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3030 House - construction begins
00/00/0000, 00:00 | LamiDesign Modern House Plan Blog
As we described it before, the 3030 House sits on a 30ft x 30ft plus porch footprint, just under 2000 sqft, 3 bedrooms, and a nice open plan living space. It includes a generous kitchen work space and upstairs a large master bathroom, and in the case of this first one a full basement as well. It will fit on narrow in-fill lots or in new compact communities, but its size also makes it a good candidate for a weekend home as well.
The foundation is already in and steel will being rising this week. Lets look at the plans, beneath the fold.
On the ground floor you enter very near to grade level. Here you have a short stair up to the ground floor, and the stair to the basement. To the side is a coat closet and a powder room. Up the short run of steps you land in the middle of the ground floor. To one side is the kitchen island, and the workspace which continues around the corner. To the other side is the dining area. The living room sits towards the front of the house. The open plan allows you to alter the proportion, or location of these rooms. For instance the dining area can be moved closer to the kitchen island and a second seating group added to the living area. If it was me, I'd get a Wilkhahn Confair table and move the dining area on a daily basis! A sheltered terrace is beyond with doors from both the dining side and the kitchen side. In the Maryland house since grade is sloping away this will have a set of steps to grade.
Up the stairs we come to a large landing. On this landing level is a small laundry area and the shared bathroom for bedrooms 2 & 3, At the top of the stairs there is a linen closet between the two bedrooms, and a wide set of doors to the master bedroom. The master has a walk-in closet and a large bathroom with shower and tub. Doors lead out to a balcony that extends the width of the house. Here is a section view where you can see the relationship of these landing levels.
The compact cubic proportion of the house is efficient with materials, and the floor plan is also efficient with space. The open plan makes it flexible, and gives the impression of being larger than its 1800 sqft would suggest. Into that space we have 3 bedrooms - enough for a family, but not too much to bite off for a first home. See the construction progress in the photo browser below. It starts with the demolition of the existing run-down house and shows excavation, and concrete work for the foundations and basement walls.
Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house, 3030 House
Blog Action Day
00/00/0000, 00:00 | FUTURE HOUSE NOWFirst of all, why do I often post about green homes, even when my site is not purely focused on green issues? Well, for starters, green makes a lot of practical sense. It's laughable how much emphasis we put on greening our cars when we spend way more energy in our houses. It should be obvious every week when we take out the trash that our homes are the epicenter of our consumption habits. And I care about my family's health. I want them to live in a safe household environment, not one that is riddled with toxins and allergens.
Second, green isn't that hard to do anymore. You don't have to live in an Earthship made of tires pounded full of dirt, and old aluminum cans to be green (though that's pretty cool if you ask me). You also don't have to be an eco-warrior living off the grid in Northern California, growing all your own food and living off $10,000 worth of yearly organic produce sales. I guess what I mean is that being "green" isn't really an extreme lifestyle choice, it's part of everyday life for everyday people all over the USA. We have to stop treating green as extreme. Frankly, I think that alienates more people than it attracts. That's why I try not to overplay my green views, just as I don't downplay them either. To me, the important thing is that we're all constantly raising our awareness and incorporating green practices in our lives one little step at a time.
There are so many good ways to green any home, any style, old or new, anywhere. How about more efficient appliances, compact fluorescent light bulbs, better insulation, and low-VOC paints? These are pretty easy things that can make a big difference. How about not using those toxic cleaners in your kitchen and bathroom? Use good ol' white vinegar - it works great and is non-toxic. Inexpensive too. And great technology is here, with real strides in renewable energy being made every day. The reasons for not taking advantage of better technology for greener homes are becoming fewer and fewer. We're pretty much at the point where going green isn't about making tough choices, it's about making smart choices. The difference now isn't as much about toughness as it is about awareness.
I like to show interesting modern homes, and some of them are not particularly green. But lots of them are, in lots of different ways. Some are green just because they are compact. Some are green because they have a broad sheltering roof and good insulation. Some are green becaues they make good use of recycled materials, or new materials like steel framing that will last a long, long time without a lot of costly maintenance, and that can be recycled someday if need be. Maybe they aren't all perfect, but we can learn something from them. My site is about ideas. Some of the good ideas I like to show are about environmentally friendly homes, and some of the ideas are about other things. They're not mutually exclusive. And we have to stop thinking in those terms. Green fits with modern because they are both about good design. Good design has logic, economy and beauty all rolled into one. I see green as a part of that, not a whole unto itself.
