. All of the rooms are opened on the above-mentioned terrace. Behind the living room there is an inhabitant’s private area with bedrooms and bathrooms. Behind the kitchen there is an area for guests with a separated bathroom. A division of the space in this way gives an option for making a flat for old person with an individual enter. On the north side there is a garage for two cars and a technical rooms.

© Tomasz Zakrzewski

The solutions were good decision and the terrace truly became a real heart of the home, very often used by residents.

Cite:
Ross , Kritiana . "M House / RS + Robert Skitek" 30 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 30 Dec 2011.

© Ivan Nemec

Architects: Jan Stempel
Location: Popovicky, Czech Republic
Landscaping: Lucie Vogelova / Terra florida
Project area: 150 sqm + 149 sqm
Completion: 2010
Photographs: Ivan Nemec / CFA

© Ivan Nemec

New family houses for different private clients are situated in a small village close to Prague. This location is very popular with young families with children. The parents work in Prague, but live in the country in a family house with a garden. This strong trend in the Czech Republic represents mainly standardized houses from catalogues.

© Ivan Nemec

Those two presented houses – designed as an archetypal form of a house in central Europe – stand out of this mass production. The reasonably used layouts are comfortable. The main living room is joined with the kitchen and the dining room. This gives an impression of a generous space.

© Ivan Nemec

The first house is made of concrete blocks with insulation and wooden cladding. The cable roof is covered with concrete black tiles. The house is opened to the southern garden. The garden was precisely designed and it is an inseparable part of the house. The owners started to be worried about their view because the neighbouring site was not built-up yet. They decided to recommend the architect and the site to their friends.

sections and plan 01

The second house is made of ceramic blocks with insulation and an added brick wall. The gable slate roof corresponds to the first house by the shape and colour. The focus of the design is a vista in the direction of the cross axis. This principle is inspired by passable barns. There are situated two tables in this axis. The first – internal one is placed in double story open space. The second table consists on the external embedded terrace. The living room is next to these spaces in an intimate part of the house.

sections and plan 02

The clients finally joined their gardens together. The houses appeal as a composition of two simple houses in a common large garden.
Cite:
King , Victoria . "Family Houses in Popovicky / Jan Stempel" 28 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 29 Dec 2011.

© Angus Bremner & Paul Zanre

Architect: Oliver Chapman Architects
Location: Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland
Date of completion:  2010
Gross internal floor area (sqm): 14 no. units at 70 sqm
Total cost: £1,400,000.00
Structural engineers: David Narro Associates
Photographs: Angus Bremner, Paul Zanre

Detail

Working with the Scottish Borders Council, the NHS and Berwickshire Housing Association, OCA have designed 14 semi-detached houses and a shared services facility for people with disabilities at Duns. The houses are clustered around a new quiet street. The houses move away from traditional institutional models of care toward a more domestic model which allows the users to vary their degree of independence and support from the shared services of the facility.

Drawing

All the houses are set out around a ‘tartan grid’ which creates a varying relationship between houses and the road. Some houses are set back further from the road than the convention, whilst others are set close to the road edge. There is also a mixture of gables and eaves adjacent to the road which adds to the streetscape character. The commonly understood character of a home is created by designing duo pitched roof form with gables at either end.

Plan

OCA’s urban design framework for the surrounding area will ensure that the care facility will integrate into areas of future social and private housing.
 

Section

The contractors were JSL Swintons of Hawick and the care service providers are Community Integrated Care.
Cite:
King , Victoria . "Care Housing / Oliver Chapman Architects" 27 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 09 Mar 2012.

© Christian Richters

Architects: SeARCH
Location: Zutphen, The Netherlands
Project Team: Bjarne Mastenbroek, Ad Bogerman
Assistants: Elke Demyttenaere, Remco Wieringa w/ Nienke Bouwhuis, Gert Jan Machiels, Dagmar Niecke, Geert Vennix
Client: Anonymous
Contractor: BAM utiliteitsbouw, Arnhem
Interior Design: Kluster V.O.F., Purmerend, The Netherlands
Completion Date: July 2004
Project Area: 500 sqm
Photographs: Christian Richters

© Christian Richters

How can the historical and spatial qualities of an old farmyard, with all its various outbuildings, be retained when the new function is that of a family residence?

© Christian Richters

The livestock barn which formed the stem of the traditional T-form farmhouse is demolished and replaced by a new building. This new extension attaches itself precisely to the opening left by the removal of the original barn, thus retaining the T-form. The new volume is skewed in plan giving it a distorting ‘pulled and dragged’ perspective.

© Christian Richters

The existing farmhouse and outbuildings are divided programmatically from the new extension. Living accommodation is situated in the existing building with the adjoining part of the extension housing a large open kitchen space and the entrance, situated between the new and existing. The workroom, guest accommodation and garden store are all located in the remainder of the new volume separated from the living spaces by a large conservatory. The freestanding barn is retained with an option for a future swimming pool conversion.

