© 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.

Solar Umbrella, California / USA by Brooks + Scarpa

Nestled amidst a neighborhood of single story bungalows in Venice, California, the Solar Umbrella Residence boldly establishes a precedent for the next generation of California modernist architecture.

Photo by Marvin Rand

Project Details:
Location: Venice, California, USA
Type: Residential - Houses
Architects: Brooks + Scarpa – www.brooksscarpa.com
Client/Owner: Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa
Total Square Footage: 1,250 sq. ft.(new) 650 sq. ft.(remodeled)
Project Team: Lawrence Scarpa and Angela Brooks – Principals- in-Charge. Angela Brooks, AIA, Anne Burke, Vanessa Hardy, Ching Luk, Gwynne Pugh, P.E., AIA, Lawrence Scarpa, – Project Design Team.
Located on a 41’ wide x 100’-0” long through lot, the Solar Umbrella addition transforms the architects’ existing 650 square foot bungalow into a 1900 square foot residence equipped for responsible living in the twenty-first century.
Inspired by Paul Rudolph’s Umbrella House of 1953, the Solar Umbrella provides a contemporary reinvention of the solar canopy—a strategy that provides thermal protection in climates with intense exposures. In establishing the program for their residence, which accommodates the couple and their one child chose to integrate into the design, principles of sustainability that they strive to achieve in their own practice. The architects carefully considered the entire site, taking advantage of as many opportunities for sustainable living as possible. Passive and active solar design strategies render the residence 100% energy neutral. Recycled, renewable, and high performance materials and products are specified throughout. Hardscape and landscape treatments are considered for their aesthetic and actual impact on the land. The Brooks Scarpa Residence elegantly crafts each of these strategies and materials, exploiting the potential for performance and sensibility while achieving a rich and interesting sensory and aesthetic experience.

Photo by Marvin Rand

Taking advantage of the unusual through lot site condition, the addition shifts the residence 180 degrees from its original orientation. What was formerly the front and main entry at the north becomes the back as the new design reorganizes the residence towards the south. This move allows the architects to create a more gracious introduction to their residence and optimizes exposure to energy rich southern sunlight. A bold display of solar panels wrapping around the south elevation and roof becomes the defining formal expression of the residence. Conceived as a solar canopy, these panels protect the body of the building from thermal heat gain by screening large portions of the structure from direct exposure to the intense southern California sun. Rather than deflecting sunlight, this state of the art solar skin absorbs and tranforms this rich resource into usable energy, providing the residence with 100% of its electricity. Like many design features at the Solar Umbrella, the solar canopy is multivalent and rich with meaning—performing several roles for both functional, formal and experiential effect.

Photo by Marvin Rand

By removing only one wall at the south, the architects maintain the primary layout of the existing residence. The original bungalow, which was tightly packed with program (kitchen, dining, living, two bedrooms and a bath) is joined by a sizable addition to the south, which includes a new entry, living area, master suite accommodations, and utility room for laundry and storage. The kitchen, which once formed the back edge of the residence, opens into a large living area, which in turn, opens out to a spacious front yard. An operable wall of glass at the living area delicately defines the edge between interior and exterior. An unbroken visual corridor is established from one end of the property to the other. Taking cues from the California modernist tradition, the architects conceive of exterior spaces as outdoor rooms. By creating strong visual and physical links between outside and inside, these outdoor rooms interlock with interior spaces, blurring the boundary and creating a more dynamic relationship between the two. The entry sequence along the western edge of the property further demonstrates this concept. A cast in place concrete pool provides a stong landscape element and defines the path to the front entry. Upon reaching the entry, the pool cascades into a lower tier of water that penetrates and interlocks with the geometry and form of the residence. In a move that reinvents the welcome mat, stepping stones immersed in the water create an initiatory rite of passage into the residence as the visitor is invited walk across water. The distinction between outside and inside is once again blurred.

Photo by Marvin Rand

Photo by Marvin Rand

The master suite on the second level reiterates the strategy of interlocking space. Located directly above the new living area, up a set of floating, folded plate steel stairs, the bedroom strategically opens onto a deep covered patio which overlooks the garden. Conceptually reminiscent of R.M. Schindler’s Kings Road Residence, this patio extends the bedroom area outdoors, creating the sensation of a sleeping loft exposed to the exterior. This deep porch carves out an exterior space within the visual bounds of the building envelope and provides the front elevation with a distinctive character. What appears to be a significant area of the second floor is actually never enclosed but rather it is protected by the planes, which wrap around it.