Don't get me wrong, I don't take green for granted. I accept green as a matter of fact. That's how it should be - a natural part of life, not a radical philosophy. I view the recent mainstreaming of green as a sign that we've finally turned the corner. It won't be long now before we build the momentum to make lasting positive change. The challenges are real, but humanity, in spite of itself, is a problem solving species. We can do it.
Frederico Zanelato - Architect's Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Structured Strata - Layered up for optimum views, ventilation and privacy, Ferederico Zanelato's house in São Paulo is a quality residence at an economical price.
Overview
This architect’s house is what it should be, driven out of pure needs and the situation at hand, with clear intention. Frederico, with a Masters focus in economical design, is conscious about using materials wisely. Serving him well in the design of his own house, which apart from quality hard wearing flooring, uses well finished local materials to create a high class residence. Completed in 2005 and setting aside the cost of the plot, the house came in at under $400 US per square metre for construction! Far more impressive, considering that similar executions in São Paulo are quoted as $1200 US.
The plot is located in the Sierra Itapety, 54km from São Paulo, surrounded by a pool of Atlantic Forest, which drives the houses windows and openings, catching your eye from every corner.
The geographical position provided the strategic entry of light and ventilation. Large overhands and shading battens provide shelter from peak summer heat, and allow the air to cool in the shade before entering, traditional solutions within new design. The slope of the land also imposes on the distribution of the volumes, the zoning, the entrance and landscaping, thus completing the desired dialogue with the house’s surroundings.
Layout
The ground floor is occupied by the social area: living room, kitchen, guest bedroom and bathroom. With access to the front garden and full sun, this level is laid out by relative use of sunlight, with a bright and airy living area, and the guest bedroom snug at the rear.
The middle level: houses a covered car park and service area - come laundry and bathroom.
On top of the social area is a patio / garden, solarium with reflecting pond, and a wooden deck.
The intimate master bedroom and bath are housed in the final volume suspended above. Cloaked in shade providing battens, yet still with views out across the valley.
The materials chosen for the construction, simple and local to the region, establish a connection between the area and the owner’s way of life. The exterior, cleanly rendered in stucco, is livened up with a fantastic entrance way mural. The floor of white granite is broken by a carpet of pink sandstone that calls attention and directs to the main entry. Wet zones are covered with white granite chips and the ground floor exterior with large grade loose gravel. Useful for tropical storms and the winter floods common in São Paulo.
The views to the surrounding Atlantic forest, framed by white walls, form calming green curtains. Outside the master Bedroom, water, vital for life, reflects and intensified the surrounding green and the sky above. Features which embrace and justify Frederico’s choices of white, black, wood, stone and iron.
Plans
Architect: Frederico Zanelato
Completed: 2005
Costs: $400 US Per square metre
Images and information courtesy of: Frederico Zanelato
Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Santa Barbara Riviera Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential DesignSanta Barbara Riviera Residence
Sun Filled in the Hills - Shubin + Donaldson Architects have created an ideal place to soak up sun and views in the Santa Barbara hills.
Client
Owners Geoffrey Moore and Genie Gable searched more than a year to find a site that met their exacting and almost-contradictory requirements.
- Moore (international businessman and writer who, when not travelling, splits his work time between a home office in Santa Barbara and a corporate office 85 miles south in Santa Monica) wanted a shaded, quiet office space filled with cutting-edge technology for global communication where he could write without distraction.
- Genie, his wife (principal of Genie Gable Interior Design, and a graduate of the Professional Design Program at UCLA, studied in the masters classes of Rose Tarlow) sought sun-filled spaces with unimpeded views of the nearby Pacific Ocean and, at night, the city lights of Santa Barbara.
The public rooms reflect her specialisation of modern design in modern homes.
Although by Santa Barbara standards the home is relatively compact (Moore and Gable are empty-nesters) no space is wasted. "We use every room every day," she says, "and never tire of the constantly changing light from the ocean to the south, the canyon to the east and the mountains to the north."
Program
This relatively small house (when compared to its neighbours) has all of the elements of a 5,000- or 6,000-square-foot house in a tidy, 3,200-square-foot package. The three-level home and two-car garage include open living/dining area, kitchen, master bedroom and bath, guest bedroom and bath, home gym, powder room, two home offices with office bath, outdoor dining area, outdoor lounge areas, lap pool, and 1,400 square feet of lower-level storage.
Design
Hidden environmentally sustainable design - Though not immediately obvious, this house embraces several green design characteristics.
- The house layout is based on solar orientation, resulting in passive solar gains throughout the year.
- Photovoltaic power generates household electricity through a 2.8kw system (when power is not needed, it feeds back into the grid).
- A passive roof-top solar heating system provides for domestic hot water and a passive solar ground-level hot-water system is used to heat the pool.