The load bearing construction of the extension consists of a series of solid prefabricated wooden plates. They define the building’s internal finishes and influence the quality of the interior space. By cladding the roof and elevations with a continuous skin of horizontal timber laths, the façades simultaneously have the appearance of being open, semi-transparent and closed.

sketch

Cite:
King , Victoria . "Wolzak / SeARCH" 19 Jan 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 20 Jan 2012.

© Lucie Mlynarova

Architects: mimosa architekti
Location: Bohumilec, Czech Republic
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Lucie Mlynarova

 
Concept
The project is a single-family house for a family of four in the outskirts of the small village Bohumileč in the Pardubice region. The volume solution of the house was inspired by the design of the rustic house with a saddle roof. Volume and material simplicity join the house with its natural and urban framework. The building “seeks to be” an unobtrusive, yet an expressive “resident” of the place.

The south orientation of the building along with the east-west direction of the view into the countryside defines the axis, which the ground plan of the house is based on. The east–west axis divides the house into the southern living and northern service wing. The building is embodied into a “ micro-world” of the lot at the end of the village. The lot is surrounded with a barrier of full-grown trees.

© Lucie Mlynarova

Architectural Solution
The ground floor involves an integrated space of the interconnected living room and the dining room. The kitchen and the staff workrooms adjoin that space from the north. The service centre staircase and, the entrance area are located on the northern front facade of the house. The rooms with a southern orientation and the staircase hall with the carrel with the view of the countryside, are all situated in the first floor, with the bathroom and the lavatory in the northern section.

© Lucie Mlynarova

The wooden husk of the house hides the interior in white colors. Colorfulness of the house steps back the colorfulness of the surrounding green. The colors of the surroundings infiltrate the house and change it during the seasons.

First Floor Plan

Cite:
Jett , Megan . "House in Bohumilec / mimosa architekti" 21 Jul 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 21 Jul 2011.

Prefabs conjure images of hard-edged squares and rectangles, planes intersecting in space but lacking organic appeal or a human touch. Like something from a fairy tale, this cozy wooden cabin takes on this stereotype … and offers a rounded rebuttal.

Swedish designer Torsten Ottesjö of Cargo Collective wanted to build something that appealed to popular affections for automobiles, but that was also quintessentially Scandanavian – thus the tribute to the scales and curved shape of a regionally-popular fish.
A single room wraps around inside, a partial section circling an invisible center, to create privacy despite the one-space arrangement. At just one cubic meter, it is physically small but seems more spacious thanks to the shape and natural lighting.

The floor consists of wood end-grain tiles and lightly-finished boards built to be experienced barefoot. From top to bottom and front to back, this region-typical approach to natural materials and texture gives new purpose to old traditions.

Built-ins are limited to bare (unfinished wood) essentials, including a minimalist master bed, modest kitchen and rounded wooden bench.

On the outside, recycled cellulose-infused cardboard provides wind and water protection while wooden slats and trim around the windows and door offer whimsical decorative appeal designed to fit into forested local contexts.

Between interior and exterior layers, natural wood-fiber canvas compliments recycled-paper insulation known as ecofiber, tucked behind canoe-like strips of curved-wood wall siding. Meanwhile, the structure itself sits up on steel stilts tied into the bedrock below via spikes, making for a light touch in terms of environmental impact and relative portability should moving the home be called for in the future.

“Built from local, on site ash, pine, spruce, and aspen, the building is an economical construction that is easy to produce, process and manage. Wood was selected as the primary material due to its natural properties, which include durability, biodegradability and the beautiful quality it reveals as it ages.” (Inhabitat)

© Aleš Jungmann

Architect: Vladimír Balda, Jiří Janďourek
Location: Prosec pod Jestedem, Czech Republic
General Contractor: Ing. Pavel Kuranda
MEP Engineer: Lucie Baldová, Martin Pelc
Structural Engineer: Vít Hušek, Ladislav Pohl
Project Area: 165 sqm
Project Year: 2006
Photographs: Aleš Jungmann, Lubomír Fuxa

 

© Aleš Jungmann

The land plot with new building of the family house is located on the southern sid of the Ještěd Ridge with a beautiful view of the landscape. The  form corresponds with terrain relief and the land orientation towards cardinal points. The grand plan of the wide open V form splits the house into two masses. The social part of the house is situated in the western wing witha saddle roof – the timber building. The rest of the building is made of concrete blocks and has a green roof linked to the terrain. There, the bedrooms are located; the garage with the utility room is on the northern side. The wooden part is covered with timber coating; the roof has –slate-grey plates; and the concrete block part is realized as gauged brickwork, uncoated.

© Aleš Jungmann

plan

plan

elevation

elevation

Cite:
Henry , Christopher . "House on Jested Ridge / Vladimír Balda, Jiří Janďourek" 30 Aug 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 01 Sep 2011.

Jelenovac Residence by DVA Arhitekta

DVA Arhitekta designed the Jelenovac Residence in Zagreb, Croatia.

 
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House 1 and House 2 by TAKA

Dublin architects TAKA have added a mews house with protruding brickwork to an existing Victorian home in Dublin, Ireland.