Photo by Marvin Rand

Photo by Marvin Rand

A dynamic composition of interlocking solid and void creates a richly layered depth to the design. Transparency through the house allows views to penetrate from front to back. The structure appears to sit lightly upon the land. Formal elements along these visual corridors—i.e. stairs, bearing walls, structural columns, guardrails, built-in furniture and cabinetry– vary in density, color and texture. Light penetrates the interior of the residence at several locations. A series of stepped roofs, glazed walls, and clerestory windows broadcast light from multiple directions. Light and shadow—ephemeral and constantly changing effects–become palpable formal tools that enliven the more permanent and fixed elements of the design. Together, all of these components establish an effectively layered composition rich in visual and formal interest.

Photo by Marvin Rand

Photo by Marvin Rand

Photo by Marvin Rand

Throughout the residence, the architects resourcefully take materials and contextually reposition them as design elements. Solar panels, conventionally relegated to a one-dimensional utilitarian application, define envelope, provide shelter and establish a distinctive architectural expression. Homosote, an acoustical panel made from recycled newspaper is palm-sanded and used as a finish material for custom cabinets. OSB (oriented strand board) a structural grade building material composed of leftover wood chips compressed together with high strength adhesive, becomes the primary flooring material where concrete is not used. Sanded, stained and sealed, the OSB floor paneling provides a cost effective and materially responsible alternative to hardwood. Materials are selected for both performance and aesthetic value. Metal stud construction replaces conventional wood framing. Recycled steel panels, solar powered in-floor radiant heating, high efficiency appliances and fixtures, and low v.o.c. paint replace less efficient materials. Decomposed granite and gravel hardscape, including a stormwater retention basin are used in place of concrete or stone. Unlike their impervious alternatives, these materials allow the ground to absorb water and in turn, mitigate urban run-off to the ocean. Drought tolerant xeriscaping compliments the textures and palette of the building while providing a low maintenance, aesthetically appealing landscape.

Plans

© Paul Warchol

Architects: Leroy Street Studio
Location: Long Island, NY
Completion: 2007
Size: 7,400 sf House, 1,900 sf Wood Shop and Garage
Photographs: Paul Warchol

© Paul Warchol

To satisfy a client’s passion for barns, we sought to capture the qualities of traditional barn structures (generous spaces; repetitive timber frames), while developing a modern building responding to the demands both of a residential program, and a site’s dramatic views of the adjacent corn field and nearby moody Atlantic coast. The main home is accompanied by a woodshop with adjoining changing rooms for use of the lap pool that lies just beyond. The woodshop was a special request from the client, an avid woodworker with passionate requirements about the shop’s aesthetic and geographical relationship to the house. With such a strong affinity for a hobby exercised indoors, we exploited the impressive scope of the site and the accompanying nature by designing a compound of buildings that incorporate the emotion of the surrounding outdoors from within the buildings themselves.

© Paul Warchol

The entrance of the house is approached along a raised boardwalk. The entry sequence draws one through the building’s louvered skin into a two-story foyer overlooking a three story interior garden courtyard. The house’s public spaces are elevated to the second floor to capture the long views. The main space, an open living, dining and kitchen hall, opens to a billiard room below, and to a mezzanine and a ceiling-scape of delicate three-dimensional hybrid wood-and-steel timber frame members and slot skylight above. An immense stone fireplace divides this hall from the outdoor, screened porch beyond. The mezzanine opens outside to a rooftop garden connecting to a study tucked into the rafters.

© Paul Warchol

The foremost determining feature of the project’s architecture is its collaborative use of inside and outside spaces that come together to form a dualistic experience; succeeding in bringing the outside in. To unify the various internal and external spaces, we created a translucent wrapper for the building of louvers and rain screen siding. In all, five outdoor courts and garden spaces are unified under the single roof, giving the structure a double reading of complexity from up close, and simple monolithic harmony from afar. When lit at night, the main house’s light shines from within the spaces between the louvers, allowing a gauzy translucence rarely seen in solid, volumetric structures.

© Paul Warchol

The woodshop building also maintains the indoor-outdoor parti with a semi-covered rooftop patio alongside the upstairs woodshop entrance. Down below are the changing rooms, kitchen area and garage, with a breezeway dividing the indoor spaces on either side, paving the way to the pool straight ahead.
Cite:
King , Victoria . "Louver House / LSS" 26 Dec 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 09 Mar 2012.