- The natural flow of hot and cool air is fortified by the use of radiant hot-water floor heating and separate central air conditioning in the ceilings. - Although these systems are in place, they are rarely used because of the solar orientation of the home and the natural ventilation.
- The architects re-used the existing foundation and caissons. During construction, the existing house was taken apart piece-by-piece, with all usable elements donated to Habitat for Humanity.
- Other energy-saving systems include double-pane windows, UV-resistant glass, ample insulation, and energy-efficient appliances.
- Deep exterior overhangs are designed to provide shade in the summer, and let in sun during the winter.
Style
A dramatic glass canopy ceremoniously marks the entrance to the home, bisecting the ground-to-roof planes of glass that form sidelights and clerestories. Throughout the house, walls intersect with glass in a play of solidity and transparency. There is a certain efficiency of design in the layout, yet it provides all of the amenities so that the house looks and feels like a five-star private residential club. By taking up minimal space (what's absolutely necessary and no more) the house also takes up minimal resources.
A monumental feeling is emphasised by designing the house to constantly open up to the outdoors. A neutral colour scheme complements the colours of nature that comprise the predominant palette. An infinity pool just outside the living room leads the eye to the ocean and the Channel Islands beyond. Four separate terraces surround the house, continuing the indoor/outdoor feeling and accessibility.
Each room affords great vistas as well as stunning natural light throughout the day. Large windows create frames for nature. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves complement the mahogany living room wall that houses an entertainment centre. Set into the wall, and surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass, it acts as an extension of the outdoors. Doorways in general (even in the limestone-clad bathrooms) are taller than usual and lead the eye upward to be rewarded by either natural light or a beautiful vista. Dark walnut floors and softly minimalist furniture are sophisticated and inviting. Bedrooms and master bath look out to the ocean. The kitchen faces the hillside, emphasising how the house maintains a connection with nature.
Plans
Firm: Shubin + Donaldson Architects is a high-design architecture firm that specialises in developing livable environments. Headed by partners Russell Shubin, AIA, and Robin Donaldson, AIA, the firm tailors its projects (custom residential, office buildings and interiors, retail, hospitality, planning, and multi-family housing) with a refined sensitivity toward the land and context.
Architect: Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Robin Donaldson, AIA, Principal and Russell Shubin, AIA, Principal
Project Team: Nils Hammerbeck, Daniel Webber, Kelly Kish, Allison White, Josh Blumer, Alan McLeod, and David Van Hoy
Interiors: Genie Gable Interior Design
Contractor: Quillin Construction
Landscape: Lane Goodkind
Photos: Ciro Coelho
Article & Imagery: Courtesy - Taylor & Company (many thanks)
via: Taylor & Company
Drew Mandel Design - 83A Marlborough Ave
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Infill house on a 13ft wide plot, becomes feature residence of the street - Drew Mandel has used every inch of this brownfield (ex 1 car garage & garden) site to create his ideal residence. Influences of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler eminent in the residence's façade lead to elegant use of wood detailing for the interior.
Overview
Drew, an up and coming Canadian architect snapped up an “interesting” plot, that his colleague at MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, David Miller had on offer. Setting out to create his debut "big time" design, Drew won a number of awards in Toronto and Canada. The house is an impressive example of modern infill, coming in at a modest $182 per ft2.
The Lot
Miller and his architect wife, Amy Falkner, had obtained a minor variance allowing them to build to the very edges of the property line without the usual margin of grass or ground cover. (It's only because the houses on each side are set back from the lot line that there is any space at all between the Mandel-Cooper house and its neighbours.) To support development, the municipality had allowed a substantial increase in the floor space, from 908 to more than 1,280 square feet above ground.
Their relatives labelled the plot a bowling lane, Mandel and his wife like to think of it as a lane each.
Design
Focusing on commercial design at work, Drew’s evening efforts on his own house pulled from his designs of multiplexes, community centres, libraries and banks. The main Achilles heel of the plot, the extended walls down either side of the property, led Drew to (as he sometimes reflects) to overcompensate with house glass panels at either end and a large light well at the centre of the build. I disagree; the house is fantastically bright and airy.
Breaking the house away from other designs out there and I believe linking it to his favoured FLW and Rudolf, is the use of patchwork glass rather than a large expanse of industrial like uniform façade. A cute modernist take on the Juliet balcony protrudes from the master bedroom, breaking the rear wall further and allows great views down to the meticulously landscaped garden, that complements the house so well. Adding to the functionality of the glass façade, a large central panel pivots to allow bigger pieces of furniture to be hoisted in.
