Modern Spanish Urban House Design | Single-family house | Sant Andreu I | Barcelona | Spain | Ferrolan Lab

The house is situated in the heart of an old town district in Barcelona. The urban grid of the area is characterized by small, narrow and long plots.
This house is probably situated in one of the narrowest spaces around the neighborhood, as it measures only 3,7m wide. The plot is very long and connects two streets.
The dimensions of the plot (3.7 m wide x 25m long), its location (between neighbouring walls) and its orientation (N-S) dictated the development of this housing......more

Passive House Design | Camden Passivhaus | London | Bere Architects

This timber framed 118m2, two bedroom house is the first certified Passivhaus in London, setting a benchmark for energy efficient design for the city. The primary objective of the project was to achieve a comfortable home for the client’s young family, while minimizing energy consumption. The 118m2, two bedroom, family house is constructed with a heavily insulated prefabricated timber frame set inside 3m retaining walls and clad in European larch. It is cheap to run, achieving a heating saving of 90% compared to existing housing; low in carbon emissions; and is bright and airy, with sliding doors on to a south facing terrace..........more

Single Family House | Enschede | The Netherlands | Cino Zucchi Architetti

The single-family house is part of a plan of urban reconstruction by Architekten Cie on an industrial area destroyed by the explosion of a fireworks warehouse. The design articulates the detailed volumetric prescriptions of the plan stressing the differences between a stately front in dark bricks and an informal back in frosted glass embracing a private garden.

310 Waverly Residence | Palo Alto | California |

An urban insertion in the suburban grid, this steel and stone home becomes progressively private as the rooms move toward the West.....more

Working Drawing House | St Kilda | Australia | Nervegna Reed

Designed on a tight inner city site, the house explores the notion of the incorporation of a fluid cinematic space within a tight envelope. Spaces flow into each other using the garden and street as interlocking volumes. The car-park (which doubles as a concrete and plywood cinema) flows under the living spaces. The living spaces cascade from above the car-park (to ensure privacy from the street) down to the back garden. The form of the house with its multiple split levels and service core evokes virtual images of the small 1960’s office building-as house, the free plan and section of Adolf Loos and the citrohan houses of Le Corbusier. Part of the working drawing of the house has been self-reflexively printed on the façades of the house in reflective road-sign tape, to expose the construction history of the project as an x-ray-style form of modern decoration......more

Refurbishment and House Extension | Shandon | Clapham, south London | Studio Octopi

An airy and tranquil kitchen and dining space blurs the boundary between the ground floor and the garden of this terraced house in Clapham, south London. The interior and exterior are treated as a continuous space, a single room formed in plan by three equal zones that balance and unify the ground floor. The division between the house and the garden is made indistinct by a minimally framed sliding door that allows natural light to stream back deep inside the building. Beneath it the sandstone kitchen floor extends seamlessly outwards to form a terrace between the rear elevation and the timber deck at the end of the garden. The kitchen units and countertop form a block that stretches out through the rear elevation, the exposed section of storage echoing the proportions of the kitchen island. These dimensions are repeated once more, as a negative in the void of the roof-light, positioned in parallel with the kitchen island to allow light to fall in on the internal dining area......more

Greenwich Village Townhouse | New York City | SPG Architects

The renovation of this townhouse began with extensive demolition for structural reasons. It was completely gutted and re-oriented toward the rear garden. The stair was moved off of the south party wall, which was plastered smooth and only delicately touched by any adjacent architecture. The north party wall was densely packed with maple cabinetry, linking spaces front to back visually. The internal space, left open at every floor, has clearly defined volumes at the center. These polished plaster boxes, containing the discrete functions of bathrooms and closets, set the edges of living spaces. Large panels, both solid and translucent, slide or pivot to close off or open up the malleable programmatic arrangements, allowing for privacy or connection as conditions require. The front facade was restored in accordance with local landmark requirements and the rear façade was built anew of glass and steel with cement board infill panels......more

House Uc | Setagaya Tokyo Japan | Miyahara Architect Office

House Uc is a residence designed for a couple in their 30s and their daughter. It is located in the quiet residential area of Tokyo standing on a small and narrow site of irregular shape - a result of the recent trend of dividing property into smaller segments each time it is sold and bought due to inheritance issues and market availability. The site measures approximately 57 m2 in size: approximately 12 meters deep, 6 meters across where it faces the north road, and 2.7 meters across at the deepest end. The design for House Uc therefore needed to focus on the ideal form of an urban detached house within the constraints of the site itself as well as laws and regulations.

The client felt that a residence was a form of self-exposure to the outer world. In order to live up to his expectations, House Uc was designed to imply the essence of the house within the urban context by bringing out the characteristics of the finishing material that was chosen together with the client. The concrete exterior walls were coated with lean-mix acrylic paint, resulting in a black mottled effect according to the difference in the degree of water absorption and smoothness of the surface. The zinc-coated steel sashes on the east side were dipped in phosphate to strengthen the zinc layer, and the difference in the amount of zinc coating on the sashes projected a black patchy effect. The mottled exterior walls and patterned sashes are the result of chance (nature) and display a certain beauty, in a sense similar to human beings – people are attractive, pockmarks and all.

The east face was provided as a baseline to anchor the intensely irregular shape of the site. All partitions, equipment, etc. were positioned originating from the north-most corner of the east face. Natural lighting was no exception. Over 20 windows made of raw brass were randomly placed on the east face, allowing natural light to filter in through the golden screens in a nonuniform pattern. This irregular pattern of light provided by the east face or baseline wall will leave an impression on the residents’ minds, helping them with spatial orientation and becoming a trigger for daily actions; the design hopes to enhance spatial comfort for the residents by promoting the automatism of daily actions.

