Ranch House Conversion | Big Barn | Glen Ellen | California |Faulkner Architects

A San Francisco family of four asked us to create a retreat from their urban lifestyle, reusing the footprint of an existing 1950s ranch house in Glen Ellen, California, while building in a consistent way with the area’s rolling hills and agricultural structures.

Glen Ellen has many barn-like houses that confusingly mash up two design vocabularies, pasting residential-style overhangs and fenestration on barn forms in a kitschy blend. In contrast, this 3,900-square-foot house, dubbed the “Big Barn,” draws authentic inspiration from the site’s existing Tack Barn, which we had previously renovated into a bunk house. A simple, rectangular, two-story form emerged with an asymmetrical gabled roof. The shorter side of the roof faces the southwest sun and reduces heat gain to the structure. Fenestration is limited to this exposure as well and is organized as thin, full-height ventilation shutters that reference traditional barn building.

The entry, a larger version of the vertical slit elements, is recessed for shading. The fireplace and chimney, foreign to the barn typology, are displaced from the structure with glazed joints. The east side is more open to the view and morning sun.....more

Barn Conversion | Guest House | Catskills | New York | General Assembly

General Assembly reimagined an old horse barn, rebuilding it to become a one of a kind guest house. Wood cladding throughout creates a warm atmosphere, while clean white walls cut through the space to keep things light and create a unifying band of contrast.

We used patterned concrete tile throughout to separate and define key areas. The wood burning stove is surrounded by terracotta colored concrete tile of our own custom design, while the bedrooms are defined by high contrast black and white tile and kept cozy with in-ground heating.

Re-using as much of the original barn as possible, we refinished the existing horse stall doors by blackening the steel and inserting obscured glass to create unique bedroom doors

Finally, we opened up the front of the barn by tearing out the facade and replacing it with a twelve and a half foot wide Nanawall door, connecting the landscape to the warm interior........more

House In Geldrmalsen | Netherlands | Maxwan

Our clients had bought an old barn on a beautiful 2ha site bordering the river Linge. We were asked to help realize their dream of a large kitchen living room where they could relax, entertain friends and organize wine tasting sessions for their customers.
In the past, the previous owners had already realized an extension by simply extruding the high barn, adding 10 meters, in two floors.
At our first visit we found the house difficult to inhabit. Most strikingly, virtually no relation existed to the beautiful landscape surrounding the house. All façade openings were too small, in the wrong place, or both. We proposed to invert the layout of the house, moving the offices and storage space to occupy the recent extension and the private spaces to the old barn. A large slit was cut into the barn roof to bring in light. The final touch was a large piece of furniture that would serve as kitchen, storage, stairs and library all at once.......more

Converted factory into a loft Utrecht | the Netherlands | Zecc Architecten

project name: Converted factory into a loft Utrecht, the Netherlands
client: Particulier
program: 250 m2 living area in a former factory building
period: 2006

A former factory building in Utrecht is converted into a residential loft and office space. The massive wooden structure of this municipal monument is made visual again. Behind the front façade of the industrial building the new function of living stays carefully hidden. To keep the industrial atmosphere in this building, the structure is present in the open living space. Different functions are defined with different colored floor coverings....more

House Conversion | House DV | Antwerpen | B-Architecten

location Mellaertstraat 1, Antwerpen
year 2005
client Inti bvba
sq.m. 315 m2

team Peter Aelterman, Evert Crols, Dirk Engelen, Sven Grooten, Jürgen Van Der Donckt

A former hangar behind an existing appartment building is transformed into a family residence with swimming pool. One part of the house and its entrance is located underneath the existing building. The swimming pool is placed in the large garden behind the hangar. Inside, a spacious green patio and a small wooden volume (3.8 x 4.8m) containing the master bedroom are placed in between the existing concrete crossbeams. Bathroom, storage room, wardrobe and music studio are seperated from the living room by a remarkable and determining wall.....more

John Pawson | Barn Conversion | Essex, England

One of the most celebrated Modern residences completed in recent times, Tilty Hill is the exquisite conversion of an 18th century Dutch barn by the architect John Pawson. The 4 / 5 bedroom house is located in tranquil surroundings in countryside close to the historic market town of Thaxted.

The house is widely considered to be one of the most important works by Pawson and of the finest examples of Minimalism in architecture anywhere in the world. Pawson is an architect renowned for his refined, rigorous aesthetic and producing uplifting, functional spaces. As one would expect from a Pawson project, the fittings and finishes throughout the house are of a very high quality.

The house wraps around a large courtyard area (used as a horse enclosure) and is all on a single storey. The use of ample glazing throughout the house enables occupants to enjoy the views and large skies for which this area is renowned.
More here

House Conversion | Smith St house | Terroir

The narrow inner city street has a contrast of industrial and residential uses however this is the first house in the street within an industrial building. The existing 300 square metre warehouse had a private rear yard behind full height metal sliding doors. A dividing wall through the existing warehouse facilitated sufficient space for two new dwellings.

The change has maintained much of the former industrial building's character. The original street frontage is fully intended to dramatically contrast with the unexpected interior which retains the former character whilst meeting the demands for accommodating a young family.

Through-views from street to rear were crucial to maintaining the depth of space that was a privilege to inherit in the existing building. Most internal walls run parallel to the through views and establish a physical reverberation off the central wall between the two new dwellings. Closed rooms such as the upper level bedrooms run along the dividing wall. In contrast the opposite side wall is relatively intact and runs along larger spaces which capture the openness of the warehouse.

New steel beams span the full length of the interior to establish a new upper floor, the underside of which reveals exposed floor beams with long stripes of continuous diffused fluorescent lighting.

The upper floor is more refined - a lime-stained timber and wall finish reflects the increased natural light from the saw-tooth windows. The internal duality is furthered by the sense of elevation in the original space being enhanced by sky-views from within soft white plasterboard-lined bedrooms in contrast to the industrial aesthetic of galvanised metal sheet and formwork ply used throughout the open spaces.

Source: Terroir

Winter Residence Conversion | Tucson, Arizona | Ibarra Rosano

winter residence
location: tucson, arizona
year completed: 2004
square footage: 3550 sf total
(3510 sf remodeled, 40 sf added)

architect’s project team:
luis ibarra, teresa rosano

contractor: repp design and construction, inc.
cabinetry/steelwork: mark perry
landscape: ibarra landscapes
photography: bill timmerman

The owners wanted to transform the dark, circulation-dominated rooms of their 1940s brick residence into a luminous space with crisp detailing reminiscent of the boutique hotels and spas they had visited. Tackling one room after another, we opened the house to daylight and to a series of garden courtyards.
One key to transforming the house was to remove the fireplace that bisected the main living spaces. Once the fireplace was demolished, the opening for the chimney was fitted with a large skylight that now fills the living spaces with natural light. Applying the same principle, we removed the dividing wall between the master closet and bathroom to create a large, bright space for dressing and bathing. Outside, the area that had once been an awkward, circular dirt driveway became a serene courtyard with a fountain, a single tree, and a horizontal aperture that perfectly frames the city skyline. The guest bathroom also connects with the exterior. Its glass-enclosed shower (the only additional square footage to the house) extends out into a private courtyard. Two cantilevered concrete walkways bridge the pool, and link the main deck to the master bedroom deck and its outdoor fireplace. After over a year of living in the dust of remodeling, the house has become the Winter’s own private spa in the desert.
Text and images from ibarra rosano