Conceived by Jorn Utzon in 1961 for his friend the structural engineer Povl Ahm, this house is recognised as one of the most important modern houses in Britain.
Povl Ahm was a partner at the Danish engineering practice Ove Arup & Partners and worked with Utzon on the Sydney Opera House. Designed by the two Danes, the house was created for Ahm and his young family on this suburban site in Hertfordshire. Coppin Dockray were asked by the new owners – a professional couple with a young family – to design the interiors for the house.
Coppin Dockray’s choice of furnishings reflects the physical and historic context of the house and its Danish roots. The furniture collection works with the architectural journey – providing punctuation with key pieces where there are natural pause-points and at other times allowing the eye to effortlessly slide around the soft curves of the Jacobsen chairs to the lush green of the mature garden beyond.
The material qualities of the interiors, like the house, are natural and crafted, deliberately chosen to be long lasting and to develop their own patina over time. Coppin Dockray’s work included careful repairs to the Grade II Listed 1961 house and the reinstatement of some of the original joinery based on Utzon’s standard details.
Coppin Dockray
All images courtesy of Coppin Dockray
Coppin Dockray
Sandra Coppin and Bev Dockray have worked closely together for almost 20 years and founded Coppin Dockray in 2012. more
The transformation once an overgrown yard and open pool deck now a habitable destination space for swimmers and non-swimmers alike. In a quiet natural setting the pool house is located at a mid-century modern home in Los Gatos.
John Klopf is a licensed architect over 24 years in the field. He is the Founding Principal of Klopf Architecture, which he founded in 2001 after working for a few years at other firms. John, along with his wife and their two sons, lives in San Francisco and enjoys walking his dogs to work or biking to work whenever possible.
John was born in Cleveland Ohio, and is a graduate of both Harvard (Bachelor, 1993) and Berkeley (Master of Architecture, 2000). While at Berkeley, he won the highly competitive Branner travel fellowship for nine months of fully-paid independent architectural study in Japan, Europe, and Scandinavia. While at Harvard he studied abroad for one semester in Nanjing, China.
In addition to practicing architecture, John has taught design at USF (the University of San Francisco) as an adjunct professor, taught introductory design classes at Berkeley as a lecturer and graduate student instructor, and managed a major sustainability research project for the architecture department at Berkeley.
Today architectural practice consumes all of John’s professional time. He focuses on modernist homes, green and net-zero energy homes, and mid-century modern buildings. He is excited about the completion of Klopf Architecture’s first net-zero energy modern house and looks forward to working on more modern zero-net energy houses.
AVCIARCHITECTS provided a full modernization and interior re-design for this private villa, set in the natural beauty of an outer-London estate. The finished residence is comprised of a large multi-level living room and gallery, a conservatory and a library, a swimming pool, six bedrooms, and an annex guest wing.
Avci Architects
All images courtesy of Avci Architects
Avci Architects
Selcuk Avci and Sanja Jurca Avci established Avci Architects in London in 1989. In its first year, the practice won the top prize in the European Union biannual Energy Efficient Buildings Competition, a culmination of years of experience in sustainability, which set the tone for the direction of the practice. Although the practice specializes in many sectors in terms of programme, sustainability has become an underlying driving ethos, from the scale of regional masterplanning down to the design of a single product.
Avci Architects has designed projects in the UK as well as in Italy, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Serbia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and more recently in Turkey. Currently active projects include commercial and institutional offices, retail centres, private residential developments, and educational and cultural buildings including exhibitions and museums.
Avci Architects has studios in London, Istanbul and Ljubljana.
CONTACT
LONDON
Urbanista,
2 Eastbourne Terrace
London, United Kingdom
When the eventual owners first visited the existing Alan Taniguchi house in Austin’s Westlake Hills, they knew right away this was the home they wanted to live in. Sited high in the hills, the original house was designed with balcony/deck access in every single room, opening up to the nature and tranquility just minutes away from downtown Austin. The 90’s home, however, desperately needed an update as well as an addition to accommodate their needs.
The remodel and addition respects the strong qualities of the existing structure and site, while enhancing it and supplementing it with additional development. The renovation portion includes a complete update of interior and exterior finishes to achieve a fresh aesthetic with clean lines. Wood and stone compliment the freshly-painted white stucco from the outside, while the interior finishes are kept simple to accentuate the sweeping views of the rolling hills. The design reworks the kitchen area for an articulated yet open kitchen/dining experience, and features flush panel walnut cabinets, white Silestone countertops waterfall edge island, and sleek Wolf appliances.
