Large translucent windows bring a lantern-like quality to Check Patterned House, a concrete home in Saitama, Japan, completed by local studio IGArchitects.

Designed for a family of three with a limited budget, the home occupies a 70-square-metre site and is planned around two large concrete blocks.

These blocks provide structural support and contain service spaces, allowing the remaining walls to be finished with full-height glazing, creating a gridded facade that informed the project's name – Check Patterned House.

"Since the site is a prominent corner lot, we thought of a heroic way to build it that would be appropriate for the site," IGArchitects founder Masato Igarashi told Dezeen.

"As it would be costly to build a foundation for the entire building, two concrete blocks were erected like columns, and slabs were cantilevered from these concrete blocks without foundations," it continued.

"These wall pillars enclose private functions which don't require big windows, such as entrance, bathroom, toilet, storage, and pipe space," he added.

Located at the northeastern and southwestern corners of the site, the concrete volumes are bridged by open living areas and bedrooms across the home's two storeys.

These living spaces are wrapped by translucent glazing to provide light while maintaining privacy. At night, the glow from the glass creates a lantern-like effect.

Check Patterned House's entrance leads through into an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space opposite a bedroom, with a concrete stair leading up to a second bedroom and a workspace.

Wood-framed, sliding windows in the translucent facade allow both floors to be partially opened to the exterior. Outside, a small paved route and area of planting wrap the perimeter of the site.

The concrete corner blocks and floor plate are left exposed and teamed with wooden floors, timber partition walls and sliding doors that allow the interiors to be easily modifiable in future.

"This house is well insulated, but even inside you can feel the texture of the exterior concrete pour," Igarashi told Dezeen. "In other words, you feel like you are inside the house but still outside."

"The client's desire for concrete and cost are of course important factors, but the design theme of this project is to allow for other uses beyond the framework of the house in the future," he added.

Many of IGArchitects' projects focus on creating deliberately simple and adaptable residential spaces.

Previous examples include a home designed as "one big room" and a residence supported by a single concrete column to create open living spaces.

The photography is by Ooki Jingu.

The post Translucent glazing and concrete encase compact Japanese home by IGArchitects appeared first on Dezeen.

Spanish practice Estudio Albar has used cork cladding to help this home near Madrid blend in with the scrub-like landscape of a neighbouring national park.

Named Casa Eñe, the home is located half an hour's drive from the Spanish capital and was designed for clients who wanted a home that would have a minimal impact both visually and environmentally.

In order to "unify the plot and the park", Estudio Albar removed a row of hedges classed as a prohibited species that previously separated the two, opening the site up to dramatic views across the landscape.

"At the north boundary of the Casa Eñe plot, beyond the great hedge barrier that had been unmaintained for decades, the natural park was located," said Estudio Albar founder Daniel Lozano.

"Hectares of holm oaks and rockroses, a place where you can cross paths with deer, wild boars, and even wolves just half an hour from Madrid," he told Dezeen. "We couldn't block those views, we had to integrate them into the project."

To allow every space to enjoy these views to the north as well as sunlight from the south, Casa Eñe is organised in a long, narrow plan measuring six by 40 metres and topped by a large rooftop terrace.

Two corridors extend down either side of the home, with living spaces and bathrooms organised in the centre. Sliding doors and curtains allow these areas to be opened up or closed off when greater privacy is required.

On the first floor, Estudio Albar has created an independent "pavilion" containing an office accessed by an external spiral staircase.

The orientation and narrow plan also make Casa Eñe easy to heat and cool, with the south-facing windows helping to warm the home during winter. These are sheltered by vegetation during summer.

While helping the home to blend with its surroundings, the cork cladding also helps to keep it warm thanks to its insulating properties. Cork is a renewable material harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree, which is biodegradable, durable and insulating.

According to Estudio Albar, the home is so well insulated that it meets the Passivhaus standard – a certification given to low-energy buildings with high levels of insulation and airtightness – and requires just three small towel radiators to keep it warm.

Casa Eñe is built from a prefabricated timber frame and finished with white-walled interiors, warmed by pale wooden frames and fittings. The interiors are kept purposefully minimal to focus attention towards the landscape views.

"We believe in simple architecture. We don't like artifices or the superfluous. If something doesn't contribute to the architecture, it should be eliminated," Lozano told Dezeen.

"The elongated shape allows us to create a fluid house. All the communications in the house are taken to the perimeters. Not even when walking around the house did we want to lose sight of the field," he added.