CON Solar Decathlon 2009 House 
Green Tour

Name: ICON Solar House built by the College of Design, the College of Science and Engineering, and the College of Continuing Education at the University of Minnesota for the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. 
Location: Built in St. Paul, moved to Washington D.C. for competition, now currently on the East Bank campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis 
Years lived in: none, yet

The U.S. Department of Energy hosts a Solar Decathlon every other year that challenges cross disciplinary teams of students to design, build, transport and re-assemble solar powered houses. The University of Minnesota entered the ICON Solar House against nineteen other international schools in the 2009 competition. The house is currently assembled in Minneapolis while it awaits its next use. At a lean 450 square feet, the home is often described as the, "perfect little cabin." This home is customized to be net zero energy on an annual basis in a northern climate. I met with Dan Handeen, Assistant Project Manager for the ICON Solar House, for a tour.

 

Enter Green Tour

The ICON Solar House is a modern eco-living home with a traditional twist. It performs extremely well as a grid-tied, zero net energy on an annual basis solar home. Not only does the ICON house perform well but care was taken throughout the design process to ensure that it would be a comfortable place to live. Many businesses contributed elements to this project including the hand crafted table and chairs made by the School of Architecture's workshop staff, the credenza from Blu Dot, couch from IKEA.
A solar decathlon home designed for the cold, northern climate of Minnesota must be designed to take full advantage of solar gain. The large, south facing windows allow light to enter the living spaces. An important control factor for occupants is the ability to mitigate strong light. The blinds pictured here can allow full light and views, translucent light as well as blackout shades. It is a small element in the home but has a striking affect on the quality of the space within.

Enter Green Tour

At first I was struck by how small the ICON house appeared to be. The living spaces all flow together to give the feeling of a much larger room yet the bedroom and bathroom appeared almost claustrophobic. The bedroom pictured here seemed almost impossible to live with until I rested in the bed. The ceiling above the bed vaults upward to catch daylight entering through the south facing windows. The effect makes the space feel cozy and larger than it appears at first glance.
Re-Nest Survey:
Our style: Modern eco-living with a traditional twist
Inspiration: The gable roof
Favorite Element: Grid-tied net-zero energy plus year-round heating met by solar thermal collectors.
Biggest Challenge: Completing an integrated design process with 10 student team leaders agreeing on design decisions
What Friends Say: I'd love to bring this up to the lake! It's the perfect little cabin! (and you could!)
Proudest DIY: The ICON Solar House was designed and built entirely by University of Minnesota students except for foam install, some plumbing and electrical.
Biggest Indulgence: Philips Color Kinetix LED lighting; SAGE electrochromic windows on east and west sides
Best Advice: It's never too early to start design.
Green Elements/Initiatives: Low-flow fixtures, rainwater catchment with self-irrigating landscaping, formaldehyde-free cabinets, reclaimed maple flooring, 8kW photovoltaic system, 6-panel solar thermal system, All LED or fluorescent lighting, high-efficiency appliances

Enter Green Tour

The living room, dining room and kitchen are all one integrated space. The vaulted ceilings, huge south facing windows and ample east and west facing windows allow this tiny space to feel open and larger than it really is. SAGE electrochromic glass is used on the east and west facing windows to allow them to be tinted during high glare periods of the day. Sliding panels in blue allow the bedroom and bathroom to be shielded for privacy.
Although I visited the ICON house during daylight hours, I was able to see its award winning lighting design. All of the lighting in the house is either compact fluorescent or LED. The Philips Color Kinetix LED lighting installed near the ceiling is programmable and can change color depending on the desired mood of the space.
Resources:
Appliances: FisherPaykel dual-drawer dishwasher, Wolf induction cooktop; Miele convection oven; Liebherr refrigerator; Sharp LCD TV; Dell computer monitor; Asko washer and dryer.
Hardware:
Furniture: IKEA couch and bed; Loll furniture outdoor seating; Blu Dot credenza, coffee table, and side table; Custom dining chairs and table by UofM Architecture students
Accessories:
Lighting: Philips Color Kinetix;
Rugs and Carpets: Target
Tiles and Stone: Rust Brothers composite recycled glass kitchen countertop; Recycled glass tile in bathroom
Window Treatments: Hunter Douglas Duette
Beds: IKEA Malm
Artwork: All artwork was custom made for the ICON house by University of Minnesota Interior Design and Retail Marketing students
Flooring: Reclaimed maple

Enter Green Tour
(Thanks Dan!)
See archives of past Green Tours here!