As a film producer/editor from Los Angeles, the husband needed a workspace that could be separated from the domestic life. A freestanding structure was added which acts as both a studio and a pool house. The new live/work space defines the southern edge of the pool with adjacent hot tub and BBQ area, squaring up the courtyard which was also re-designed to suit the family’s lifestyle and act as the unifying element between the buildings. The additional structure is strategically positioned to frame views to the pool, the hills, and the cactus-filled slope in the back. A wood-clad accent wall extends from the wood deck, further emphasizing the indoor-outdoor connection, with a sequence of covered patios connecting the addition to the main house. The intention is to be as much a platform to experience the surrounding landscape as it is a container to enable the flow of daily work and live functions.
A native of Austin, Matt Fajkus holds a Master in Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he completed his thesis work with Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rafael Moneo. Before going independent in 2010 and establishing MF Architecture, Fajkus achieved significant experience in architectural practice. While working for the world-renowned firm Foster + Partners in London for several years, he worked on the design of numerous high-profile, international large-scale projects. Starting at firms in 1998, he also worked on numerous small-scale award-winning projects while with Max Levy Architects in Dallas, Brinkley Sargent Architects, and Julie Snow Architects in Minneapolis. In 2012, Fajkus was awarded two AIA National Emerging Professional Awards.
In addition to leading MF Architecture, Fajkus is a Tenured Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, where he teaches courses in design, technology, daylighting and integrated sustainability. In 2013 he was recognized with the University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award – the highest teaching honor awarded by the entire school system. Additionally in 2013, Fajkus was presented with the Faculty Scholarship Award for Innovative Practice, and the ACSA/AIAS National New Faculty Teaching Award in 2012. He has co-authoring a book titled Architectural Science and the Sun, which is currently under contract with Routledge Publishers.
Fajkus is a LEED Accredited Professional and a licensed architect in the State of Texas. Fajkus was named the winner of the Engineering, Architecture and Design category at the 17th Austin Under 40 Award in 2015, and the winner of AIA Austin’s Emerging Professional Achievement Honor Award in 2017.
A small addition and intricate interior intervention to a classic 1960s beach shack situated only a stone’s throw away from Portsea’s iconic Shelly Beach.
This charming four-bedroom cottage had a lot of existing Mid-century Modernist features to work with including lattice steel trusses, painted brick and white timber windows. The client’s brief was to build on this and improve the use and internal flow of the kitchen/living spaces, create a better connection to the garden as well as make design updates to the joinery, lighting and bathrooms.
To the front a modest reverse lean-to addition sits respectfully back from the original beach shack and surrounding houses. Inside is a relaxed and light multipurpose hangout – that opens up front and backyard alike – blurring the lines between the inside and the outdoors. A painted brick spine and concrete bench continues to the outside either end of this room, connecting the two outdoor spaces and creating the backdrop to a front garden sitting ledge and a playful backyard BBQ and pizza oven.
All images courtesy of Pleysier Perkins Architects
Pleysier Perkins Architects
Pleysier Perkins is a Melbourne based architecture and interior design practice established by Ramon Pleysier and Simon Perkins in 2002. They share responsibility for a diverse range of mainly residential projects with Studio Director Berit Barton and Associates Anthony Dann, Ross Berger and Julian Legg. All are supported by a talented team of architects, interior designers and graduates. more
The project provides a new two-storey rear extension to this Victorian terraced house in South London. The existing narrow kitchen extension on ground floor was remove and replaced with a new light filled kitchen and dining area. The ground floor is expanded sideways filling the entire width of the plot with reconfiguration of the existing internal layout to incorporate a washroom and generous arrival hall. Volumetrically, the ground and first floor extension is articulated into two distinct volumes constructed from a light coloured pigmented concrete block, which provide a subtle distinction from the main house. The windows in this new volume are made from oak, which has also been used in the interiors.
Al-Jawad Pike is an award-winning London-based architectural studio founded in 2014 by Jessam Al-Jawad and Dean Pike. Prior to setting up the studio, Dean and Jessam spent 10 years each working at David Chipperfield Architects, gaining extensive experience on a wide range of high-profile projects.
The studio has a strong design focus, and is recognised for the quality of its built work.
An existing interwar duplex on a sloping site was the foundation of this challenging conversion project.
The two units had complex floor plans over three levels, including a detached basement. The interior was adapted primarily through the demolition of dividing walls and floors. The basement garage was connected through a new staircase and repurposed as the kids’ play area.