The façade uses two different patterns chosen by the brick-layer, inspired by the brickwork of the Victorian house.

In the first pattern, alternate bricks are laid across the usual direction, creating protrusions from the wall.

The other forms an open mesh that acts as ventilation for the spaces behind.

The two separate buildings will house two different generations of the same family and are connected at the rear by a shared garden.

Here’s some text from TAKA:
–
These two new homes house two generations of the same family (A renovated Victorian House for the parents sharing a rear garden with a new Mews house for one of the daughters). The now grown-up family had recently moved out of their long-term family home and wanted these new homes to maintain some sense of continuity with their former lives. Two intertwined themes run through both homes, those of memory and tectonic expression.

The memories of the family are used as a conscious architectural driver throughout both houses. Their social rituals are given tangible form within the design of the new houses. Typical domestic objects are distorted in material and scale to form a psychological landscape specific to the occupants.

The daughters recollection of the stairs in the old house being ‘another room’, finds built form in an enlarged landscape stairway offering spaces for pause. Her fond memories of the kitchen as a social space and sitting by the open fire distort the two new ‘hearths’ (one for cooking one for fire) into non-orthogonal shapes suggesting uses yet open to appropriation. Finally the insistence of the ‘fire being the centre of the home’ is realised by the location of an industrial scaled chimney rising through the scheme at the centre of the plan, organising the spaces throughout.
In the parent’s new home their anxiety about moving from the old house was addressed. Their weekly social ritual of the wider family gathering together for Sunday dinner was a focal point, in order to maintain the continuity of the family unit. In the new home the dining table is given priority of place and a ritual character. Cast in concrete in an altar-like form the dining table communicates its importance through its immovable materiality.

As a further signifier of the special value of this space the expression of construction takes on a cultural role. In the wall behind the table custom-made glazed bricks are set. Named ‘Ruskin’ bricks (after Ruskin’s inspirational theories on construction in architecture); the bricklayer was given 100 identical bricks to lay in any combination he saw fit. Intended as both a marker of the process of construction and an explicit elevation of brickwork to the position of art, the result is a random graphic pattern that is not simply hung on the wall but part of the very construction that forms the building.

A similar interest in constructional expression is seen in the Mews house. The Mews house’s façades take their key from the Flemish-bond brickwork walls of the Victorian House, seeking a kind of ‘constructional context’ with its older brother. The unique bonds are the result of ‘separating’ the Flemish bond into two layers, and conceptually situating the home in the space between these two layers.

The extrovert front façade receives the ‘projecting brick’ layer, which oscillates in appearance depending on natural light conditions. To the rear, the façade becomes a mesh of brickwork where those projecting bricks on the front leave their resultant holes in the rear wall, allowing ventilation to the rooms behind to be taken directly through this brick skin. Throughout both homes, construction is expressed directly as the finished product imbuing these two new homes with a powerful, domestic character.

TAKA was founded by Alice Casey and Cian Deegan in Bangladesh in 2006. Alice Casey and Cian Deegan were born in Dublin in 1978 and 1980 respectively. They graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2003, and moved to London in 2004. In London, Alice worked with Curtis Wood Architects and Cian worked with Niall McLaughlin Architects.

They studied Professional Practice at The Bartlett School of Architecture,
University College London. Following their time in London they travelled extensively throughout Asia, Australia, South and North America, studying examples of vernacular architecture and culture. Moving back to Dublin in 2007, Alice has worked with dePaor architects, Cian with O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects. In 2008 TAKA became the youngest ever representatives of Ireland at the Venice Architectural Biennale as part of The Lives of Spaces exhibition, and have recently completed their first projects House 1 + House 2 in Dublin.

Both Alice and Cian have been Upper School studio tutors at the UCD School of Architecture.

TAKA have been featured in Architecture Ireland, The Dubliner, The Sunday Times Culture Section and Elle Deco Japan.

TAKA is a practice concerned with the communicative potential of architecture, with tectonic expression and with meaning. TAKA is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Antas Education Centre by AVA Architects

This school in Porto by Portuguese studio AVA Architects has lime green walls inside and out, and is filled with green furniture.

Named the Antas Education Centre, the five school buildings are arranged around a series of courtyards and playgrounds.

Black-framed windows of different shapes and sizes are scattered across the facades of each two-storey block.

A canteen is located on the ground floor, while classrooms can be found on both levels.

A lot of the schools we publish have brightly coloured facades – check out one clad in a yellow, green and white patchwork, and another with a bright red courtyard ceiling.

Photography is by José Campos, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more text from AVA Architects:

School Center Antas, Porto, Portugal
Location and Context
The site of action is part of an urban context through the recently redesigned Detailed Plan of Antas. The nearby is not defined by buildings, with only the north to the existence of a huge slope and south of the proposed construction site.

The land is entirely surrounded by streets. The area of the school is approximately 2 967.00 m2.

