* Residential Architecture: Barrier Island House by Sanders Pace Architecture

Residential Architecture: Barrier Island House by Sanders Pace Architecture: “..This project is located within a waterfront neighborhood of modest 1950’s era houses alongside many more recent supersized replacements. Our process began by evaluating the client’s goals with their existing property in order to determine whether or not the existing single family residence on the site could accommodate their needs. After an early visit to the site it was determined that any improvement to the existing residence would require the demolition of the original terrazzo slab on grade, perhaps the property’s best asset..Once the decision to replace the existing structure was made a series of design options were explored which maintained the scale and character of the original house while accommodating new programmatic goals including a loft level, a detached workshop, and an abundance of outdoor space. A desire to preserve as much of the natural vegetation on the site as possible including many beautiful live oak trees meant containing new construction within the footprint of the original building..Improved efficiency within the layout allowed us to provide the same interior program within a smaller amount of conditioned space, again a nod to the scale and character of the original historic neighborhood. Hurricane codes dictated our structural system which consisted of concrete with CMU infill. As with most projects within this context, stucco clads the primary volume of the house. Dark brick and cedar are used as secondary materials cladding accessory volumes and surfaces while an abundance of glass lends transparency to the primary public spaces while offering uninterrupted views to the waterway beyond..”  Interesting materiality, sense of contrast and colour, form and details; extensive glazing, abundant natural light, views; indoor / outdoor sensibility..

designalog : contact

image: © Bruce Cole; article: Alarcon , Jonathan . “Barrier Island House / Sanders Pace Architecture” 03 Oct 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/277879&gt;

* Residential Architecture: Robins Way House by Bates Masi Architects

Residential Architecture: Robins Way House by Bates Masi Architects: “..The clients, an interior designer and a DJ, requested a complete renovation and addition of a 1960’s kit house in Amagansett, NY, USA, to be a weekend retreat from their urban apartment. The clients gathered images of objects and conventional materials utilized in new, interesting ways as inspiration for the design. A single design solution that could unify the old remaining parts of the house to the new intervention was sought. This solution should solve acoustical, lighting, equipment coordination and simultaneously address the aesthetic décor requirements of the client’s collection of objects. A vocabulary was developed that allowed the patina and history that the client favored to remain and new experiences to evolve..The house was gutted and reduced down to the skeletal framework allowing the intervention to utilize the post and beam construction that remained. Between the existing ceiling joists, natural rope was woven through a digitally fabricated framework. Weaving patterns were used to signify different ceiling conditions. Lighting penetrates through a crossed weave of the rope. It transitions to a straight weave to shield speakers and utilities from view. Since the client is a DJ, sound is very important. The rope weave acts as an acoustic baffle absorbing background noise, but allows music from the ceiling mounted speakers to be emitted..To integrate with the décor, the rope was used structurally to support several items such as a large, custom steel framed mirror in the Master Bathroom and the Dining Room Chandelier. A large sliding door is woven with the same rope to provide privacy from the neighbors and shield the sun at various times of the day. The sunlight rakes through the openings casting linear shadows on the bathroom floor..Unifying the exterior is a dark stained cedar siding that wraps all of the exterior facades and transitions to the matching frames of the replaced windows and doors. The newly constructed interior walls and interior cabinetry were also resurfaced in reclaimed barn wood. Behind a sheet of glass, the same reclaimed wood lines the shower surround and one feels as though they are showering outdoors. The clients now have a quiet escape from city life..The frequent turnover within a vacation community can be wasteful. Some are eager to tear down what exists and start new. This project preserved the skeleton of the house and the history in the patinaed materials that the client desired. Conventional materials were utilized in new ways to unify the old and the new..”  Extensive glazing, natural light; interesting materiality and interior volumes and details..

See our posts on five other homes by Bates Masi Architects:

• Residential Architecture: Pryor House by Bates Masi + Architects
• Residential Architecture: Noyack Creek House by Bates Masi Architects
• Residential Architecture: Quail Hill House by Bates Masi Architects
• Residential Architecture: Lion’s Head by Bates Masi Architects
• Residential Architecture: Genius Loci, Montauk by Bates Masi + Architects

designalog : contact

image: Courtesy of Bates Masi Architects; article: Alarcon , Jonathan . “Robins Way / Bates Masi Architects” 13 Sep 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/272230&gt;

* Residential Architecture: Nexus House by Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Residential Architecture: Nexus House by Johnsen Schmaling Architects: “..The Nexus House, a compact home for a young family of four, occupies a small site in University Heights, a historic residential district in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, with iconic homes by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Keck & Keck, and many others.  Successfully contesting the local preservation ordinance whose strict guidelines advocated stylistic mimicry while failing to recognize the neighborhood’s rich architectural diversity, we designed a quiet but unapologetically contemporary building, its formally restrained volume discreetly placed in the back of the trapezoidal site, where it avoids direct visual competition with its two dignified neighbors, a hundred-year old Spanish Colonial home and the Ely House from 1896, a cherished landmark on the National Register of Historic Places..The house is composed of two principal building blocks: a two-story brick podium partially carved into the site’s existing slope; and a linear cedar-clad meander that wraps up and over the podium before transforming into a cantilever, its overhang providing shade for the south-facing main level patio.  Following this binary parti, the home’s “public” functions – garage, support rooms, and an open living hall – are located in the brick base, while its “private” spaces – upper level bedrooms, baths, and a small reading room – are housed in the cedar volume.  Exterior steps lead up the slope to the home’s front door, a glazed recess with a delicate steel canopy marking the vertical joint between the two distinct building blocks.  The glass entry door opens into a small vestibule that leads into the main living hall, an open space for cooking, eating, and sitting, where a series of floor-to-ceiling windows offer arriving guests expansive, carefully framed views into the neighborhood..The deliberately neutral interiors of the living hall are complemented by a troika of dark-stained wood objects that spatially anchor the open space:  a small entertainment center; a fireplace and chimney; and a wood wall and canopy cradling an intimate side lounge, which can be separated from the living hall with large pocket doors to serve as a guest bedroom or quiet study..”  Extensive glazing, natural light, interesting fenestration; interesting exterior materiality: dark brick and horizontal cedar cladding; cantilever..

See our post on another home by Johnsen Schmaling Architects: Residential Architecture: OS House by Johnsen Schmaling Architects.

designalog : contact

image: © John J. Macaulay; article: Cifuentes , Fabian . “Nexus House / Johnsen Schmaling Architects” 13 Sep 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/270621&gt;

* Residential Architecture: The Shadow House by Liddicoat & Goldhill

Residential Architecture: The Shadow House by Liddicoat & Goldhill: “..British architects Liddicoat & Goldhill constructed their own north London home using black engineering bricks and slabs of white marble..Named the Shadow House, the two-storey building is located on the compact site of a former parking garage..Walls inside the house are of the same dark brickwork as the exterior and contrast with a stark white concrete floor..Larch beams supporting the ceilings of both floors remain exposed inside every room and bare light bulbs hang from them..Household appliances including the television and washing machine are concealed inside specially designed cupboards in the ground floor living rooms..A bedroom and library occupy the first floor, as does a bathroom with a glazed ceiling..”  Extensive glazing, natural light, skylights, interesting fenestration; materials and graphic sensibility..

image: Keith Collie; article: Dezeen

designalog : contact