For the interior of the house, the first floor consists of an independent bedroom and bathroom. The second floor has a main room with a ceiling that partially opens onto the third floor; this aspect and the stairs made of perforated metal also contribute to the open feel of the main bedroom and tearoom on the third floor. The partitions were made of transparent glass and Japanese paper blinds so as not to divide the atmosphere. The third floor tearoom defined by the sudare or Japanese wooden blinds is the only space that opens out towards the south. Here, the residents can enjoy the view of the century-old landmark, the water tower - a positive reminder of the continuous flow of time......more
Location : Setagaya Tokyo Japan
Design : 2004.05-2005.05
Construction : 2005.05-2005.12
Total floor area : 91 sq.m

Modern Urban House | Addison House | Richard Kerr Architecture

This narrow site in the heart of Elwood had flood level challenges as well as the difficult founding soil typical of the area. Screw piles went over 7m down to support the house. The solution drew inspiration from the surrounding context. Soft beach sand coloured render; large recycled posts and beams reflecting the bay pier structures; and a dramatic 25m long fish scale zinc wall which satisfied the Rescode setbacks while invigorating the house with the aquatic organic. The young family now has a contextually relevant, spacious, contemporary townhouse with abundant natural light a few minutes from Jerry’s and the beach!....more

3 Storey Wooden House | Tokyo Designed By Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio

The site is situated in downtown Tokyo, which is a planned residential community with a mix of old and new prototyped houses. The site is on a long wit a narrow frontage and the first floor space is required for the maintenance and to store a canoe.
In order to respect the common shape and texture of nearby existing buildings, the shape of the roof of the building are also commonly found in nearby old house.
The result is the appearance in consideration of the shape of the site environment and the neighborhood became like a townhouse.....more
DATA

Location:Meguro-ku Tokyo
Program: three-story wooden house
site area: 87.29
building area: 34.08
Floor Area: 112.90

Shimouma House | Tokyo | Kazuya Saito Architects

The site is located in a relatively dense residential area in Tokyo, on corner lot surrounded by roads on three sides, the shape of frontage 4m, 11m long and deep. The South has a shopping mall atmosphere was originally the west alley, facing the residential area north of the east site boundary is approaching the neighbors until the last minute. Mother and child clients are working together, often work-related stuff. Narrow frontage strip of land, surrounding environment fit different personalities clash, a lot of things we will continue to increase in the future. Advanced plan design elements such as a clue.

Secured parking in the narrow grounds, and essentially three-story room and arranging the desired structure was wooden and the budget. The client has a square image of the house, because space is needed on the construction scaffolding on the east side, with a footprint of 3.6m frontage, it is determined that the natural rate applied Volume sky. Spraying exterior walls and dark brown finish, each a different angle with the wall is the result of friendly faces to look like different viewing angle. Side of the road, only to be easily obtained from the daylight openings, windows and plumbing and ventilation all together on the east side. Because the parking lot does not have to cut our deep roots, and trace around the well site had been left in the upper half of the frontage for large glulam beams = 1.8m and has a Kyantireba.

Configuration space, together with three first-floor room 区切Rubeki, second floor studio space and one floor was divided into three loosely by seismic braces, the roof terrace is provided. For clients that have their own rhythm of life, a story his mother, the child's third floor, roof and floor and shared the second floor. Stairs connecting them, deliberately shifting positions to put down floors in the longitudinal direction, and walked around the room spinning long, as has been planned over the opening and storage racks. And more stuff, a little on the shelves and storage change the view from the opening, the change in sequence casual every day reminiscent of the street corners somewhere, we have the depth to the space and opportunity to enrich the lives of everyday ......more

Single Family Home | Emily House | Richard Kerr Architecture

This site is just over six metres wide and is set amongst an eclectic context in bayside Melbourne. The three bedroom house is a folded form, reinterpreting the pitched roofs surrounding in a contemporary way. The rendered finish is set on a timber plinth at the street frontage and grounded with solid masses along the boundaries. A fleck of French Zinc adorns the angled stairwell. Restraint good sir, restrain...more

Single Family House | Lambeth House | Richard Kerr Architecture

The runner-up in the City of Port Phillip Best New Single Dwelling Award 2007. The contemporary solution treated the front study pod as partially transparent with a shimmering stainless steel mesh screen. The internal angled void, with self-cleaning glass windows, allows natural light to flood both levels. The glazed living space is perched on the edge of a black-tiled pool. The slice that became the most important piece.....more

Rhode Island Street Residence | San Francisco, California | Schwartz and Architecture

Rhode Island Street Residence
San Francisco, CA 2002-2006
KITCHENS: A Sunset
Design Guide Book, 08
CALIFORNIA HOME + DESIGN, 10/07
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, 2/07

In this Potrero Hill addition and remodel to a 1954 home, a new internal courtyard --carved out of the existing space and open to the sky-- becomes the heart of the project. We created a series of strongly contained, yet open, outdoor rooms that carefully balance between engaging the site’s expansive views and the creation of a distinctly private realm. Views into and across the court from these spaces create a series of indoor-outdoor vistas, making each feel far larger than they actually are...more

Apartment in Manhattan | New York City, USA | Verne

The apartment is situated in the shadows of the Empire Sate Building in Manhattan and is the home of mom, dad and their two children. You can say it is a combination of rational architecture, 50-ies classical American furniture and extraordinary views over the city.
Photographs:OWI