Other homes that have recently made use of cork cladding include a pair of apartment blocks in Belgium by Officeu Architects and a "camouflaged" home in Portugal designed by Inês Brandão Arquitectura.

The photography is by Imagen Subliminal.

The post Estudio Albar completes cork-clad Casa Eñe overlooking Spanish national park appeared first on Dezeen.

UK studio Fletcher Crane Architects has completed Lowater, a house in Buckinghamshire comprising a group of red-brick forms that draw on the area's traditional architecture.

Lowater is located within a conservation area in the town of Marlow and sits alongside a church overlooking the River Thames.

This led Fletcher Crane Architects to blend forms familiar to the area with more contemporary finishes and interiors in its design.

"The home is located in the greenbelt and a conservation area," project architect Carmine Bassi told Dezeen.

"As such, there was a conscious reference to the cluster of adjacent buildings – a church and a historic home – to ensure a responsible integration into the context," he continued.

"[It] seeks to forge a relationship between the local church and a quality historic property to evolve an architecture of red brick, pitched roof forms and courtyard gardens in a relevant and respectful manner."

Entry to the site is beyond a perforated red-brick wall, where a pergola of timber, steel and zinc shelters a path bisecting the site. This path meets the home in a glazed link section before becoming a narrow pool on the other side.

This glazed entrance space connects the largest volume, which contains a living, dining and kitchen space beneath a skylit study mezzanine, with an adjacent gabled form containing a more private lounge beneath the main bedroom.

The larger form enjoys views across a small pond and the river through a fully-glazed facade shielded by metal louvres, while the opposite end features glazing behind a screen of perforated brickwork.

One end of the main bedroom also looks out to the garden and towards the river, while the other looks onto a cloister-like courtyard, partially wrapped by the covered paths that connect each of the home's distinct forms.

"One side of the house seeks to take in and accentuate fantastic river views whilst to the other, a series of cloistered spaces border a reflecting pool, all set behind a red-brick garden wall," explained Bassi.

"A perforated brick facade characterises the main gable face and creates a quiet theatricality in the way that the glazed walls, lights and life are partly concealed and reflect over the pool," he added.

To the north, a single-storey volume houses guest bedrooms and a garage, fronted by a screen of vertical wooden battens to provide privacy.

Inside Lowater, the more traditional use of red brick is contrasted by the "honest expression" of its steel and timber structure, with the exposed roof bracing bringing an almost industrial feel to the upper levels.

Fletcher Crane Architects was established in 2010 in Kingston upon Thames by Toby Fletcher and Ian Crane.

Previous projects by the studio include a compact brick home on a former garage site in London and a house built on an infill site near London's Hyde Park.

The photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.

The post Fletcher Crane Architects creates red-brick home overlooking River Thames appeared first on Dezeen.

An elevated box formed of exposed concrete forms the Meditation Chapel in Incheon, South Korea, designed by local studio Atelier Koma and architect Lee Eunsok.

Located near the coast of Gangwha County, the chapel sits at the top of a site that slopes down towards the sea, hugged from behind by dense forest and mountains.

Atelier Koma and Eunsok raised it above ground level on a concrete terrace that is dug into this slope, sheltering an entrance route that leads directly into the elevated worship spaces.

"The simple chapel volume, set in the vast nature, is constructed as a lifted box, signifying a separation from the secular world," explained Eunsok.

"It allows [visitors] to reach the open sky quickly and succinctly, and to stand directly as solitary individuals before the divine," he added.

Alongside the main worship space on the first floor, which is named the Sea Chapel, the building contains two smaller prayer spaces. These are the Closet Chapel and the Sky Chapel, both of which have been given a distinct character.

In the Sea Chapel, pews face an altar that stands in front of a large horizontal window, framing a view out over the ocean and distant mountains.

On the opposite wall, an organ is built into the exposed concrete, while narrow stained-glass windows are set within deep, faceted reveals on the southeast side.

"The 12 funnel-shaped, stained-glass windows serve as metaphors of nature," said Eunsok.

"Unlike the coloured glass of medieval churches that tried to concretely express the contents of the Bible, here, they fill the interior and exterior with the abstract motif of greenery, enabling visitors to continuously perceive nature," he continued.

The second-floor Closet Chapel is a smaller space intended for more private worship and contemplation. It is illuminated by a skylight that projects from the southeastern side of the building.

On the roof is the Sky Chapel, which offers 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape to create a "complete sense of awe". This rooftop space can be accessed independently of the building using an external spiral stair made of metal.