Bringing in that industrial design know-how resolved the issue of construction methods too. Such a narrow tall design refused traditional frame design used in residential projects, meaning an industrial to balloon framing technique was adopted. Steel supports for the entire 38-foot length of the walls were put up first, and then the floors were locked in afterwards.
Further industrial features of the house include the two ramps from the entrance of the house to the living room and from the master bedroom to the second bedroom, a comfortable alternative to stairs.
Layout
From the semi-subterranean guest room at the front of the house you head south up the ramp to the living room, then north up five stairs to the dining room-kitchen floor, then south again up the house's only full flight of stairs to the master bedroom and bathroom. Finally, completing the layout you head north, up the second ramp to the second bedroom.
The Result
Drew and Denise have blown their relatives away. Despite the restricting plot they've created a house that through it's high ceilings, skylights and maximum glazing at both ends is a bright, spacious and airy home.
Plans
Architect/Designer: Drew Mandel Design
Client: Denise Cooper & Drew Mandel
Completed: 2007
Structural: Blackwell Engineering Ltd. (David Bowick)
Builder: T. Fijalkowski & Associates
Site Plan Approval: David Miller & Amy Falkner
Lot:13' x 115' or 1560 ft2
Costs: $182 per ft2
Information courtesy of: Drew Mandel Design
OJMR Architects | Fritz Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
L Shaped Simplicity - Wrapped around a cooling pool with ample shade and expansive living areas, this Jay M. Reynolds residence in Palm Springs, combines two simple volumes to create a modernistic whole.
Name of Project: Fritz Residence, Palm Desert, California Information courtesy of: OJMR Architects and Taylor & Company (many thanks)
Site
The house is located on a flat, irregularly shaped lot at the end of a cul-de-sac. The neighbourhood contains a variety of styles and references to the preferred typical suburban desert subdivision architecture.
Program
Mew single-family residence including kitchen, dining area, living room, office, three bedrooms, and two-and-one-half bathrooms.
Design
The house is designed for a retired couple with the need for guest bedroom suites and a large communal space for the living, dining, and kitchen areas.
To achieve a feeling of "simplicity" within conventional means, it was decided that planning and construction must be straight-forward and the character of the house reflect a strategy of enclosure and openness focused towards the main outdoor space. Two simple volumes are connected together to define a corner with one wing containing the guest bedrooms, and the other containing the master suite. The two wings are connected at the main living, dining, and kitchen space.
Hallways are located along the east and south sides of the two wings and help to define the laterally spaced rooms, which can be closed off from the circulation zone with large sliding walls. The rooms all access the outdoor pool/courtyard space from large sliding glass walls.
Plans
Architect: The Office of J.M. Reynolds Architects, Los Angeles
Jay M. Reynolds, AIA, principal
Built area: 2,600 square-feet
Completed: 2003
Budget: US$650,000
Materials: Exposed concrete block walls, natural stone veneer walls, plaster over wood framing, concrete floors, walnut cabinetry, Gascogne Blue limestone floors in bathrooms, translucent glass panels, Montauk Black marble counters in kitchen, Venetino White marble countertops in bathroom and on kitchen island.
Photos: Ciro Coelho
Pugh + Scarpa Atchitects | Solar Umbrella
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Model Rebuild - When remodelling their own residence Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa could never have imagined the press and accolades that would be bestowed upon a build designed around their own very personal needs. Economical, solar powered, solar water heating, nearly off the power grid and with a fitting yet aesthetically contrasting extension. A rear extension that embraces the house's 1920's bungalow origins and pays homage to its design sake, the Paul Rudolph Umbrella House of 1953.
Name of Project: Solar Umbrella, Venice, California, USA Information courtesy of: Pugh + Scarpa Architects
Overview and Plot
The lot, in Venice California, typical of the area, has two road frontages. This allowed the house's orientation to be flipped, the crux of this build. With the living area and kitchen behind now facing the larger rear garden, an additional bedroom was added upstairs, and the second bedroom converted to an office. Most of all, the flip orients the house to the southern sun allowing the sun's energy to be stored in the concrete eastern and western walls and floor. 
Design
The extension has the majority of its glazing along the warmth facing southern wall, with northern glazing opening up for cross ventilation. The architects describe it as "global regionalism," Californian indoor outdoor flow, wrapped in modern technology using recycled and sustainable materials, offsetting the use of concrete with gains made through its thermal storing properties that lead to lower power bills. Overhangs regulate the sun in its strongest months and double glazing with a low-E film , framed in aluminium with thermal breaks, control the wind and indoor environment. To save on materials the solar panels themselves form the outer canopy and Solar Umbrella, shading the house. With the rear set up, insulation was blown into the walls and floors of the original wing and operable skylights in the kitchen and bathroom provide natural light and ventilation whilst maintaining privacy.
