* Residential Architecture: Lens House by Alison Brooks Architects

Residential Architecture: Lens House by Alison Brooks Architects: “..Alison Brooks Architects has extended a nineteenth century house in north London with two tapered volumes that project into the garden. The first volume wraps around the brick walls at the side and rear of the house to create a home office, while the second volume extends out at the back to increase the size of the first floor living room. The extensions are part of an overall transformation of a classic Victorian semi-detached villa for a client involved in photography and design..The extension was designed as a series of large apertures framed and connected by large trapezoidal planes. These openings capture light throughout the day, draw the garden into the house, and frame precise views of a spectacular walnut tree..Each plane of the scheme is either fully glazed or fully solid, there are no punched windows. This approach creates an architecture without mass and weight. It is more like the folded surfaces of origami. Where the side and rear projections converge, seven surfaces come together at one point..To achieve the low profile of the ten-sided trapezoidal office extension, ABA lowered the existing basement and excavated a new sunken courtyard to form a street-facing office entrance. This new lower ground floor level connects workspace and house. On the garden side, the building rests lightly on the ground with undercut walls to avoid the walnut tree’s roots. Inside, the rooflight geometry funnels light into the workspace throughout the day. A roof terrace cuts into one of the roof, generating a light reflecting plane and heightening the sense of suspended surfaces..The living room’s projecting bay window focusses on the walnut tree like a picture frame.  It also pulls light from above into the living room through a segment of its roof. Beneath the bay window a new wall of glass slides open to link the dining room with a small patio outside. From here a concealed door creates a second entrance to the office..Where the original living room once was, ABA has opened a new double height volume. This space draws south light deep into the house, and like a ‘great hall’, creates a powerful visual connection between the original upper ground floor entrance hall and kitchen/dining space. The folded geometries of the extensions continue into the house to become surfaces punctuated by steel fireplaces, a cantilevered kitchen and other ‘inhabited walls’; a variety of framed settings for modern family life..”  Extensive glazing, natural light, garden views; interesting form, conception and interior volumes..

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image: © Paul Riddle; article: Jordana , Sebastian . “Lens House / Alison Brooks Architects” 04 Nov 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/289288&gt;

* Residential Architecture: House in Tinos by mX Architecture

Residential Architecture: House in Tinos by mX Architecture: “..The land is located at the northwest edge of Hatzirados village on the Cyclades’ island of Tinos, Greece, in the Hellenic Mediterranean. It contained vestiges of previous stonewall vernacular tissue including characteristic elements such as a wine press and a stone oven..The aim of the project was to erect a contemporary house within a traditional [settlement] frame. The naturally sloping site has been sculpted into three ‘plateaus’ following a decreasing height ascension rhythm. Residential uses occupy the entire terrain’s area. The existing tissue is preserved and enhanced to form the design’s pattern, an alternation of built up and void areas. Solid volumes are shaped as archetypal cubic prisms: tower, ‘slab’, block. They are positioned in order to complete the urban environment, the tower, for example, marking the village’s angle. The connection of the whole is ensured by open space continuity throughout courtyards and patios..Inspired by the typical use of local “cells” the prisms house three bedrooms, with en-suite bath spaces. Each one has a distinct view according to its shape or position: vertical for the tower regarding the sky, diagonal for the slab towards surrounding crests, panoramic for the block viewing neighboring ‘plateaus’. The collective life area –living and dining room, open kitchen- is unified and sheltered on the central level, allowing autonomy to the satellite “cells”..Continuing local materials and construction high-quality expertise the vertical locally sourced natural stone masonry walls provide support to the horizontal raw-faced in-situ concrete roofs. Interior and exterior floors are finished in cement allowing all horizontal surfaces to present an identical aspect. The openings of the building are created from the disposition of structural elements, differing according to their orientation and filled up with natural wood, glass or marble panels..The thermal inertia of masonry and concrete structure, massive and closed on the north faces, acts as a ‘heat sink’, slowing the rate of temperature change in all interior premises enabling them to be cooled without mechanical refrigeration. Further, the existence of openings on two sides of every interior space allows its manually controlled physical ventilation..The attenuation of inner/outer bounds extends every inhabitable space and intensifies space continuity. The design of a built-up table in the focal gathering point of the house accentuates that sensation as well as the layout of the flooring joints..The incorporation of a stretch of water at the center of the habitat, beyond cooling and leisure purposes, serves several meanings: founding a circular movement course, suggesting the ‘agglomerating around water’ generational scheme of Tinos villages’ and offering a natural reflect plan at the work’s architecture..”  Extraordinary renovation / refurbishment / extension of an old existing domestic structure, incorporating contemporary exterior and interior additions, materials sensibility and aesthetics..