(Image: Laurie McGinley)

© zeroplus

Architect: zeroplus
Location: Puget Sound, Washington, USA
Project Team: Joshua Brevoort, Principal; Lisa chun, Principal; Casey Borgen, Intern
Fabricators: River Ranch LLC and Meadow Works
Manager: Bud Searle
Carpenters: Neil Harrington, Mark Schrader
Project Area: 1200 sqf
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: zeroplus

© zeroplus

Our practice explores how architecture can develop a symbiotic relationship with its surroundings. In this project, a cabin that is a retreat from the intense experiences of urban living, we found a number of ways to develop this ecological model. We started with a strict set of site rules that govern the design and construction process. The most important rule is that the previously undisturbed site full of mature Douglas fir and cedar trees, some up to three feet in diameter with a dense marine underbrush including salal bushes would be left as undisturbed as possible. Secondly we focused on structural and material systems that not only reinforced the primary idea about non-disturbance but also took its clues from the efficiency of natural systems, primarily driven by lightness. Lightness talks not only of efficiency and conservation but perhaps a more esoteric idea that lightness can be an elevation of spirit brought on by a rich connection to site. Finally to address our needs for thermal comfort in this temperate environment we split the uses into two distinct zones one exposed and one protected, providing a way to enjoy the sensory experience of the forest but to have a warm protected refuge from it as well.

© zeroplus

The site strategies included a foundation of minimally invasive concrete disks which raises the house up off the ground leaving the plants and wildlife to continue to grow. Collaborating with an arborist, we devised a system to allow not only the tree’s large tap roots to remain but also the very small capillary-like roots that trace through the top humus layer continued access to nutrients, water and sun. Another rule was the tight restriction of the area that was allowed to be disturbed during construction which was controlled by a fence that left only a very small working area surrounding the house. Though it made construction more difficult the final result was a building that nestles itself into the landscape. Finally from a planning perspective the driveway and parking which are located on a previously disturbed area that was separated from the house by a large portion of the site. A small path was created to connect the parking and the house, part of which was a ramp that bridges up to the house creating even more undisturbed area. The next rule was to connect the inside of the house with its surroundings creating an immersive experience. This is achieved not only through the generous use of glass but with light monitors built into the giant roof reaching up through the branches pulling in bright patches of the sun cutting through the tall trees. By conserving the existing characteristics of the site and connecting to the its richness, its complexity, beauty, and ever changing qualities can be observed and understood at all times.

© zeroplus

Our use of lightness can be understood in two ways the first was literally the weight of the materials and the second the more difficult to define quality of uplifting the spirit. In order to achieve lightness in material we first worked to create a light weight structural system that efficiently delivered stability to the overall building. This prefabricated steel system relies on tension for support which greatly reduces the weight of individual structural members. Finally the roof , an extremely light system of structurally insulated panels or SIP’s. SIPS were plant fabricated off site and quickly installed as a series of simple large panels. These panels are not only light but are made highly thermally efficient due to the nature of their construction two layers of oriented strand board glued to a dense internal layer of insulation that is acting both structurally and thermally. Lightness in spirit is concerned with a more difficult thing to describe. Other than to say it comes from an intuitive sensibility, a sensibility about the brilliance of the seemingly mundane daily conditions which all play a role that subtly defines that elusive quality, a quality that lightens the mind and hopefully contributes to a healthy and nurturing way of living.

elevation

Thinking about how the rooms are used and how that can effect the thermal demands of them brought us to dividing the project into two distinct thermal zones, a living zone which is glazed and turns outward toward its surroundings connecting directly with the out of doors, and a sleeping zone that is heavily insulated and turns inward and is dark and quiet. This allows for a separation of climates so to speak. It came from our experiences backpacking where you spend the day outside and then at night you tuck into a sleeping bag inside a tent we look at it as a way to balance the differences between being exposed to the out of doors all day long and wanting relief, warmth and security as you sleep. It also has the added bonus of reducing the heating demands during the night. It was also important to us to push the edges of thermal comfort so as to again connect us to the qualities of the continually changing environmental conditions found in nature.

north elevation

This approach that brings the building more closely aligned with the patterns cycles and systems of nature we feel has great potential for teaching and re-enlivening our connection to our environments and will ultimately lead to a more successful and sustainable way of living.
Text provided by zeroplus.

© zeroplus

Cite:
Henry , Christopher . "Sneeoosh / zeroplus" 19 Sep 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 24 Jan 2012.