Upstairs
In winter, warmth is provided through radiant in-floor heating powered partly by one of three solar hot water panels. Two are used to pre-heat the domestic hot water before it gets to the gas-fired hot water heater and the other to heat the pool. These panels halved the gas use of the house which is now 2.5 times as big! As usual there was initial outlay for the solar water heaters and panels, which 10 years.
Living area extension
Although the double height extension sets the house apart from its neighbours, the fact that it is at the rear facing the alley, contrary to most of the houses on the block, mean its northern facing traditional façade, lets it fit in with the Joneses. The services are concealed up the side of the house, and a bike rack just inside the new front gate provides mobility to the nearby shops (apparently a novelty in the US).
Exterior
Well thought out landscaping incorporates gravel, to allow the plot to drain and prevent it from heating up like large paved areas do, and planting is drought tolerant, with species that appeal to the abundant hummingbirds in the area. The new pond and pool also help regulate the temperate and composting was also included as part of the landscape design.
Layout
A relatively simple layout provides for both open plan living and more intimate work and rest areas.
Downstairs the office, with access to the main street, sits beside the second bedroom and main bathroom on the eastern wall. The living room and kitchen take the southern and western walls respectively. As well as allowing heat to rise up and out the upstairs windows, the industrial like steel stairs link the downstairs area to the more private master bedroom with en-suite.
The Results
The house now provides an additional open plan living area ideal for the couple's son, connecting outdoor play and space indoors. The Solar Umbrella plays its dual role, keeping the house cool and shaded in summer and warm through its solar panel composition in winter. Utilitarian, the house is built to be lived in and enjoyed rather than as a show-piece 'typical' modern build. This to me is what makes this a home.
Plans
Architect: Pugh + Scarpa Architects
Completed: April 2005
Total project cost excluding land: US$390,000.00
Usage: 3 permanent occupants 105 hours/week, 15 visitors/week at 3 hrs per visit average.
David Hertz - Studio EA | McKinley Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Green Alchemist's Residential Compound - The McKinley Residence is David Hertz's live in laboratory for modern - environmentally friendly - residential design. Converting common elements into green design, it's feature packed. The house is a true testament to David's commitment to the cause and to top it off forms a homely modern residence, showcasing practical design elements, fine tailored for a young family.
Aimed at "spreading the word", the Studio of Environmental Architecture is David Hertz's latest venture, leading the way in Eco friendly design and sharing what he's learnt both through his residential work and his own house. Many thanks to the team at Studio EA for the details on this house.
Overview
Designed as a new house when Venice was till a rough neighbourhood the house presents a relatively strong/protective façade at street level and uses enclosed balconies to extend the upper levels and take full advantage of sea breezes.
The house consisted of two pavilions connected by a bridge, and was already cutting edge (environmentally) through its use of Syndecrete®, which contains about 41% percent recycled content and is twice as light, with twice the compressive strength, of normal concrete. Syndecrete® is David's own development and one of many featured in the residence.
It is now a compound made up of four discrete two-story buildings linked by three enclosed bridges that all face onto the courtyard.
Style "Balinese Modern"
Working it through
There was only one snag in the whole process. David is staunchly in favour of green design, the mere fact of adding that much space nagged at him. "There's no getting around the fact," he says, "that on a purely ecological level, 4,400 square feet is a lot of house by most of the world's standards."
His solution was to make the house the greenest house of its size he'd ever seen. Hertz used this house as a case study for green building techniques. An array of 20 solar collector panels on the roof help generate about 70 percent of the home’s electricity needs, and other sections of the roof are given over to flat-plate collectors that provide hot water to the water heater, which then sends it into a radiant heating system in the concrete floors.
I've no beef with the results, David's family expanded and so has his residence, the house is all used and as much as we battle with the urges, who wouldn't want their own compound like this. David's innovative materials and willingness to push for a more environmentally sound house is exemplary.
The materials used were chosen carefully to support environmental sustainability and the design intent. Recycled and FSC certified sustainable woods such as Ipe, Mahogany, and Fir, are used throughout the house to complement the Syndecrete®.
The Syndecrete® acts inside the house as a kind of “solar sink” for passive solar energy transfer, storing up the sun’s warmth during the day, and thus keeping it from overheating the interior, and then slowly releasing that heat during the night. Syndecrete® flooring was chosen for several reasons; it eliminates mold and dust caused by carpet, requires less maintenance, and is more environmentally sensitive than carpet, wood, or other floor finishes.
In order to maintain excellent indoor air quality, David used zero VOC paint, and eliminated a forced air system and carpeted floors, and with them mould and dust.