Both inside and out, the exposed concrete of the chapel's structure has been left exposed, as part of a minimalist design approach that is echoed in the blocky wooden furniture.

Other contemporary chapels recently featured on Dezeen include a wedding chapel in China by Syn Architects that is topped by an illuminated "moon" and a minimalist concrete chapel in Mexico by WRKSHP.

The photography is by Lim Juneyoung (Urban Azit) and Kim Yongseong.

Project credits:

Architect: Lee Eunseok and Atelier Koma
Project team: Atelier Koma
Stained Glass Artist: Chung Kyungmi
Orgelbau Meister: Hong Seonghun
Structural engineer: Edun Struc.
Equipment engineer: Jusung Eng.
Mechanical engineer: Jusung Eng.
Electrical engineer: Hangil Eng.
General contractor: Eldream Construction
Client: Sangok Church

The post Atelier Koma creates concrete chapel to offer "separation from the secular world" appeared first on Dezeen.

Dutch studio Kaan Architecten has added a visitor centre to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, with a concrete form that references American memorial architecture.

The only American cemetery on Dutch soil, the Netherlands American Cemetery (NEAC) was dedicated in 1960 across a 26.5-hectare site near Maastricht to commemorate soldiers who died in the second world war.

In 2017, Kaan Architecten was commissioned by the American Battle Monuments Commission to add a visitor centre to the landscaped site, providing a small display space and an auditorium.

To respect the cemetery's existing "monumental ensemble" and reference American memorial architecture, the studio created a concrete and glass form that would "claim its own space while blending into the greater whole".

"The United States has a strong tradition when it comes to memorials," Kaan Architecten co-founder Vincent Panhuysen told Dezeen.

"Just look around in DC – one memorial after another," he continued.

"Many wars and struggles for freedom are commemorated, all designed and built in a very solid manner with the intention of preserving these sacrifices for eternity," added Panhuysen.

"All these monuments are significant constructions, carved in stone and cast in concrete, with the purpose of enduring for many generations. This inspiring concept has set the tone for the design of this building for us," he continued.

Located east of the cemetery's central court of honour, a winding pathway framed by trees gently slopes downwards into a concrete patio at the front of the visitor centre. Here, a row of concrete blocks provides seating.

The ground floor of the centre is wrapped entirely by full-height glazing, which is installed with minimal framing to make it "almost invisible".

Above, a facade of layered, poured concrete surrounds the upper story. Supported by the internal concrete walls, this allows a small light gap to be created between the facade and the roof.

"From a distance, the building appears as nothing more than a floating stone above the grass," said Panhuysen. "The museum within and beneath the hollowed-out stone is hardly visible from the outside, while the landscape and cemetery are ever-present from within."

Inside, the wood-lined auditorium and visitor facilities sit at the centre of the space behind poured concrete walls that mirror the appearance of the exterior.

Curved nooks at each corner of the auditorium aim to "enhance the perception of spaciousness" for the display areas, which tell the personal stories of some of those buried in the cemetery.

Led by Kees Kaan, Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio, Kaan Architecten has offices in Rotterdam, São Paolo and Paris. The studio previously looked to ideas of monumentality in its extension of the Museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn.

Other recent projects by the studio include the Loenen Pavilion, which offers space to rest and reflect in another Dutch war cemetery.

The photography is by Simon Menges.

Project credits:

Architect: Kaan Architecten
Landscape designer: Karres + Brands landschapsarchitecten B.V., Hilversum
Structural designer and supervisor: Pieters Bouwtechniek, Delft
Civil designer and supervisor: Smits Rinsma, Zutphen
Mechanical and electrical designer and supervisor: HP Engineers, Gent
Building physics supervisor: DGMR, The Hague
Fire safety engineer: DGMR, The Hague
Acoustics advisor: DGMR, The Hague
Building costs advisor: B3 Bouwadviseurs, Wassenaar
Site coordination supervisor: INEX Architecten, Maastricht
Main contractor: Groep Van Roey, Rijkevorsel
Structural engineer: DeClerk & Partners, Waregem
Structural engineer contractor: C T de Boer, Nieuwegein
Mechanical engineer: Deltha, Diepenbeek
Electrical engineer: Maris, Heusden-Zolder
Civil engineer: Dirix, Elsloo

The post Kaan Architecten adds "monumental" visitor centre to second world war cemetery appeared first on Dezeen.

Clay-plaster walls, exposed brickwork and tile floors aim to evoke a feeling of a traditional Moroccan home at this London house, overhauled by local studios Merrett Houmøller Architects and All & Nxthing.

