Modern Seaside House | Beach House | Long Island | Shenton Architects

This private residence commands views of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and a fresh water pond to the west from its location on the shore of Long Island.

Upon arrival from a quiet lane visitors are greeted by a planar facade of solid stone, punctured by the occasional opening. By contrast, on the south side of the property, the house unfolds sculpturally to present an open and transparent facade to the beach and the ocean beyond.

The design of the house is conceived as emerging from the beach. The dune landscape and native plantings along the ramped portion of the green roof emphasize the visual metaphor of the structure springing from the ground......more

Vacation Home | Villa Azzurra | Sorrento | Amalfi Coast | Italy

Villa Azzurra is a two-storey “caprisian” style luxury villa, with breathtaking views of the bay of Naples and its unique islands. The striking white stucco structure sits on the San Lorenzo peninsula overlooking the ruins of a Roman tower, Mount Vesuvius and the Mediterranean sea with Capri, Ischia, Procida and Naples in the distance.

The villa is surrounded by 2 acres of Mediterranean gardens, including lemon trees, flowers, figs and olive trees. When in season, fresh fruit and vegetables may be available from the garden.....more

Maine Island House Designed By Alex Scott Porter Design

This three-season retreat house is situated on the outermost inhabited island in Maine. The island has no roads, stores, electricity, water service, year-round inhabitants or ferry service – no grid. The house can store enough solar energy and rain water to power a refrigerator, lights, kitchen tap, outdoor shower and outlets for music or a laptop for as long as you’d like.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
The 550 square foot house, on a tiny lot, sits right on the water facing the harsh northeastern open ocean – winds clocking 100 mph were measured this year. The house was designed with a hard, protective aluminum shell to close up in the off-season, by three large sliding doors. The exterior needed to be virtually maintenance free, a challenge with the corrosive salt air. But in mild weather the house opens up to take in the prevailing breezes and soak up the daylight. Technolgy-wise, the house has photovoltaics with large-capacity batteries, a 525 gallon cistern, a composting toilet, and a solar refrigerator originally designed for keeping medical supplies cold in Sub-Saharan Africa. The local lobsterman turned out to be a great source for sustainable energy information as he had been living off-the-grid for decades. The construction had to be planned to the nail, as all the materials came out at once, on an amphibious Vietnam-era US Army landing craft that pulled right up onto the beach (Everyone on the island came out to watch). All the framing is on a 2-foot grid for fail-proof planning and coordination. The simple interior uses unfinished north-eastern woods. In addition, truly local materials were used—beach stones for the hearth and island-cured concrete counters – as well as recycled plastic laminate for the cabinets...........more

House In Miyagi Japan Designed By Apollo Architects and Associates

The house is for a husband who works for the energy company and a full time housewife who have three small son.
They bought a piece of land near Sendai Station.

The husband's hobby is watching movies, therefore a special room with good sound proffing and acoustic is provided on the upper floor.
A spacious and secure garage that can fit in a car and a medium size bike for the wife is provided and becomes a unique form to the upper floor.

Master bedroom and other bedrooms are placed on the second floor around the courtyard to have a good view to the open space.....more DATA

Location:Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi
Completion:June 2010
Site area:124.71m2
Construction area:59.57m2
1F floor area:44.31m2
2F floor area:54.32m2
Total floor area:98.63m2
Structure:Wood
Scale:2-storey
Use:Private

Single Family House In Urayasu Japan Designed By Apollo Architects and Associates

The site is located in a quiet residential area of Urayasu which has a faint smell of the sea.A 30-something husband who is a surfer with a beautiful wife that runs a construction company.Both of them love the sea.
The design of the house starts with a garage and house that can fit 2 people comfortably.
Both husband and wife "Kurashikoitaria" love fashion and modern decor and is open enough to use the sofas and tables and chairs from Marioberini Corbusier......more

Casa Pite | Papudo, Chile | Smiljan Radic

House by The Sea | Dalkey,Ireland | de Blacam and Meagher

RIAI Regional Award 2006

The site is situated in an extremely exposed location adjacent to Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey. It is bounded by the sea and Dalkey Island to the East and Coliemore Road to the West.
The challenge of the brief was to design a building closer in form to a lighthouse than a conventional house with the complex site geometry and level changes down to the foreshore. The intention was to design a modest, insignificant entrance pavilion with an open garden/terrace that does not prepare the visitor for the unique drama of the seaward elevation.

To protect the house against the sea, a reinforced insitu concrete framed structure, was anchored to the bedrock and incorporating a granite faced concrete breakwater to create a tidal rockpool. The breakwater, which is submerged during the twice daily high tides, has stepped access to the pool and into the sea. The two storey section of the house containing the entrance block, living, dining and sleeping areas is connected vertically via central toplit double height stair hall to a screening cinema, guest accommodation and spa that extend across the full length of the site at the lower level.
These lower level rooms are very private spaces and are linked directly to a continuous terrace overlooking the tidal rockpool and Dalkey Island. This subterranean level has a cave-like section with a deep plan and darker rear retaining walls on one side and floor to ceiling glass towards the sea views. We introduced natural light along the length of the rear walls using precast concrete glass block rooflights and a clear span toughened glass rooflight to the two storey stair well. The concrete sea retaining walls are re-clad using old granite rocks from the site to create a continuous, uninterrupted sea wall.

Architect:de Blacam and Meagher

Casa En Tamariu | Tamariu House | Tamariu,Girona, Spain | Jordi Garces | Duccio Malagamba

Area:450 m2
Architect:Jordi Garces
Photographs:Duccio Malagamba