The project extends and reorganises the house to create living accommodation appropriate to 21st Century living while respecting the importance and character of the original historic house. A comprehensive historical study revealed an almost identical translation of scale and proportion to that of Andrea Palladio’s ‘Villa with superimposed Portico’ from book four of ‘I quattro libri dell’architettura’ with further investigations revealing the original architect, John Palmer, appears to have developed the house to conform to the systematic rules laid out by Palladio for both parametric formulas and objects in plan and elevation.
Through this study, a series of appropriate small interventions were proposed to undo previous internal restructuring of the house and restore the original plan form. A contemporary loggia space conceived of the same ruling geometry of the existing house were added in place of the previously removed garden structure. The new loggia opens up the living space and reunites the house with its garden.
James Grayley Architects is an award-winning, design-led practice with a rich track record of working across a broad spectrum of sectors, scales and budgets. The practice was formed in 2009 by James Grayley following ten years as an associate at Dow Jones Architects, and has offices in both London and Bath. more
CONTACT
London
Kemp House
152 City Road
London EC1V 2NX
T +44 (0)20 7060 3795
Two modest volumes, benched gently into the hillside, open to a floating glass bar just as the ground drops away. This perch at the edge of a pine forest allows for a layered sequence of heightened sensorial experience, moving from grounded enclosure to revelation and suspension over the valley floor.
The design appropriates outdoor space, using screened openings, operable glass walls, and generously shaded decks to create a gradual transition from the wild natural landscape to a materially warm interior. Spaces are arranged to enable the convivial spirit of a wine country gathering, while providing moments of solitude akin to being in a tree house.
The Horizon House is located on a dramatic coastal headland.
The property is a working cattle farm – and is characterized by its extraordinary scenic outlook, the long, even datum of the horizon and intense rain and winds that encircle the house during storm events.
The house tucks into the hillside forming a protective courtyard and cultivated garden separated from the paddocks. Living spaces face the horizon, while the bedroom wings shelter the courtyard space on the northern and southern sides. Each part of the house can choose to engage with the horizon, or retreat to the courtyard.
Approached from above, the roof of the house strikes a strict horizontal line that sits just below the horizon. The tapering form of the house dramatizes the experience of moving from land towards water – culminating in a panoramic frame that inflects, in a meniscus lens form, to hold the horizon.
The house is constructed from concrete framing members that are angled to glance light and articulate specific landscape views. The detailing of every junction in the house anticipates the vertical movement of water in high wind conditions.
Where walls meet the ground they are faced with stone selected to match the colours of the local basalt. Where the house hovers above these walls it is trimmed in zinc and concrete so that it merges into the blue grey band between sea and sky.
The weathered outer shell is contrasted with smooth off form concrete, polished plaster, marble, shell and oak finishes internally. A palette of grey, white and silver subtly foregrounds the sumptuous colours of the landscape.
The house forms a silent frame against which landscape, weather, water and sky move in ceaseless complexity and beauty.
This house was a 17 year odyssey – and could not have been completed without the dedication and passion of its extraordinary owners.
All images courtesy of Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, established in 1992, is a highly regarded consultancy, having completed more than 450 projects, studies and commissions for a wide range of government and private sector clients.The practice’s architectural projects explore the specificity of each site and programme within the broader urban and geographical context, while urban projects interrogate the interface of architecture and the public realm. more
CONTACT
Hill Thalis Architects + Urban Projects Pty Ltd
Level 4, 68-72 Wentworth Avenue,
Surry Hills 2010 Australia
The more we looked at the space, the more we knew we had to put the focus on that amazing backdrop of Bondi Beach. Gazing out to the ocean from Pacific’s enormous terraces is so dramatic, it blows your mind.
For us, context is very important. We wanted to draw that natural inspiration inside, juxtaposing the energy and texture of the beach environment – the breeze, the air, the smell of the sea salt – with the refinement and luxury embodied within these oceanfront homes. We sought to capture that natural luxury and represent it in physical form.
Living here is a beautiful experience. Everything you touch within the space is beautiful. The mood is soft, calming and always easy on the eye.