The solidity of the original building was respected through curved details and materials designed to emphasise mass. A new central void above the entry creates drama and provides a visual clarity to the arrangement of spaces.
The building’s steep elevation provided excellent views but created a disconnection with the outdoors. A key gesture was burying the old garage doors behind a grassy hill to connect the main living space to the garden and swimming pool.
The result is a home that’s open and connected; an entertainer where young kids and pets can run wild.
An existing nondescript 1980’s hillside home on a spectacular site was transformed with critical concern for the preservation and optimization of panoramic ocean views. The vehicular approach, orientation and entry sequence are choreographed to capitalize on the site conditions and view opportunities.
Structural reinforcement of the terrain allowed for the conceptual overlay of program, including an office/exercise room level, sleeping level, and living/entertaining level are all tucked within the hillside. An elegant yet casual palette of natural materials, textures, and rich details supports a connection between the interior and exterior spaces.
A beautifully crafted extension to a Californian Bungalow for a builder and his family. A robust yet light single storey pavilion with exposed timber rafters, timber windows and brick walls forms the open plan living and meals area, whilst its stucco rendered brother houses bedroom, bathroom and two offices.
All images courtesy of Pleysier Perkins Architects
Pleysier Perkins Architects
Pleysier Perkins is a Melbourne based architecture and interior design practice established by Ramon Pleysier and Simon Perkins in 2002. They share responsibility for a diverse range of mainly residential projects with Studio Director Berit Barton and Associates Anthony Dann, Ross Berger and Julian Legg. All are supported by a talented team of architects, interior designers and graduates. more
Designed by Ibsen Nelsen in 1961, the layout of this home was very well considered but the character and flow between spaces wasn’t a good fit for the daily patterns of the new owners. High on the owner’s wish list were increased physical and visual connections between rooms and to the outdoors. A central feature of the original design was a courtyard garden, experienced primarily through the living room. Careful reconsideration of the openings surrounding this space reframed it as a tranquil organizing element of the house, central not just to the living room but also to the entry, the daily circulation paths and the more informal spaces of the home. Single pane windows were replaced and extended floor to ceiling. Upgraded insulation and high efficiency radiant floor heat allowed the removal of ductwork and low ceilings, dramatically reducing the home’s energy consumption. The new project is updated and more livable but still respectful of the best elements of the original design.
All images courtesy of mw|works architecture + design
mw|works architecture + design
Formed in 2007, by Steve Mongillo and Eric Walter, mwworks is a Seattle based design studio offering architectural and interior design services to residential and commercial clients. more
CONTACT
mw|works architecture + design
159 western avenue west
suite 484
seattle, washington 98119
A rambling fifties ranch house within a canyon setting was extensively remodeled in the nineteen eighties, with unfortunate results. In lieu of restoration, which seemed implausible, we opted to keep the Beverly Hills ‘ranch’ vernacular but translate it through modernism. We looked to Eero Saarinen’s 1957 Miller House for cues on incorporating modern details – framing, casework and material combinations – within a postmodern ranch vocabulary. The new interior is highly detailed and precise, with a complex system of posts, beams and brickwork, all painted in many subtle shades and finishes of white, from dead-flat to high-gloss lacquer.
The Archers
All images courtesy of The Archers
The Archers
Founded by Richard Petit and Stephen Hunt in 2002, The Archers is a team of designers, architects, artists, and cinephiles based in Los Angeles, California. The studio’s work comprises buildings, interiors and furnishings for private homes and public spaces.
The Archers is historically minded and research oriented, and although the scale and nature of the studio’s work varies dramatically, every project shares a commitment to authenticity, resonance of material, and experimentation rooted in precedent. Site-specific furniture and finishes are a defining aspect of the studio’s projects.
The Archers borrows its name from the production company of British filmmakers Powell & Pressburger. Like its namesake, the studio is collaborative and aspires to innovate. Using experience, passion and keen judgement, The Archers strive to make every space the only one of its kind.
CONTACT
The Archers
849 S Broadway #PH1
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Bestor Architecture is based in Los Angeles and was founded by Barbara Bestor, FAIA in 1995. Bestor Architecture has designed a number of award-winning projects including headquarters for Beats by Dre and Nasty Gal, Blackbirds, a groundbreaking new typology for dense housing in Echo Park, and a variety of experimental residences and commercial establishments. The varied, creative, and aesthetically progressive body of work expands the territory of architecture into atmospheric urbanism.