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image: © Elias Handelis; article: Saieh , Nico . “House in Tinos / mX Architecture” 30 Mar 2010. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/54044&gt;

* Architecture: Port House by Zaha Hadid Architects

Architecture: Port House by Zaha Hadid Architects: “..The leading British architect Zaha Hadid gave the official order to begin construction work on Port House, the new headquarters for Antwerp Port Authority on the Kattendijk dock. The order was given in the presence of the Flemish ministers Hilde Crevits and Geert Bourgeois, port alderman Marc Van Peel and Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx. Once the new headquarters is handed over in 2015 the Port Authority will overcome the urgent shortage of space in its present headquarters. But beyond that the new Port House will stand as a symbolic gateway to the port area. The actual construction work will start on 1 October 2012 and will take 33 calendar months..The design: The new Port House is a two-part design, consisting of a dynamic beam-shaped structure raised above the former fire station, a listed building which is being restored and given a dramatic new role. The two components make the Port House a volumetric composition that offers breathtaking views across the city and its port. The superstructure façade is made up of glass triangles, each slightly rotated with respect to each other, producing a constantly changing play of reflected light. The unusual design also poses a challenge for the contractors who will do the actual building work. For example, the subcontractor responsible for the 1500-tonne steel structure, Victor Buyck Steel Construction, has opted to build it in a modular way in six large parts. These will be constructed in workshops in Wondelgem and carried to Antwerp by barge..Facilities: The new building will provide a workplace for some 500 Port Authority employees. Some of the landscape offices and meeting rooms will be housed in the existing building, the former fire station. These areas will be accessed from the central atrium. There are also open-plan offices and meeting rooms within the new volume, but in addition there will be an auditorium and a company restaurant with a panoramic view. Staff and visitors will access this part by panoramic lifts. Flemish minister Geert Bourgeois, responsible for Real Estate Heritage, is full of admiration for the efforts made by the Port Authority to preserve and repurpose the 90-year-old fire station, giving it a new future while continuing to serve the public and the port. “The project largely respects the material integrity of this historic building,” he declared. The minister has granted a subsidy of 2.1 million euros for restoration of the fire station..Connection between city and port: “With the new Port House we have given a face to the world-class port that Antwerp undoubtedly is. With its dynamic, ambitious and innovative design it stands as a symbol for our port,” Van Peel continued. “From the new buildiong visitors will have a truly impressive view over the city as well as the port, so further strengthening the dialogue between the people of Anwerp and their port.” Flemish minister of Transport & Public Works Hilde Crevits added: “The new Port House designed by Zaha Hadid will be a proud landmark for Antwerp. The striking design will give Antwerp a wonderful architectural jewel that matches its position and importance as a world port. Along with the MAS museum and the new Port House, the new Antwerp Coordination Center will further consolidate this position. In functional terms the new coordination centre will bring together all the actors in the chain of shipping traffic management physically together on a single platform, while the building itself designed by the architectural firm of Neutelings-Riedijk will also be distinctive. Together, these three landmarks will bind the city and the port close together.”..”

See some of our other posts on work by Zaha Hadid Architects:

• Architecture: Pierres Vives by Zaha Hadid Architects
• Architecture + Design: Z Boat by Zaha Hadid Architects
• Architecture: Awards: Zaha Hadid’s Riverside Museum wins European Museum Academy Micheletti Award 2012
• Architecture: Galaxy Soho by Zaha Hadid Architects

image: © Zaha Hadid Architects; article: Arthitectural

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* Residential Architecture: Taylor House by Paul Archer Design

Residential Architecture: Taylor House by Paul Archer Design: “..Retaining just the front and side walls of the original building, a Victorian public house, Paul Archer Design has opened up this ground floor and basement flat to accommodate a unified four-bedroom house..The entire rear elevation has been replaced with two-storey glazing by excavating down into the garden, above which a new glass-box kitchen extension floats dramatically. Inverting the traditional hierarchy of domestic architecture, the bedrooms are located on the lower level, with living spaces on the upper level to receive more daylight and retain access to the terraced outdoor areas..Taylor House is punctuated by a sequence of extended vistas and uninterrupted circuits of movement. A double-height internal space adjacent to the front staircase establishes a strong sense of connection between floors, and the kitchen and balconies provide an alternative route to the lower level through the garden. An outdoor shower is carefully positioned beneath the kitchen, and an ingenious corridor of sliding walls permits flexibility between private bedrooms and an open-plan arrangement..”  Lovely renovation and extension to an existing structure; extensive glazing, natural light, garden views and access, indoor / outdoor sensibility; interesting interior volumes..

See our post on another residential project by Paul Archer Design: Residential Architecture: Jindal’s Pavilion by Paul Archer Design.

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Image: © Helen Fickling; article: Alarcon , Jonathan . “Taylor House / Paul Archer Design” 17 Oct 2012. ArchDaily. <http://www.archdaily.com/282424&gt;