Merrett Houmøller Architects and interior designer All & Nxthing renovated and extended the Victorian home for clients who have travelled extensively to Morocco and the Mediterranean.

While the original proportions of the terraced home are largely maintained, the rear has been extended with a double-height, skylit kitchen and dining room with an angular ceiling.

Drawing on the internal courtyards commonly found in riads – traditional Moroccan houses – the dining space is overlooked by the first-floor staircase landing.

"Our clients have travelled extensively in Morocco and the Mediterranean generally, and were inspired in many ways by the architecture and climate there," said Merrett Houmøller Architects co-founder Robert Houmøller.

"Our brief was to create tall, light-filled spaces, with Moroccan riads being a big influence on the overall form," he told Dezeen.

A continuous brick-paved floor steps down from the original home into the extension, continuing into a garden with a small pool and concrete terrace.

This design is intended to blur the boundary between inside and outside while providing texture underfoot.

Continuing this theme of texture, the angled walls and ceiling of the dining area are lined with clay plaster, while the main kitchen counter is backed by exposed brickwork as a "reminder of the original fabric of the building".

The staircase has been updated with oak cladding and a steel balustrade.

"The interior materiality was also influenced by Mediterranean precedents," All & Nxthing creative director Steve Nash told Dezeen.

"Natural earth-based materials such as the handmade brick floor, clay-plaster walls, band-sawn timber joinery and patinated copper were used," he added.

At the opposite end of the home to the extension, a formal living room sits alongside a lounge space with a fireplace and an area for home working.

This has been given more minimal finishes with angled elements that reference the extension's geometry.

"We wanted to mirror the boldness of the architecture within the interior designs," Nash told Dezeen.

"We created subtle angles, such as each kitchen handle having tapered ends to match the angle of the walls, and the classic living room alcove joinery having angled base cabinets," he added.

On the first floor, the main bedroom occupies the front of the home alongside a large bathroom, while an attic extension above contains an ensuite guest bedroom and another study space.

Merrett Houmøller Architects was founded in 2014 by architects Peter Merrett and Houmøller, and All & Nxthing was established in 2015 by Nash.

Previous projects by Merrett Houmøller Architects include the renovation of an apartment with an exposed concrete structure, and a mobile kitchen created as a base for the Refugees and Befriending Project run by the British Red Cross in London.

The photography is by Helen Leech.

The post Moroccan riads inform London extension by Merrett Houmøller Architects and All & Nxthing appeared first on Dezeen.

French studio Vallet de Martinis Architectes has created an assisted living complex for the Joffre-Dupuytren Hospital beside a forest in the suburbs of Paris.

Located at the edge of the hospital's campus, the site sits between the Rue de l'Erminage, a main entrance to the town of Draveil and the Sénart Forest, of which Vallet de Martinis Architectes wanted the housing to act as a "direct extension".

"The aim here is to succeed in dialoguing with the surrounding nature, which is very much present, and when possible, to preserve a direct link with the neighbourhood as well as a certain tranquillity for future residents and users when necessary," project architect Erwan Ménard told Dezeen.

"Since our first sketches, the emphasis has always been on the functionality of the project and the link with the direct environment of the forest," he continued.

Characterised by a palette of pale brickwork, the housing comprises a pair of two-storey blocks, each organised around its own courtyard. An additional green space is inserted in between.

Drawing on the layout of a typical house, Vallet de Martinis Architectes designed the building with open communal spaces on the ground floor and more private living units above. This is reflected externally by a glazed base and a solid brick upper storey with deep window reveals.

"The contrast between the materials used on the two levels of the project creates a material effect that separates the volume on the upper floor from that on the ground floor, and also provides an interesting quality of filtered light," explained Ménard.

The ground floor is slightly set back, creating an overhang above that shelters a path around the building. This path leads from the main entrance facing the road to a communal garden and petanque court beneath wooden pergolas at the rear.

Walls of glazing around the communal spaces open out onto the central courtyards, which each have unique landscape designs. One contains vegetables and herbs for residents to use, while the other has wildflowers and trees.

"The patios are special areas of the project, within the building itself," said Ménard.

"One is home to a garden of scents and herbs, with a few vegetable garden tables, while the other is a little 'wilder', featuring a landscape of undergrowth, birch trees, ferns and a natural fountain, as if to evoke the atmosphere of the forest," Ménard added.

A corridor and offices on the first floor wrap the courtyards and provide everyone with access to light and views, while deep-set, metal-framed windows in the bedrooms provide residents with more private views out across the forest.