Koichi Takada has brought a Japanese sensibility to Australian architecture. His work is innovative and refined. Koichi melds the traditions of his homeland with today’s stunning flowing forms – an approach he developed in New York, London and Tokyo.
Koichi Takada has won international competitions in Australia and Japan as well as several key architectural and interior design awards. The firm’s projects are well recognized and have been extensively featured in Australian and international design magazines.
Koichi Takada studied and graduated from the School of Architecture at the City University of New York and the Architectural Association, London. Koichi studied his thesis work under Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Farshid Moussavi with Rem Koolhaas as a visiting critic.
While practicing at Atsushi Kitagawara Architects in Tokyo, Koichi worked on an invited competition of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney in 1997 and stayed in Sydney thereafter. Koichi has been associate director at PTW and worked on award winning luxury apartments in Sydney, and a diverse range of architectural projects in Japan, China, and the Middle-East.
Koichi established his own practice, Koichi Takada Architects in Sydney in 2008. The practice is now growing with competition winning architectural projects and a focus on the construction phase, with key multi-residential projects in Australia and key landmark projects overseas.
The idea from which the project developed, was born from a trip to the client’s country, where the need arose, in a certain way, to reproduce the architectural tradition of soviet brutalism that historically has been so present in their lives… and therefore, came Le Corbusier and his bêton brut as project leitmotiv.
After the initial ideas, we did a deep reflection between what the house should be on its own, and what it would be because of the place in which it’s framed, an impressive natural landscape facing the sea with a balcony looking over the Mediterranean. Thus, the project emerges as a juxtaposition of ideas that solve different needs by building a massive volume that clearly expresses the customer’s wishes, like a punch at the table.
One of the main challenges to be solved would be to provide the house with the maximum possible privacy while not blocking the exceptional sea views of the plot. Therefore, after evaluating the variables of access, orientation, views, bioclimatic hypothesis, privacy and the strong slope of the plot, we decided a geometry whose plant would be an “L” shape, where the northeast facade is transparent, i.e. a large window that turns into a lookout to the sea, and the rest of the facades, are opaque, massive, pure concrete that ensures the necessary privacy regarding the neighborhood. In addition, thanks to cross ventilation, thermal mass, solar protections and a detailed study of shadows, an efficient home was achieved, with very low energy consumption.
In this sense, a particularity of this dwelling, is to have built it without having used a single brick… all the facades and partitions of the house have been made of exposed concrete executed in-situ, as a coherent denouement to the aforesaid bêton brut.
The house, which was conceived together with our architects friends Guste and Algis from Kancas Studija of Lithuania, offers a unique answer to different problems, clearly separating the more public areas from the private ones, as well as the night program from the day.
The house is composed of two floors, on the ground floor is located the day program, except for the main bedroom, which is inserted in the northwest façade. However, the night program is distributed on the first floor, where the garage and the main access of the house are also located, due to the need of access to the top of the plot. In the intersection zone of the two wings you can find the hall and the vertical nucleus of communication in double height, articulating the distribution of the rooms of both plants.
In the exterior, native vegetation has been used and the original terraces of the plot have been restored, achieving maximum integration of the house in the natural context in which it is framed.
JOSÉ MORAGUES PUGA Principal Architect Chief Executive Officer
Under the conviction that architecture is the most public of the arts and therefore, is the one that interacts the most with society, in 2009 José Moragues founded Singular Studio, an office of architecture and urbanism that, more than by possibility, arose because of the responsibility to create intense and timeless spaces that excite people without the need to follow fashions, and where imagination and discipline at work give way to technical rigor to solve the tasks accurately.
Singular Studio develops urbanism, residential, endowments or tertiary projects of public or private initiative. more
CONTACT
Avd. Ausias March 9 – Local 5, 03730 Jávea – SPAIN
This is a new 4 bedroom house on the 13th Beach golf course. The sweeping plan takes in the extremities of the wedge shaped site, folding away from the prevailing winds and enclosing a large, sheltered north facing courtyard and pool. Cutouts through the courtyard boundary wall allow foliage to spill through, giving the sense of an endless landscape beyond. All habitable rooms face into the central courtyard, providing outlook and a strong connectedness throughout the house. The split level plan delineates zones within the house whilst the relative height of the two levels obscures the immediate foreground of road / neighbours and provides a vista across to the treelined horizon beyond.