Idea
The spatial and architectural design of the building of the new Education Center Antas were formalized in several bodies each containing part of the program in accordance with principles of internal organization, functionality, form and image, given the type of building and its specificity.

This conception took into account the morphology of the terrain, solar orientation, access and links to surrounding bodies.

It always took account to the relationship established between spaces, between exterior and interior and between interior spaces.

The intension is to formalize and realize the program provided through a drawing of building capable of being fragmented into several bodies interconnected with exterior spaces creating diverse environments.
It’s a building consisting of several bodies expressed by a “simple architecture” that will build a close relationship with the exterior spaces.

It was intended to create in the spaces between the various bodies the visual relationship between interior and exterior reducing relations with the urban surroundings.

There was an intention to turn into how the building relates to the exterior. However there are some links to the outside also.

The settlement found answers to a matrix that structuralize a functional organization of the school as a function of the planned program and constraint imposed by various land levels.

Rubberhouse, designed by Netherlands architects Cityforster, is an unconventional, too-cool rubber and wood clad house which, apart from its unusual exterior material, presents a totally traditional way of life with a modern twist. The open concept house plan boasts an easygoing flow, leading from the two-storey living space with a fab pivoting fireplace feature to be enjoyed from any point in the room, through the home and out to an outdoor entertaining area. The other side of the structure features two single-storey levels housing the bathrooms, office space and storage, and the bedrooms tucked away upstairs. Balancing private and public living, this house is a thoughtful, simple and innovative design. Cityforster

via Dezeen


photo credit: Arne Hansen and Nils Nolting

Courtesy of MOOV

The fundamental concern that guided the decision process from the start was how to produce a solution that is environmentally responsible, functional, cost effective and iconic. The circular shape of the building aims at giving a positive response to all of the above.The proposal by MOOV not only preserves the locations and offers living conditions to its dwellers, but also enhances the actual natural conditions, by regenerating the plot. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Courtesy of MOOV

The circular form recalls ideas that have always been associated with it such as continuity, regeneration, balance, and centrality. It evokes movement and, at the same time, summons the idea of place to meet, to gather. The radial disposition of individual spaces allows taking full advantage of the landscape in all 360 degrees, and the functional distribution of the program, set in array around an inner circular patio, where people can gather.
Under the single continuous gesture of the large roof surface are generated distinct spaces, from totally enclosed rooms, to fully open spaces, suiting each space to its function according to the program. The building is lifted from the ground, leaving the terrain topography untouched, reducing to almost none the need for excavation or land filling. The natural flow of rain water is also preserved. That also allows air to move under the construction, cooling it, and gives the building a more prominent presence, as a landscape reference.

plan 01

Environmental Regeneration
In addition to the already existing natural conditions this project intends to foster the creation of a sustainable landscape context inspired by natural systems where nothing goes to waste.

Introduction of a native vegetation palette that promotes habitat biodiversity enhances environmental quality and supports local wildlife [with the potential to attract birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects]. The importance of native vegetation to local fauna cannot be ignored. Using endemic species will offer the most resources to local fauna and serve as rewarding attractions. Birds and local wildlife are linked with autochthonous vegetation that provide daily food (in the form of seeds and fruit for instance); protection; nesting places and hosting sites as in the case of butterflies. A combination of natural resources that they need to survive and reproduce organic waste [raw material] is recycled as advanced biological compost and used as soil fertilizer in the forest nursery.

Passive Strategies
In order to reduce negative impact on the environment and provide comfortable living conditions, some strategies were adopted. Air flows under construction, keeping ground moisture away from structure, prolonging materials live span, and cooling the construction.

Under the building are planted autochthonous species adapted for low light environment. These plants prevent soil erosion in the hill sides and are a part in the equilibrium of the natural system. The building is exposure to hilltop wind, taking advantage of higher ground. Voids are open according to predominant winds. Those voids are used as living spaces that are protected from the sun and rain.
The inner and outer circular shapes increases the total surface of the façade. Some of the wall panels can be opened to increase cross ventilation from every direction in every room. Ventilation is combined with shading, and vegetations in the central yard increases cooling effect. Rain water is gathered for consumption and organic waste is recycled as advanced biological compost and used as fertilizer.

Cite:
Furuto , Alison . "FUNDECOR New Headquarters Proposal / MOOV" 12 Feb 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 12 Feb 2012.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

Architect: Neil Dusheiko Architects
Location: Walthamstow, London, England
Project Year: 2010
Contractor: RK Construction
Engineer: Momentum
Photography: Neil Dusheiko Architects

 

