Modern Australian House | Edward River House | Australia | Jackson Clement Burrows

The design of this farmhouse located on the Edward River near Deniliquin explores an interpretation of historic farm buildings in the local area typically constructed of timber frames and corrugated iron cladding. The house is traditionally sited adjacent to the river and the two storey structure is linked to a water tank tower which identifies its position nestled amongst the indigenous Red Gums on the river frontage..........more

Modern New Zealand House | Parihoa House | Auckland | Pattersons

A rural castle on a wind swept hill, this home responds to the environment as a fortress enclosing a luxury sanctuary for family living.......more

House in Pikovice | Pikovice | Czech Republic | mjolk

Two years ago, a good friend of ours and his wife decided to buy a plot of land sloping northward close to the river Sazava. The natural environment of the village of Pikovice near the town of Davle offers, first and foremost, a tranquil home to be enjoyed every day – and yet it lies within an easy driving distance of the Prague ring road. The newlyweds’ worldview and their determination to build something new led to a decision to design a wooden house that would be neither big nor small and would meet the requirements of healthy living while economizing energy consumption. The house is a cuboid with a flat green roof and two outside entrances. An outside staircase leading from the ground level to the second above-ground story bites off a wedge from the upper part of the cuboid...........more

Single Family House | Omer Arbel Office

There is a gentle slope from east to west and two masses of old growth forest defining two “outdoor rooms” each with a its own distinct ecology and conditions of light; the house is situated at the point of maximum tension in between these two environments, and as such acts at once to define the two as distinct, and also to offer a focused transition between them.

The design of the house itself began, as a point of departure, with a depository of one hundred year old Douglas Fir beams reclaimed from a series of demolished warehouses. The beams were of different lengths and cross sectional dimensions, and had astonishing proportions—some as long as 20 meters, some as deep as 90 cm. It was agreed that the beams were sacred artefacts in their current state and that we would not manipulate them or finish them in any way. Because the beams were of different lengths and sizes, we needed to commit to a geometry that would be able to accommodate the tremendous variety in dimension, while still allowing the possibility of narrating legible spaces. We settled on a triangular geometry.

Reclaimed beams were used to assemble triangular frames; these were folded to create a roof which would act as a secondary artificial landscape, which we draped over the gentle slope of the site. We manipulated the creases to create implicit and explicit relationships between indoor and outdoor space, such that every interior room had a corresponding exterior room.

In order to maximize ambiguity between interior and exterior space, we removed definition of one significant corner of each room by pulling the structure back from the corner itself (using bent steel columns in some cases), and introducing an accordion door system, such that the entire façade on both sides could retract and completely disappear.

We developed a detail that would allow the beams to define not only the ceilingscape of each interior room, but also to read strongly as elements of the building façade......more

SS House | Mallorca | Spain | BAAS Jordi Badia

In rural surroundings in Mallorca there is the need, shared with the client, to use traditionally local techniques. The house features parallel walls of stone and mortar mixed with local clay to form the same colour. Above the walls is a large tiled roof sheet, which allows a loft acting as a studio to occupy the highest point above the entrance. On ground level the main (living) room functions like a square where space flows throughout the house, from the front yard to the porch.....more

Dixon House Martinborough | New Zealand | Designgroup Stapleton Elliott

Following the purchase of this green-field site in Martinborough, our client formulated a comprehensive brief to create their weekend retreat as place to enjoy, relax and to share with family and friends.The design is a modern interpretation of the Kiwi batch based upon the creation of simple building forms to articulate an uncluttered lifestyle. The design amalgamates three pavilion forms around an enclosed and sheltered courtyard with seamless access from internal living spaces.
Private pavilions at each end of the house contain master bedroom and guest accommodation. A central pavilion accommodating common living and entertaining spaces connects the private pavilions around the family social centre.
The emphasis of the design is to merge both house and site to provide views to the surrounding mountain ranges, rural horizons and to capture both morning sunrise and late afternoon sun.Considered attention to detailing is inherent throughout, complimented by furniture and artwork that connects inside space with outdoor enclosures to create a private and relaxed retreat.....more