All images courtesy of Auhaus architecture & interior
Auhaus architecture & interior
BENJAMIN STIBBARD – DIRECTOR
KATE FITZPATRICK – DIRECTOR
Auhaus is an architecture and design studio operating out of Melbourne and Barwon Heads, Australia. The studio was founded by Architects Benjamin Stibbard and Kate Fitzpatrick, both of whom worked in larger residential firms before establishing Auhaus in 2011.
With a different set of priorities in mind that went beyond the ‘bottom line’, Auhaus have made a name for themselves creating bespoke homes along Victoria’s surf coast and in Melbourne’s leafy suburbs. Avoiding the shopping list approach, each design is inspired by site context, landscape and the client’s lifestyle.
Kate and Ben are drawn to the complexities and intricacies inherent in every project and revel in the initial broad brush pen strokes down to the in-house fabrication of joinery hardware and lighting, ensuring that every project is rigorous, engaging and highly tailored to the end user.
Kate and Ben are both Registered Architects with the ARBV, and Auhaus Architecture is an A+ member of the Australian Institute of Architects.
AIA National Honor Awards for Architecture
2016 Honor Award
Awards: AIA Honor Awards for Washington
2012 Merit Award
AIA Design Awards Pacific Region
2012 Citation Award
Nestled into a forested slope along the eastern edge of the Case Inlet, this small retreat opens to a western view of the Olympic Mountains and the Puget Sound. Anchored by a weathered cedar clad bedroom wing, a bold concrete cantilever projects the living and dining into the forest and toward the view.
An ipe deck slips from inside the kitchen into a meadow to the south, separated only by large sliding glass doors extending the sense of interior directly to the outdoors. A broad flat roof hovers high above the living spaces creating the feeling that one is sitting outdoors amidst the trees.
Smaller, thoughtfully placed apertures define the exterior of the bedroom volume, along with a single large opening belonging to the master bath to give the users a ritual of bathing within the forest. A balance of simple lines and rugged low maintenance materials, this modest retreat is a welcome sanctuary from the city.
MW|Works Architecture+Design is a Seattle based design studio offering architectural and interior design services to residential and commercial clients.
Designed for a young family in the suburban area of Rondebosch, Cape Town, this house sits on an elongated site with views towards Devil’s Peak and The Back Table, which is the south-eastern edge of the iconic Table Mountain. The client’s brief called for a contemporary, open plan home that provides a relaxed lifestyle and takes advantage of the site and its views.
The resultant form is a minimal white box containing the bedroom accommodation on the first floor, hovering over the living spaces on the ground floor below. This box was articulated with strategic openings maximising views and exposure to light, with a central courtyard carved out adjacent to the kitchen and dining room to create a focal point. The mass of the floating box is broken down on the street façade with a dramatic screen wall which creates an open-air terrace for the guest wing of the house. The screen offers privacy from the street while allowing views and light to permeate and is constructed from standard pre-cast concrete breeze blocks reminiscent of a bygone era.
The open plan living spaces on the ground floor spill out onto the courtyard and terrace to the North, with the garden and mountain views to the west. A hand selected tree was planted in the courtyard as a focal element to provide a shaded garden area that fills the adjacent spaces with dappled light. The tree acts as a natural screen to the direct north light and its canopy creates privacy for the first floor from neighbours.
The steel and timber stair connects the two levels and arrives in a large open plan utility space on the first floor which separates the guest wing from the master suite and maintains connections to the courtyard and tree below. Circulation spaces were minimised and were all arranged with external views on axis.
A simple pallet of materials allows space, light and volume to take preference over decorative finishes and elaboration. The ground floor has a monolithic polished concrete floor finish throughout which blurs the threshold between indoor and outdoor living capitalising on the South African climate. Upstairs, solid hardwood timber floorboards and natural limestone tiles create warmth and texture for the more intimate spaces of this home. Rough off-shutter concrete elements were used on the street boundary and the courtyard façade accentuating the white box through textural contrast.