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The project began one afternoon while the architect Neil Dusheiko was sitting with the client on their existing terrace discussing ideas about how to create more space for the family in the tiny terrace house. It was thought it would be interesting if the existing central staircase in the double fronted house, somehow continued up and over into the garden from the mid landing, and so the idea of extending the house came about. The clients wanted a house built entirely out of timber.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The concept was to create a series of different volumes to accommodate the various functions in an informal stack of boxes placed next to each other like packing creates. The extension exists as three timber containers sitting next to and on top of one another with a singular nature borne out of using one material. The differentiation of materials allows it to be read as a separate volume rather than mimic the brick character of the existing building. The new timber staircase forms a link with the existing house and connects to the mid landing, where the existing staircase continues down towards the front door.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The west façade sits in its sub-urban context, visible to the street and announces its presence with a rhythm of vertical cladding, which in turn reflects the neighbourhoods use of closed board fencing and timber sheds. The north façade, facing the garden, has an asymmetrical geometry, with its two planes cranked to catch the evening sun and to hold the space in the garden. A rhythm of projecting fins reveals a subtle layering of the façade, which comes to life as the sun projects shadows across the façade.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The material used for the floor was birch plywood and the structure is oak framed, clad in Siberian larch. The larch was is from sustainable sources and supplied by Vastern Timber. The larch was mounted onto battens fixed to Panelvent sheathing boards, which have a high racking strength but also allow for a water vapour open construction. Panelvent itself is made from wood chips and forest thinings, utilising a unique Masonite defibration system to combine low formaldehyde emissions in use and low embodied energy in manufacture.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The oak timber frame is made up of lattice structures which were so beautiful that during the build it was tempting to leave parts of the frame exposed on the inside of the extension. However, we decided to stay true to the concept of a wrapped timber box. The folding sliding doors and windows where constructed out of oak and are top hung. The doors are easy to open and fold away entirely to allow the garden to become part of the living space.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The floor was constructed out of a hard wearing birch plywood which was sealed with an acrylic coating which is both easy to clean and protects the surface from any moisture ingress. Existing openings inside the structure are framed in MDF, painted white to blend in with existing brickwork, also painted white, to reflect as much light as possible into the interior. A low step made of thermowood decking links the house to the garden and provides a low bench for seating. A new staircase constructed from birch plywood connects to the mid landing of the existing staircase, giving the up and over feel, which provided the original inspiration for the extension.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

Timber Product Used:
Structure: Oak framing for walls and roof
Floor: Birch plywood with acrylic sealant
Staircase: Birch plywood painted
Decking: Thermowood decking
Timber Cladding: Untreated Siberian larch mounted on double battens on panelvent boards

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

Extension for a turn of the century family home in Walthamstow. The playful design creates a much needed flexible living space and extra bedroom for the young family. The shape of the extension is designed to track the sun and create a positive space in the garden. The new structure is framed in oak and clad in Siberian Larch. The differentiation of materials allows it to be read as a separate volume rather than mimic the brick character of the existing building.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

The design plays on the juxtaposition of natural light effects and artificial lighting. Through shadows cast on the facade by the timber fins a subtle layering is revealed. As time passes the facade is animated by the changing condition of light and shadow. The cranked geometry allows for maximum sun penetration and the shapes the garden space. The vertical fins are contrasted by a linear walkway serving as a bench connecting the house to the garden.

© Neil Dusheiko Architects

Cite:
Lopez , Oscar . "Timber Fin House / Neil Dusheiko Architects" 13 Nov 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 16 Nov 2011.

House at Dusk © Visiondivision

Check out Visiondivision’s latest work – a  residential extension to an old Swedish house. Expanding upon the clients’ taste in the traditional Swedish houses with mullion windows, or ‘spröjs’ in Swedish, the team set out to exploit the building component by introducing  ”a huge mullion window as its main feature.” The mullion window becomes the focal point of the house as it covers the front facade and opens toward the garden that slopes toward the nearby lake.
More images and more about the residence after the break.

Mullion Inside © Visiondivision

Typical of Visiondivision’s strategies, the mullion design becomes an aesthetic expression as well an a functioning entity.   For instance, the firm extruded the mullion inward to become different types of shelves.  ”The shelves where then designed for different functions for a relaxed and life cherishing atmosphere; a work space, a space to hangout and enjoy a coffee or breakfast, and a lot of storage places for books, DVDs and such,” explained the team.

Coffee Room © Visiondivision

The landscape helps divide the house into different levels with the upper level becoming more leisure oriented with a master bedroom and a coffee/breakfast shelf in the mullion.   On the thin middle level, the house holds a wardrobe that can be reached from the upper and lower level and a fire place with storage for timber in the mullion.  The lower level is more work related with a room for clothing care and a small home office in the mullion.

House Section © Visiondivision

The house is connected to the chief house via a glass corridor with a small stair that leads up to the main buildings dining room. The glass corridor also serves as the entrance to the two outdoor areas; one toward the lake for the sunrise and one toward the back of the building for Swedish midsummer sunset.

Architects: Visiondivision

Partners in Charge: Anders Berensson & Ulf Mejergren
Client: Private
Contractor: JW Byggteknik
Location: Edsbro, Sweden
Project area: 30 sq. m
Project year 2009-2011Photographs: Clive Jenkins
 
Visiondivision was commissioned to design an extension to an old house on the Swedish countryside. The house should include a master bedroom, a room for clothing care, a work space and a space for coffee and breakfast.
The clients told us that they like typical old Swedish red houses with mullion windows (spröjs in Swedish) but where ok to build a house without mullions since they knew that modern architects don’t like that type of houses. But an ok house for the client is simply not good enough for visiondivision so we started to design a house with a huge mullion window as its main feature.
 