Another bonus of these materials is the resultant durability and functionality of the house. Its for living in. Rather than begin a minimalist box (don't get me wrong they have their place) the house portrays both David's design innovations, but also the family's efforts, endeavours, favourite drawings, posters, toys, etc. And it's a tough house.
You can see here one of my favourite shots showing the utilitarian nature of the house, and how its designed for a family.
Yup, David's hosing it down, an ability that's now on the list for my house. You can also see that playful design feature to let the kids feel its their house too, a pint size door for them.
Green Credentials
Hopefully in the images, you'll spot some of these fantastic features.
- Passive Ventilation – eliminating the need for a forced air system the shaded front living area naturally ducts cool air up thought the house and stairwell, then out the temperature sensitive skylights.
- Solar Energy – an array of 20 solar panels on the roof supply around 70% of the home's energy needs
- Photovoltaic Panels and Flat Plate Collectors – providing hot water to the water heater and subsequently the radiant heating system in the concrete floors. David says to heat the place, with these panels installed takes about as much energy as a 60w light bulb, all taken from his solar array.
- Vacuum tubing on the roof, which uses a parabolic collector to focus the sun’s rays, provides additional hot water
- Recycled FSC certified sustainable woods such as Ipe, Mahogany and Fir
- That Syndecrete®, a light-weight concrete that uses 41% recycled content - it also holds various pigments and textures to form furniture throughout the house, like the kitchen bench, table and bathroom sinks.
- Zero VOC paints
- High performance heat-mirror glazing
- The pool system uses an ionization and silver filter, eliminating the need for chlorine
Layout
I've wanted to write about David's work for some time now as his preferred layout for houses draws from tropical bungalows and linked pavilions.
Phase-1
You'll note that he has separated the functional areas of the original house at the bottom, both vertically and horizontally into 4 boxes. The living and dining come entertaining areas at the front are split from the garage at the rear to form an external lounge/fire pit, one that tops my list for "ideal after work summer beer spot".
Above, the bedrooms retreats, with the master bedroom above the lounge, and the children's bedrooms, back away over the garage.
Second only to the fire pit, is the outdoor sleeping area off the master bedroom. In summer time, the enclosed balcony becomes a comfy, cool sleeping area.
Phase-2
This renders the children's original bedrooms as guest areas that convert into a large rumpus room for rainy days. To accommodate the three children as they grow older, David's given them more space (between them and their wing of the house) and space for their guests. They have a bedroom and studio area in the upstairs of the new wing, and mum and dad gain an open plan kitchen/dining area with a wall that opens up completely to the pool and inner courtyard formed between the two wings.
Results
This building is a successful study in architecture that is both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible, whilst functioning as a pair of Levi 501s, hard wearing, sexy and a design classic.
Images
Slideshow
Plans
via: Many thanks to Christina at Studio EA
Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Urban Spa
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Urban Spa - Shubin + Donaldson Architects have remodelled this house to soak up its Malibu shore front location. Sliding doors and windows allow the residence to be open plan or sectioned off at will. The site elements of the highway and beach challenged, and dispatched with charming results.
Program
The initial task was to renovate the original 1976 dwelling into a contemporary urban retreat, whilst adding some structural reinforcement. Bought in 2001 for it's location, the owners, together with the architects, went on to extensively remodel the house into an urban oasis. Concious efforts to negate the road behind and emphasise the beach in front are evident throughout.
Design
The overall concept for this 2,900-square-foot beach-side modern house was to transform it into an urban spa-like retreat. The house is perched along Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway, and features access to the beach at the back. Sheltering the house and providing a hard façade is the garage to the rear. As an area of transition between the street and beach, an interior entry courtyard behind the garage, laid with rectangular cement pavers and bordered by smooth river rock and tufted grasses, introduces the primary design element of the home — a seamless union between interior and exterior spaces. Through crisp linear architecture, a split level plan, and visual access throughout the house brings in the beach.
From the entry courtyard, a line of sight straight through the living room takes in the sea views. Dragging your attention away, to the left is a bay window type dining room, accented by a white grid of window panes and shadowed from the noon sun. This window grid is echoed by the geometric pattern of the cabinets and shelves that lead into the minimal kitchen. True to the open plan, the kitchen seamlessly overlooks the main living space, allowing distractions whilst cooking. 
The interior design palette of natural woods and limestone, white walls and fabrics, frosted and clear plate-glass creates a crisp and airy environment to appreciate the Pacific Ocean setting. A true Urban Spa,the elements were hand picked to portray the theme of air, light, and water.