This light-filled home, completed on time and within budget, successfully translates the clients brief and is a carefully considered response to the climatic and contextual conditions of the site. The client’s willingness for a bold conceptual design has resulted in a strong contemporary form uncommon to Rondebosch. This aesthetic challenges the surrounding, traditional urban fabric and encourages a fresh approach to residential architecture in this suburb.
Three14 Architects, founded in January 2008, is an award winning studio of creative architects based in Cape Town, South Africa. The focus on designing exclusive luxury homes for discerning clients – bringing fresh ideas, rigorous detailing and creativity to the residential arena – results in elegant and sophisticated homes that are easy to live in. The office consists of a small, hands-on team taking on a limited number of projects per year. This enables both principal architects to be involved in each project from inception through to completion ensuring an efficient and thorough level of service and a highly considered and always unique end product.
Kim Benatar
BAS (University of Cape Town), BArch (University of Cape Town), PrArch (SACAP – 24750862)
Kim was born in 1979 in Harare, Zimbabwe. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from UCT in 2005 and is a founding partner in Three14 Architects.
Sian Fisher
BAS (University of Cape Town), BAS (Hons) + MArch (Prof.) (University of Witwatersrand)
Sian was born in 1982 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed her undergraduate degree at UCT in 2002 and then went on to do her Bachelor of Architecture Honors and Master of Architecture at the University of Witwatersrand. Sian is a founding partner in Three14 Architects.
CONTACT
Three14 Architects
1 Glynville Terrace Ground Floor Cottage, MediaHive Building Gardens Cape Town 8001 South Africa
Located in an office building constructed from concrete, we made use of the loft ceiling setbacks from the street and the building’s materiality to enhance the dining experience. The objective of this project Is about (i) refinement of assemblage (ii) creating pockets of different dining experience within a small space.
Albert Mo and Eid Goh established their office in South Yarra, Melbourne in 2000, after graduating from the University of Melbourne, and gaining experience in various firms in Melbourne and Singapore. While overseeing projects and operating the administration of the firm together, Albert has developed a reputation in his residential and apartment projects, and Eid specialises in the hospitality & retail sector projects.
Both Albert and Eid have tutored design studios and delivered lectures at the University of Melbourne, and have been invited regularly as guest critic to student’s presentations in various Universities. They also actively engage in the works at The Australian Institute of Architects, with Albert served 2 terms at the Victorian Chapter Council from 2004 to 2008, and since 2010, Albert has also been invited as a jury member for the annual Victorian architecture awards program.
In addition, they have contributed to the education and the growth of the architecture field by delivering talks in various schools such as Camberwell Grammar School (2004, 2006) & Camberwell High School (2011, 2012), as well as program such as The Age Student Forum by The National Design Centre in 2007.
James Coombe
James Coombe joined the practice in 2005, and became an associate director in 2015. James is the new leader in the studio, in charge of all aspect in running of projects. He is committed to bringing together a suite of ideas for every building in a cohesive and finely resolved manner. He has also guided the practice in implementing the Building Information System (BIM), which facilitates an interactive and exploratory design process, whilst improving accuracy and reducing project costs and timeframes.
James engages actively at The Australian Institute of Architects, particularly the Smaller Practice Forum, in which he is a regular contributor.
CONTACT
Architects EAT
Level 2, 118 Langridge Street
Collingwood, Victoria 3066
Australia
Ness Point is grown out of the dramatic landscape of the white cliffs of Dover. The undulating form of the plan orientates the internal spaces to different aspects of the landscape beyond. Each room is characterised by its own spectacular view: towards the cliffs along the coast, across the English Channel with the passing ships, and to the rising or setting sun. The texture of the white rendered walls of the building catches the dynamic and ever-changing play of light that reflects off the sea below.