The mullion window covers the front facade of the house facing the garden that slopes towards the nearby lake.
Since the mullion covers the best views from the house we started to add some extra functions to it by extruding the mullion towards the inside making different types of shelves.
The shelves where then designed for different functions for a relaxed and life cherishing atmosphere; a work space, a space to hangout and enjoy a coffee or breakfast, and a lot of storage places for books, DVDs and such.
In the original sketch a bathtub and a fireplace where also part of the mullion window but had to be relocated according to the client’s wish.
Due to the landscape the house is divided into three levels. One upper level that is more leisure oriented with a master bedroom and a coffee/breakfast shelf in the mullion. Then follows a thin middle level that has a battery of functions, including a wardrobe that can be reached from the upper and lower level and a fire place with storage for timber in the mullion, and finally a lower level that is more work related with a room for clothing care and a small home office in the mullion.
The house is connected to the chief house via a glass corridor with a small stair that leads up to the main buildings dining room. Since the new house is heated with floor heating we designed the railing with the floor heating going through them for a comfortable welcoming to the new house. The glass corridor also serves as the entrance to the two outdoor areas; one towards the lake for the sunrise and one towards the back of the building for Swedish midsummer sunset.
Architects: Visiondivision
Partners in Charge: Anders Berensson & Ulf Mejergren
Client: Private
Contractor: JW Byggteknik
Location: Edsbro, Sweden
Project area: 30 sq. m
Project year 2009-2011
Photographs: Clive Jenkins
 
Cite:
Cilento , Karen . "Spröjs House / Visiondivision" 29 Jan 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 Oct 2011.

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© Ulrich Kehrer

Architects: [tp3] architekten
Location: Altschwendt, Austria
Contractor: Kaplbau GmbH, Humer GmbH
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Ulrich Kehrer
 

 
Two families who are friends joined together and bought a large plot of land, with the idea of sharing and coordinating the building and planning work. The project was all the more fascinating to us, as house-building is such a personal and individual task. Both families agreed to coordinate the planning so a single unit would be evident despite the existence of two separate family houses, including the possibility of a shared garden over the centre boundary.
 

Floor Plans

A single-story bungalow which incorporates the garages of both sections merges both building sections together like a strap, clasping the two plots. The two-story detached house breaks away from this strap towards the garden and therefore forms a conclusion to this building configuration. Both of the building sections are positioned such that the individual outdoor areas allocated to each of the families eventually form a protected interior courtyard. In terms of its external characteristics, the single-story building with its two garages appears as a monolithic, white building.

Section

© Ulrich Kehrer

The two-story house with its dark façade cladding is fascinatingly mediating between the two buildings, thereby allowing the individuality of the individual sections to become evident. Both houses are configured as low energy homes, with deep drilling and controlled living room ventilation. The bungalow in its massive construction and white plaster façade, the two-story building in timber frame construction and dark grey façade cladding.
 
 

© Ulrich Kehrer

Text provided by [tp3] architekten
 
 

Cite:
Jett , Megan . "House MHG / [tp3] architekten" 21 Oct 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 22 Oct 2011.

© Miran Kambič

Architects: Bevk Perović arhitekti
Location: Bohinj, Slovenia
Project Team: Matija Bevk, Vasa J. Perović, Ana Čeligoj
Project Year: 2006-2008
Photographs: Miran Kambič
 

© Miran Kambič

House R is a weekend house, located in the idyllic Alpine area near the picturesque Bohinj lake.
It stands in the protected conservation area, on the spot where an old house used to be, and – due to regulations-it strictly follows the contours of the preceding structure.
This area around lake Bohinj is full of holiday homes dating back to the seventies, mostly designed as literal ‘copies’ of typical Slovenian Alpine architecture – steep pitched roofs and dark wooden cladding.

site plan

The only difference between these and traditional houses of the area is that they stay unihabited for most of the year, waiting for their owners’ temporary occupation.
Therefore the project tries to deal with this notion of temporary occupancy by merging the tradional model of the house with that of a ‘container’ – the new alpine wooden house looks, when unoccupied, like a large wooden box – a hay storage or a barn, devoid of windows and doors. Its elevation comprises of series of larch-wood panels, all done in pre-patinated silver gray stain that slide to ‘reveal’ the house as it becomes occupied on weekends or during holiday season.

ground floor plan

first floor plan

All windows and doors (including entrance), as well as the large open terrace on the ground floor, get ‘hidden’ or ‘revealed’ within the structure of the house, giving it lease of life or making it ‘mute’ as the use requires. At first sight a ‘prototypical’ house-shape gets animated, making the structure simultaneously traditional and contemporary.
The construction of the house is in concrete which is then clad in the homogenous vertical-slatted wooden facade consisting out of large size fixed and sliding panels that cover all openings.