CONTACT
Bestor Architecture
2030 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Klopf Architecture, Arterra Landscape Architects, and Flegels Construction updated a classic Eichler open, indoor-outdoor home. Expanding on the original walls of glass and connection to nature that is common in mid-century modern homes. The Truly Open Eichler is a remodeled single-family house in Palo Alto. This 1,712 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
John Klopf is a licensed architect over 24 years in the field. He is the Founding Principal of Klopf Architecture, which he founded in 2001 after working for a few years at other firms. John, along with his wife and their two sons, lives in San Francisco and enjoys walking his dogs to work or biking to work whenever possible.
John was born in Cleveland Ohio, and is a graduate of both Harvard (Bachelor, 1993) and Berkeley (Master of Architecture, 2000). While at Berkeley, he won the highly competitive Branner travel fellowship for nine months of fully-paid independent architectural study in Japan, Europe, and Scandinavia. While at Harvard he studied abroad for one semester in Nanjing, China.
In addition to practicing architecture, John has taught design at USF (the University of San Francisco) as an adjunct professor, taught introductory design classes at Berkeley as a lecturer and graduate student instructor, and managed a major sustainability research project for the architecture department at Berkeley.
Today architectural practice consumes all of John’s professional time. He focuses on modernist homes, green and net-zero energy homes, and mid-century modern buildings. He is excited about the completion of Klopf Architecture’s first net-zero energy modern house and looks forward to working on more modern zero-net energy houses.
We were approached by a couple to transform a tired and dated Victorian property into a contemporary family home for their young family. Works involved an extensive refurbishment and reconfiguration of the existing house with a new contemporary and bespoke rear extension.
Inspired by the dual nationality of the couple (British and Australian) the property is designed to have two distinct characters. The existing areas of the house which contain reception, living room and a bedroom retain original Victorian spatial proportions whilst details such as skirting boards and cornicing are reinstated.
The new side and rear wrap around extension was conceived as contemporary reading of an Australian veranda structure. It is designed to act as a threshold space between the existing darker areas of the house, garden and sky to create an uplifting open plan kitchen and dining space.
On a large, flat property with a lawn that stretches to a fruit orchard the clients discovered ramshackle structures (a three-bedroom house with a few loosely connected guest cottages) in need of repair. Their goal, rather than tear down the buildings, was to unite and logically connect what had become a hodgepodge of nondescript buildings.
The owners, who had known architect Barbara Bestor, for years worked on a plan that would renovate all the buildings but in a cohesive, beach style. Barbara would do all the architecture, and the owner oversaw the interiors, collaborating closely with her team. The main house was formerly closed off and had small rooms. It did not connect to the outside. Barbara’s solution was to raise the middle portion of the house, creating an entirely new great room, with radiant flooring, that opened up completely to the terrace and lawn. She then inverted the standard gabled roof, creating a butterfly shape that brings in natural light and air.
The indoor-outdoor living concept is embraced and enhanced by the addition of skylights and clerestory windows and bringing the exterior walls’ board-and-batten treatment inside. The same upholstery fabrics were used for indoor built-ins and outdoor cushions. All custom cabinetry was designed by Bestor Architecture.
Barbara Bestor, FAIA is founding principal of Bestor Architecture. Since 1995, Bestor Architecture has actively redefined Los Angeles architecture with a practice that rigorously engages the city through design, art, and urbanism. Increasingly, the firm applies L.A.’s lessons to national undertakings. She explores the architectural form through experiments in spatial arrangements, graphics, and color, which is evident in her projects from custom residences to headquarters for international companies. Her varied and progressive body of work connects with people on many levels, often outside the boundaries traditionally delineated for architecture. She believes that good design creates an engaged urban life and embraces the ‘strange beauty’ that enhances everyday life experience.
Barbara’s career is punctuated with inventive projects in a wide breadth of typologies. She has designed new ways of creating accessible urbanism in her “stealthy density” Blackbirds housing, groundbreaking retail and restaurant flagships, dynamic workspaces for Beats By Dre and Snap, award-winning experimental residences and pioneering arts projects that are deeply rooted in their communities and cultural context.
While maintaining a practice, Barbara has continuously taught at Southern California’s leading design schools from SCI-Arc to Woodbury University, where she is currently the executive director of the Julius Shulman Institute. She received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, studied at the Architecture Association in London and received a MARCH at SCI-Arc. She is the author of Bohemian Modern, Living in Silver Lake.
CONTACT
Bestor Architecture
2030 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