" EnerPHit "
le nouveau certificat Maison passive pour la modernisation des constructions anciennes

L'utilisation de composants Maison passive dans la modernisation des constructions anciennes permet des améliorations considérables dans les domaines du confort, de la rentabilité, de l'absence de dommages dus à la construction et de la lutte contre le changement climatique. Une diminution d'environ 90% des besoins en chaleur de chauffage a ainsi été atteinte dans un grand nombre de projets.


La norme Maison passive n'est cependant pas toujours un objectif réaliste pour les constructions anciennes, car les murs des caves demeurent, après les travaux de rénovation, des ponts thermiques pratiquement inévitables. C'est pour ces bâtiments que le PHI a élaboré la certification " EnerPHit - Qualitätsgeprüfte Modernisierung mit Passivhaus-Komponenten " (" EnerPHit - modernisation certifiée qualité à l'aide de composants Maison passive ").

Les critères de certification sont publiés sur http://www.passiv.de/01_dph/Bestand/EnerPHit (de/en).

© Rupert Singleton

Architects: Juliana & Tristan
Location: Brookvale Park, Singapore
Project Area: 150 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Rupert Singleton, ImageGarden

© Rupert Singleton

Beginnings
Tucked away in a corner off the main road, surrounded by lush greenery, sits one of those increasingly rare and threatened species of our built environment, a private walk up apartment with space to breathe and quietude for the soul. Like others built in its era, Brookvale Park combine both a stroke of practicality in its economy of scale, whilst maintaining sensitivity to the spatial proportions and distances that is required for its inhabitants to live life without the intrusive pressures of urbanity.
Individual dwelling units enjoy that rare commodity of a generous span of balcony, whilst internally, a sense of play abounds as different horizontal planes separate the public domain from the private. Belie this apartment’s aging exterior lies a potential sophistication of spaces which we recognised in our search for a home some years back.

© Rupert Singleton

After viewing countless different yet similar cookie cutter apartment layouts, we instantly saw the possible beauty of this top storey corner apartment. The slanted roof, though covered by the false ceiling, and diffused sunlight through the side skylight gently illuminating the interior, sealed the deal and we set out to sculpt the apartment into our home.

Revealing the beauty
The entire original ceiling was removed and a series of solid timber rafters, concealed and darkened over the years, was revealed. These were sand down, restored, given its due recognition and fundamental objective to soar overhead and form the anchor of the apartment. Lush greenery, now framed by newly installed unadorned steel framed glass windows, provides the necessary cross ventilation that every tropical home should embrace.

© Rupert Singleton

Cool grey stones greet the visitor as one steps into the living room and a built in book case meets the eye. A long bench which functions as the main settee is integrated with a series of steps, serving to transit from the stone floor to the timber boards on the split upper level of the unit. The open kitchen now serves as the new back drop of the public domain.
The new Master suite takes over the entire rear portion, occupying what was once two guest bedrooms, a kitchen and a service bath. The collective space was given a complete overhaul, exposing the original roof rafters and creating an uninterrupted flow from the intimate bed space to the striking, opened bathroom.

© Rupert Singleton

The original Master bedroom now functions as a study. The wall separating the study and living room was removed as much as possible, allowing one to peer into either space through the voids of the book case.
The interplay of volumes within the apartment, brought about by the combination of the pitched roof, raised platforms and torn down walls reveal a strong yet flexible hierarchy of space that was intuitively understood and celebrated through the use of materials and careful detailing. The resultant space is one that has been crafted and honed to meet the refined sensibilities of modern life.

An endangered species
Unfortunately, with economics and “p.s.f“ (per square foot) figures rather than refinement of the living space being the driving force behind todays’ developments, one would be hard pressed to find an equivalent sophistication in the modern designs of today. Walk-up apartment blocks as old as Brookvale are an “endangered species” in our city-country of Singapore. Many are “en-bloc” (where owners of separate units band together to collectively sell their properties to a developer) and put up for tender for redevelopment, often replaced by typical floor plates which aim to pack as many units as possible into any given site. These alluring apartments are most often, torn down to give way to a bland permutation of soulless architectural condition and utilitarian living.

Brookvale is no exception
It is currently in the midst of a potential en-bloc tender and is in the mercy of prospective buyers versus the dwellers. The hope of publishing our apartment is to tell the story of such a charm that cannot be substituted with pristine new living quarters. Our wish is for like-minded individuals to cherish these living spaces and live in as they were meant to be.
 
Cite:
King , Victoria . "Brookvale Park / Tristan & Juliana" 23 Jan 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 Jan 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.