© Miran Kambič

© Miran Kambič

The larch wood of the façade is pre-patinated (weathered) in silver gray stain, giving it an appearance of ‘standing there forever’, while the windows retain the natural warm colour of larchwood, serving as ‘frames’ for the landscape when looking out from the house.
Under the slatted wooden ‘coating’ is a contemporary, ascetic interior with open-plan living / dining room area opening towards surrounding landscape via a large covered terrace in hand-polished terazzo.
The steep stairs, leading to the cellar area with utility space and sauna, and to the first ¸¸floor attic containing bedrooms, traverse and separate living from dining area on the ground floor.

© Miran Kambič

The windows in the bedroom areas, with their seemingly random placing are in fact ‘frames’, capturing different views – therefore the inhabitants can see their garden or the access path to the house, as well as the sky, directly from their beds.
The house communicates with the surrounding nature in many, not immediately visible ways – it also, due to its temporary use as weekend retreat, has the ability to be completely closed-off from it when needed.
In such a way, it succesfully merges the ideas of traditional buildings of the area with contemporary needs and habits.
Cite:
Saieh , Nico . "House R / Bevk Perović arhitekti" 06 Oct 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 14 Oct 2011.

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© David Grandorge

Architect: Manalo & White
Location: Cley Next The Sea, Norfolk, UK
Project Architect: Brian Greathead
Project Team: Brian Greathead, Stephen Beasley, Ashley Seaborne, Paola Marra
Contractor: Green Building Solutions
Structural Engineer: Adam Power Associates
Project Year: 2008-2009
Construction year: 2009
Text: David Grandorge
Photographs: David Grandorge

Cley Next The Sea is a small village on the north Norfolk coast. A group of houses faces the hostile North Sea, separated from it by a salt marsh. The condition of this settlement is fragile. Though sea defences have been intermittently upgraded, rising sea levels threaten its existence in the medium term.
Barry Till (a former head of Morley College) bought a house here in the 1950s as a holiday home and retreat. The house was formerly two cottages with a shared chimney stack that had been knocked into one. It is now owned by Till’s four children, one of whom, Jeremy, is dean of the school of architecture at the University of Westminster and a well-known architect, writer and thinker. Jeremy Till, along with his siblings and parents, commissioned Manalo & White Architects to undertake its refurbishment.

© David Grandorge

The original brief was direct: there would be little ‘architecture’ in it. Roof timbers plagued by rot were to be replaced; a continuous layer of insulation would be applied to the whole envelope; the ground floor was to be made as resistant and adaptive to the effects of flooding as could be; and the energy use of services would be minimised. Construction should be cheap, and prioritise the use of salvaged materials where possible.
Also importantly, a thesis was developed for the re-organisation of the spaces of the building and its material expression. The resulting composition is analogously a boat on a rock. A new highly-insulated timber roof, wall and floor structure sits on a new brick wall that is built inside the existing thick flint walls. A robust tanking membrane and layer of insulation separates the brick from the flint, though they are tied together with straps. The brick walls in the centre that enclose a bathroom are partitions only, allowing for modification if necessary in the building’s future life.

© David Grandorge

Till did not want to see the architect’s hand when he saw the space; the detail of the building should be relaxed, even casual. This is evident on entering the large hallway, which the clients think of as a ‘sorting space’. Leading off it are a bathroom, a cupboard, a stair and two bedrooms. The walls, of an inexpensive but textured brick, have been carefully laid with a flush lime mortar.
This language of brickwork is extended to a plinth made for the beds and the interior of the bathroom. Here, tiles whose adhesion would be compromised by flood water are replaced by glazed bricks, sourced cheaply as leftovers from another construction site. This material choice is pragmatic but also gives a vital character to this space, augmented by a shaft of light that drops into the open shower from a narrow but highly reflective light tube.
The bedrooms relate to the sea and the garden. The stark, exposed quality of their walls is relieved by curtains, fabrics and the inhabitants’ clothes that hang openly on pegs and hangers. This motif acknowledges the temporariness of occupation and is a rejection of the hotel-like quality of closets for something closer to the attitude of a Shaker house.

© David Grandorge

The soffit throughout the ground floor is defined by exposed, oversized timber joists running from front to back and fixed to doubled-up joists coupled with steel that span between the brick walls. The meeting of the joists with the brickwork required a timber wall plate. The awkward junction that results from this deliberately matter-of-fact construction is concealed by a galvanised box section carrying services. It acts as both conduit and cornice. The lighting elements are articulated in a standard aluminium channel that is threaded through the joists and serves to further articulate the ceiling.
The tight stair at the centre of the house leads up to the homelier upper floor through a structure that could only be called a hut. This figurative element has an open roof that, allows light from above to illuminate both the stairwell and the larger space it feeds into. Separating the dining and kitchen and living spaces, it is constructed from reclaimed floorboards and contains a toilet and cupboards. The upper floor can be separated from the space below with a sliding door and hatch. When moved these reveal a perfectly ordered broom cupboard.