Ground-floor living room and adjacent sitting room offer shadowed relief from the sunlit terraces beyond, with cooling white and dark wood tones in the furniture and materials. Double-paned windows, which open onto the first-level terrace, offer several ways for freedom, permitting unrestricted views onto the ocean while buffering sound (from the highway). 
The upstairs rooms continue the overall theme of air, light, and water with repeating materials and colours. The well-dressed master suite faces onto a second large terrace with pocket-glass doors that fold away, converting the stepped upper terrace into a sleeping porch reminiscent of designs by Schindler and Neutra (and last weeks post - David Hertz! [Image]).
For reclining on the teak chaises, billowing fabrics can be drawn above and alongside the terrace to shield the sun and wind.
With the clients goal being a boutique like retreat to entertain guests rather than as a reclusive beach getaway, opulent bright-white materials: Limestone and high gloss surfaces were used to give that crisp light filled feel. In fact, the owners found it too 'bling'. The house was cool crisp and far too full of light, with the white being overwhelming sometimes. Aware of this, Shubin + Donaldson had already incorporated exterior shutters and shades, which compensate in the southern facing rooms. Then in terms of layout, a simple North facing Media room was added with minimal windows at the rear, providing a further space to retreat in summer, and a little getaway for all. 
Openness and transformation are themes throughout and are most expressive in the master bath. Cool, ocean-blue frosted glass lines the walls and windows (that face another house on these sought-after lots). Behind the glass swing doors are the toilet and shower. Three layers of floor-to-ceiling glass form a translucent door that closes the space off from the bedroom, or opens it up to the master suite, porch, and Pacific Ocean beyond. Dark wenge wood - used throughout the house as an accent - encases the tub, vanity, and spacious closets. The rich brown colour gently contrasts with the limestone counters and floors. Double mirrors are placed on poles in front of the frosted glass, rather than set into a wall. To name-drop, the tub is designed by Philippe Starck.
Layout
First level: living room, dining room, den area, terrace with beach access, powder room. Upper level: home office, guest room and bath, powder room, media room, and master suite with bathroom/walk-in closet, closet office, outdoor sleeping porch.
Plans
Architect: Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Robin Donaldson, AIA, Principal and Russell Shubin, AIA, Principal
Interiors: Audrey Alberts, interior design consultant
Commenced: 2001
Photos: Tom Bonner Photography
Article & Imagery: Courtesy - Taylor & Company (many thanks)
via: Taylor & Company
Clinton Murray - Gunyah Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Solid as a rock - A challenging section on Gunyah beach in Bundeena, forced Clinton Murray to rethink the vernacular (perhaps simple) Australian beach side house and create a resilient coastal retreat. Built to last forever.
via: Many thanks to Clinton Murray 
Overview
Huge boulders throughout the cliff side, would have made slapping a wooden prefab house on the top of the plot the easiest option. Choosing instead to hide the house well down the plot near the breaking shoreline, posed challenges, yet rewarded both the architect and owners with stunning results. It also appeased the planning officials and nearby residents.
"The linear site is divided midway by a massive rock face, defining two distinct levels. The natural, sheltered enclave at the base of the rock face is where we believed the building belonged."
Tucked into the hillside, the copper clad roof has set out to weather itself in the ocean green shade of the bay beyond, further minimising the impact of the building for neighbours above.
Combined with the weathered copper is the solid base of the house. The ground floor living structure, of textured off-form concrete made with horizontal board forms, gives the impression of weathered timber, which contrasts with the fresh browns of the Oregon sleeping quarters and gallery above.
Building on a series of staggered rock platforms, the logistics of site management for labour, plant & equipment was challenging. All materials had to be craned in or manhandled from the top of the site, or from the beach front below. The entry stairs and concrete bridges required innovative reinforcement and form work solutions to achieve both continuous spans and the appearance of thin concrete blades hovering above the site. These thin blades continue inside with kitchen bench tops and bathroom surfaces formed on site of ultra thin jet black concrete.
Layout
To reach the timber front door, you negotiate the rock face via timber steps that weave through the boulders. Crossing a bridge that leads to a discreet front door you push open an oversized panel to reveal the high stud gallery. Strategically orientated, the full height end window of the gallery frames a nearby palm. Everything is overscale, stretched vertically, to relate to the magnitude of the cliff face behind the building site. Here, the reused Oregon timber stands vertical, allowing the seams to disguise two door panels, behind which hide two of the three master bedrooms. Each with, en-suite, balconies and outstanding views across the bay.
Heading down the hillside, you arrive at the main living quarters, housed in that heavy masonry base of textured off-form concrete. As with the rest of the house, glass front windows bathe the room with light, yet here, in contrast, the kitchen area to the rear and cubbyhole rooms, are lined with dark black concrete floors and bench tops. The darkness providing refuge from the summer heat, and mimic the caves often found tucked into cliffs around the Australian coast.