Along the sea-facing southern façade, the house rises up towards the sky and deep window recesses in the thick wall create sunshade. To the north, flush windows form internal niches in a top lit double-height art gallery. The highly sealed and insulated castle- like house utilises heat recovery and solar thermal renewable systems to maximise energy efficiency in the winter, whilst the long gallery skylight enables controlled passive cooling in the summer. The bio-diverse green roof slopes down toward the rising site at the back, retaining rainwater and harbouring local wildlife, merging the house with the landscape into which it is anchored.
Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Principal-in-charge: Richard Meier Project architect: Kevin B Baker Project team: David Bench, Maria E Cumella, Kevin Hamlett, Bori Kang, Hans Put, Heejoo Shi, Sangmin You
Executive architect:Berman Guedes Stretton Executive principle-in-charge: Roger Stretton Executive project architects: Jon Du Croz and Trevor Taw Landscape architect:Tom Stuart-Smith
The siting of the Oxfordshire Residence is notable not only for the views afforded and the expansiveness of the landscape, but also the richness of the spatial experience which begins before one even enters the property and was the primary inspiration for the design; The relationships of openness and compression, light and shadow evinced by the area surrounding the site and the purity, beauty, and natural resources of this particular location in Oxfordshire are truly compelling.
This country residence has been created based on three guiding principles: an engaging response to the site, a resonant connection with the history of the place, and a vital progression toward sustainability.
It would be impossible to conceive of a residence in this part of the United Kingdom without considering the typology of the English Manor House. This design espouses many of the tenets behind this ideal: this is a family home which honors the woodlands and topography, drawing the occupant into a relationship with the natural world while creating space for comfortable living. Specific to the site of the house and the related buildings, the design seeks to integrate the landscape and views as part of its identity, bringing a natural balance between building and landscape.
The structure and orientation of the house symbolize a direct response to the makeup of the site. The solidity of the back of the house effectively mirrors the density of the woodlands, while the lucidity of the glass in front embraces the openness of the landscape beyond. Similarly, the layering of program, walls and columns that dictate the interior layout are designed to complement the light and views specific to every vantage point, creating breathtaking common spaces.
The design scheme for the Oxfordshire Residence placed an emphasis on sustainability, both in its contemporary meaning, which is to say mechanisms for conservation, emission reduction and renewable energy are employed wherever possible, and its traditional meaning, which is to say that this home is intended to stand the test of time.
The house is anchored to its site, and has been carefully designed based in the human scale, the purity of the aesthetic, peerless construction methods and materials, and the conservation and utilization of natural resources.
Richard Meier received his architectural training at Cornell University and established his own office in New York City in 1963. He has received the highest honors in the field including the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, the Gold Medals of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects as well as the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association.
For over five decades, Richard Meier & Partners has been selected to create important works in both the public and private spheres.
Awards:
2016: Winner – Architecture Award, Alterations and Additions
2016 Shortlisted, Houses Award, Alternation and Additions
This extension to a pre-war suburban house is generated by a series of brick volumes connected by discreet landscaped areas. A clear grid informs the new addition’s planning, with each of the main spaces (dining room, living room, bedroom) located separately.
The project extends the house into the garden, the plan shifted and manipulated to capture views of beautiful mature trees on the site and in neighbouring gardens. Distinct spaces are created externally (a courtyard, a formal lawn, a raised external dining area and pool) and then drawn back into the house through large areas of glazed openings.
The project’s materials are a juxtaposition between the brickwork, ‘bagged’ and painted white, and dark steel and timber elements that link them. Large sliding doors, their frames concealed, open the major rooms to the garden and courtyards. Deep window reveals open to the north, while operable timber screens shield western windows from the sun.
Internally a restrained palette of concrete floors, plaster walls and American Walnut timber joinery gives the client’s art and furniture collection prominence, while simultaneously creating a backdrop for their young family to add vitality.
Located in Fremantle WA, David Barr Architect seeks honesty and regional appropriateness with each project. Innovative solutions are crafted through rigorous research, analysis and programmatic responsiveness. Each work embodies an understanding of site, programme and human occupation. These notions are explored through the fundamentals of volume, light and material composition to create an atmospheric architectural design solution.