© David Grandorge

The walls of the living spaces are articulated in cheap spruce plywood that travels the length of the upper storey, fire-treated and finished with a white translucent water-based varnish. The battens that conceal the joints between boards are a cheap solution that allows for movement but also gives a sense of measure and grain to this long space. The end walls and reveals to the large existing dormer windows are constructed from Fermacell board on studwork and finished in a warm clay paint.
Brian Greathead, principal of Manalo & White, was taught by Jeremy Till at the Bartlett in the mid-1990s. This patronage of a former student displays a sense of generosity and has led to a client/architect relationship characterised by collaboration and improvisation. This has been reinforced by the thoughtfulness and skill of the builder, Mike Walker, who made a significant contribution to the project’s detail.

© David Grandorge

The result might be described as ‘bucolic brutalism’ – architecture that is both robust and pleasurable. The language of austerity is employed humanely and delivered with wit and the scheme is a model of architectural and environmental adaptation to the severity of the natural forces that this site – indeed all global coastlines – might face in the future.
 
Cite:Saieh , Nico . "Seabank Cottage / Manalo & White" 05 Jul 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 17 Mar 2011.

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Corsico Images

Architect: Ailtireacht
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Project Archiect: Andrew Brady
Building Contractor: CRC Developments
Structural Engineer: Casey O Rourke Associates (CORA)
Project Area: 140 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Corsico Images

© Corsico Images
Client Brief:
The brief was to simply refurbish and recondition an existing house and associated flat roofed gallery kitchen to reach contemporary living standards.
The house is a typical single breasted mid-twentieth century terraced house with an existing gallery kitchen return.

© Corsico Images
The client is a retired teacher with a keen interest in gardening. The house immediate context is of poor quality ad-hoc additions to the original terrace.
The house previously suffered from a visual as well as a physical lack of connection to the garden, with an unsympathetic adjoining extension negatively impacting on an otherwise good orientation.

© Corsico Images
Concept/ Solution:
To the existing return, is added a simple wrap of terracotta shingles and external insulation. This new sheath projects 2.5m beyond the footprint of the original return, enclosing a small 4sq. m garden room and bench, it’s roof is canted to catch the direct clerestory southern light above the adjoining extension, bathing the previously dark return in attenuated sunlight.

© Corsico Images
A flush glass window at the lower worktop level, forms a new space extending from party wall to party wall, beyond the glass enclosure, comprising the gallery and the inner court.
The concealed kitchen, faced in oak, continues into the garden room to form the bench and privacy screen to the adjoining property.

© Corsico Images
The garden room is then conceived as end of the line, a space for one and maybe a familiar visitor, a space with a view of, rather than a route to, the garden, a veritable cul-de-sac, enclosing a moment in the day, from which to view the garden, enjoy a cup of coffee or just watch the birds.

Axon
A new canopy over the existing side passage encloses the dining area in a transition space between the interior and exterior, which along with a new staircase from the main floor creates a dialogue between the lower ground floor garden and the piano nobile, so often ignored in the conversion of this type of dwelling

Plan
Method of Construction:
Ground bearing concrete slab. Engineered timber I joist construction throughout. Stick built timber frame with Warmcell insulation to walls. Zinc and Iroko ventilated rainscreen cladding with ventilated zinc covered roof.

Cite:
King , Victoria . "Celtic Park / Ailtireacht" 02 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 02 Dec 2011.

© Filip Šlapal

Architects: studio pha
Location: Všeradice, Czech Republic
Authors: Marek Deyl, Jan Šesták, Petra Kratochvílová
Investor: Kratochvil
Contractor: Soe Real, s.r.o
Project area: 209 sqm
Project year: 2011
Photographs: Filip Šlapal
 

© Filip Šlapal

The plot of land is marked by its sharp southwards slope and its limited access with complicated bends, which also place a limit on the building’s height level. On the land are several notable mature trees.
The house is inspired by the proportions of traditional vernacular rural building without inhabited attic spaces, i.e. without a need to insert windows into the roof surface. The living area is above the bedroom section, using the interior space of the entire attic, designed without any ribbands, only with the aid of steel beams. Likewise, the slope is used for dividing the house into two parts: a firm stone plinth underlying the lighter wooden section with a peaked roof at a pitch of 45°. Both sections are shifted against each other – also following the slope of the ground.

plan 01

The house is placed on a lengthwise axis, running parallel with the contour lines, also to ensure that the complicated access from the main road did not require extensive landscaping modifications.
The wooden section is covered with vertical-positioned ceder boards. The sharply peaked roof is covered in copper sheeting. The windows are entirely framed in wood, with ceder surrounds.

© Filip Šlapal

Solid exterior surfaces are of solid wood, smooth or sanded concrete, and freely set stone flagging with wide gaps.
The semi-cellar area containing rooms is formed partially by the supporting reinforced-concrete wall and part by masonry. From the exterior, the walls are clad with coarse-cut slate.

Cite:
Rosenberg , Andrew . "Family House in Všeradice / studio pha" 28 May 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 29 May 2011.