Also taking notes from nature the orientation of each level shifts as you rise up the cliff face. Thus forming fronds like the nearby palms, and allowing the building to sit back, minimising it's visual impact from the shoreline.
Results
"The house sits with its toes touching the sea and with an exposed worn rock face at its back, both constant reminders of the power of wild storms blowing in from the north-east. And should the big seas come, this house is a safe haven, no question about it."
Slideshow
Architect Clinton Murray
Project team Polly Harbison (Project Architect), Tanja Klocker, Jeff Umansky
Project Gunyah Beach House
Location Bundeena, New South Wales
Google Location
Builder Bellavarde Constructions
Structural Engineer O’Hearn Consulting
Landscape Architect 360 degrees
Photographer Simon Kenny
Plans
Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti - Casa del Masso
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential DesignStudio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Razionalismo Comasco - A near vertical site in Como, with stunning views, let Marco Castelletti nod to local Italian architecture of the thirties, whilst bringing his clients a modernist house, proportioned and segmented with precision.
Overview
"At the end of 2002 the clients approached us to design the house.
They wanted to build this new house next to their one, in the garden facing the lake, and they were after something typically razionalismo comasco, architecture of the thirties driven by architect Giuseppe Terragni. So they chose the project that best met their expectations, ours. The project's main idea gave the name to the building: casa del masso." Marco Castelletti.
The house, set on a steep slope above the street, can be clearly seen across the lake.
The building stands by the side of the client's old house designed by engineer Luciano Trolli in 1955, and it takes advantage of a little tract of flat land, as does the original residence.
The house is linked to the street by a long flight of steps which wind along the slope and down to the house, which is organised over two floors.
Layout
The composition is based on the intersection of two volumes:
The first - facing the lake, is an horizontal structure supported by pilotis houseing all the living and bedrooms.
The second - is vertical holding the staicase and the services rooms.
On the first floor the living room crosses the house and is directly connected with the slope behind. Here the presence of a erratic boulder, in italian language "masso" (here is where the name of the house comes), protrudes into the dwelling as the characterising element of the space, so that it seems that the house is anchored to the slope at this point.
The boulder can be seen through the glass floor of the living room.
From the parking area you reach the main entrance via a flight of steps or an elevator running on the side of the garden.
After reaching the main entrance a footpath covered by a overhanging volume introduces a little hall where you can see the landscape and the monuments of the city.
From here, a large staircase takes you to an atrium with the large glass window which frames the erratic boulder. The internal layout of the main dwelling faces the kitchen, the living room and some other rooms towards the lake, while bathrooms, services and the laundry are put towards the slope.
The materials used to build the house enhance the volumetric composition and the difference between the horizontal volume, suspended and completely covered by white marble dust plaster, and the vertical covered with a natural stone called Iragna, laid down in horizontal layers with different length and thickness.
The same stone was used for the external pavements, the main entrance staircase and the terrace floor on the highest level.
The large windows are divided in sliding parts with electrical rolling shutters made of aluminium.
Solar exposure is optimised wit hteh building orientated with its largest windows and rooms to the south, and services and bathrooms facing north.
ResultsThe clients were really satisfied of the project and followed all the phases of the building that, because of the particular nature of the steep land, involved many challenges.
The crane to build the house was placed on the slope with an helicopter used to transport heavy weights. None the less, the house was completed in seventeen months, from May 2003 to December 2004, as stipulated.
Slideshow
Architect Marco Castelletti Architetto
Short Biography
Marco Castelletti, born in 1958, graduaded from the Facolty of Architecture in Genova on 1983.
In 1994, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005 was awarded the architecture’ s award “Magistri Comacini” for works carried out in Provincia of Como and in 2004 the international award AR+D for emerging architecture in London.
In the spring of 2005 he was invited to give a lecture at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London.
He won many competitions for urban renewals in north Italy, as the upgrading of the Trieste waterfront, and from 1998 he has been invited to international competitions.
Project location Como Italy
Client private owners
Architectural design by Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Interior design by Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Landscape design by Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti
Structural design by Ingeneer. Vittorio Montanini
HVAC design by Ingeneer. Vittorio Montanini
Lighting design by. Zumtobel
Main Contractor Impresa Biacchi s.a.s. – Plesio (Co)
Landscape contractor Impresa Biacchi s.a.s. – Plesio (Co)
Site Area 3000 sq/mt
Built up area 200 sq/mt
Budget 750.000,00 euro
Cost per sq. metre 1.800,00 euro
Google Location
Plans
via: Studio di Architettura Marco Castelletti