Midwest Retreat Barn,Iowa, USA | BNIM

Rural Iowa
6,000 gross square feet
3 car garage
700 acres
Completion: 2010
The retreat is located on a bucolic 700-acre site in the rolling hills of rural Iowa. The property orginally contained a mix of prairie, woodland and former farmland. With assistance from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the owner has restored much of the fallow farmland and non-native woodlands back to its native prairie ecology. The building is approached from the south, by way of an existing gravel drive that traverses this prairie and woodland habitat. The retreat is sited in an existing clearing, and is surrounded by restored prairie that is allowed to grow up to the building's perimeter. With its siting in this clearing, as well as its form and materiality, the building echoes the agrarian typologies of the region. The building is elongated in an east/west direction in order to maximize daylight control and to highlight views of the pond to the east and the lone tree to the west.
The retreat was designed as a venue for both social and business gatherings. Because of this dual use, the programmatic relationships and requirements depart in subtle but important ways from that of a typical residence. The functional parti clearly separates the social spaces in the continuously-gabled wood volume above from the support spaces in the concrete box below. In addition to creating a clear separation of support and social spaces, locating primary gathering areas on the second floor provides access to views and increased opportunity for natural ventilation. At the functional heart of this second floor space is a large, flexible open area bordered by three fixed functional elements: a low kitchen, a large hearth and an antique bar previously acquired by the client. These key components provide definition to the space and support its range of social activities....more

House In Swiss Countryside | FOVEA architects

Located in the swiss countryside, this small dwelling by FOVEA architects stands out with its sharply angled façade.
Facing south, the angled upper volume was developed as a way to balance the need for privacy and light.
Upon the rectangular first floor, the second level is inclined at a 40 degree angle, adding a cozier feeling to the outdoor patio below.
Filled with large windows this façade fills the interior with light and avoids facing other villas being built in the near future.The home was prefabricated and is clad in painted pine planks that allow it to blend in with the rural architecture of the area. the home’s form also borrows the image and function of the eaves found in local farmhouses.....more

Haus 47°40’48”N/13°8’12”E | Maria Flöckner und Hermann Schnöll

Haus 47°40’48”N/13°8’12”E
Client: private
Design: Maria Flöckner und Hermann Schnöll
Structural Engineering: gbd Dornbirn, DI Eugen Schuler
Photographer: Stefan Zenzmaier, Kuchl
Site Area: 1,000 m2
Built Area: 558 m2
Design Start: 8/2002
Construction Start: 9/2005
Completion: 4/2007

47°40’48”n/13°8’12”e describes a site in a rural setting which is at the same time specific and universal. the surrounding landscape is unique, but could easily be replaced by another rural or urban location.
the house could equally well be located anywhere else.
haus 47°40’48”n/13°8’12”e is not created for a specific location, rather it is simply a house in a location - or indeed a location in itself.

Artist's house | Montigny le Tilleul,Belgium | MATADOR atelier d’architecture

Cub'House
Artist's house

Location: Belgium, Montigny le Tilleul, street Bomerée
Client: Ms. Ravaux
Realization: 2007-2008
Surface: 165m ²

A parcel in a subdivision in the heart of the village. The basin of a hilly landscape. Topography. A square. A journey inside the semi-level, without fin.White cube that captures light.
Architect:

Barn House | Dwelling H | Belgium | Buro 2

Dwelling H.
2005

For BURO II and BURO Interior, the central principle for the farmhouse conversion is the relationship between the building and its outside space, and the connection with the surrounding environment.

The client was emphatic that tradition, innovation and respect for the landscape be combined in a single project. The structure of the landscape and research into rural building in Flanders stand in reciprocity to the design process and the final built environment.

Crucial in this thought process is that the landscape confirms the footprint of the buildings and farmhouses in origin and as tradition. Here respect and tradition create a need for a contemporary continuity, reflected in the search for a new meaning for the farmhouse in its varying scenic mutations.
Text from BURO II
Photographs:Ocvirk Kus Danica

The project is a spatial and architectural quest for methods to offer new perspectives in the relationship between landscape and architecture.