Internally, the pale palette of the exterior has been continued with white walls and wood-framed doors and windows, with Vallet de Martinis Architectes using an approach of "sobriety and moderation" to allow the landscape to come to the fore.

Other assisted living projects recently featured on Dezeen include a complex in Germany that integrates housing for the elderly with the wider community and the Butterfly House designed as future-proof accommodation for an elderly woman and a live-in carer.

The photography is by Charly Broyez.

The post Vallet de Martinis Architectes designs assisted housing complex as "extension" of forest appeared first on Dezeen.

Red brickwork and perforated metal panels bring an industrial feel to this compact infill home in Dublin, which has been completed by Irish architecture studio Gró Works.

Located on Dublin's southern perimeter, the home by Gró Works was designed to reflect both the nearby Victorian redbrick terraces and the more "utilitarian" quality of the backstreet it overlooks.

"The materiality and design language intend to strike a balance between the robust, utilitarian rear lane that it abuts and the ornate neighbouring terraces," explained the studio.

Responding to its location, the organisation of the home was reversed, with bedrooms placed on the darker ground floor and a large living space above to benefit from natural light.

A door concealed in the ground floor's perforated metal cladding leads directly from the street into a sheltered porch and bin store, allowing entrance to the home proper to be set back.

Once inside, a small entrance area leads to the two bedrooms and a bathroom, with a staircase leading directly up to the open-plan living, dining and kitchen area. A workspace has been placed behind a slatted wooden screen.

Two large skylights and an almost full-height window illuminate this space. To the northwest, a small covered balcony overlooks the home's entrance, partially wrapped by vertical metal louvres.

Contrasting the metal ground floor, the upper storey is finished in red brick, with a Flemish brick bond interspersed with vertically laid sections to "add a novel twist".

Internally, the concept of "robust" materials is continued, with the structure's blockwork left exposed and painted white for the walls, complemented by metal window frames and wooden flooring.

"The structural steel frame, blockwork walls and roof timbers are exposed, expressed and celebrated where possible. Joinery pieces, warm oak floors and linings are layered upon this frame to add comfort," explained the studio.

"Custom joinery pieces allow for every corner of the dwelling to be used efficiently and practically," it added.

Due to space limitations, utility and plant areas are housed in an external forecourt, and the home was granted planning approval without car parking requirements.

"We believe that the project provides a potential prototype for city living where public transport and public amenity are ample," said the studio.

"Given the need for housing provision in all shapes and forms, this may offer one solution for similar urban brownfield developments."

Gró Works is based in Ranelagh, Dublin, and is led by Donal Groarke and Ultan Ó Conchubhair.

Other projects in Dublin recently featured on Dezeen include a pastel pink extension to a 1930s home by Courtney McDonnell Studio, and an angular, aluminium-clad writer's hut by Clancy Moore Architects.

The photography is by Fionn McCann.

The post "Robust and utilitarian" materials define infill home in Dublin by Gró Works appeared first on Dezeen.

Danish studios EFFEKT and CF Møller Architects have completed the Svendborg International Maritime Academy in Denmark, using an exposed concrete frame to echo its industrial surrounds.

Overlooking the harbour in the North Quay of the former port city Svendborg, the 12,500-square-metre centre unites several previously separate departments of Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC), providing combined study spaces for 1,000 students.

EFFEKT and CF Møller Architects designed a "resilient grid" for the building formed of prefabricated concrete elements, which nods to the surrounding architecture and is divided with glass partitions to create teaching spaces that can be easily modified or adapted in future.

"We set out with the desire to create an extremely raw and transparent grid structure, contextually adapted to its industrious setting while capable of staging the school's workshop-based content," explained CF Møller Architects partner Mads Mandrup.

"[It is] a scaffolding of spatial possibilities, centred around encouraging young people to encounter and exchange ideas through informal meetings, both within and out towards its surroundings, activating the whole harbour front of Svendborg," Mandrup added.

SIMAC's teaching spaces are organised across five storeys around a central 20-metre-high atrium. Lined with balconies, this atrium visually connects each level to a communal seating area on the ground floor.

Double-height spaces house specialist workshops alongside conventional offices and classrooms, with the glass partitions intended to "stimulate communication and informal exchange" between areas, said the studios.

On the roof is a communal terrace for students and staff, providing both internal and external spaces with expansive views out across the harbour framed by the hollow concrete grid.

Taking cues from the raw concrete structure, interior finishes have been kept minimal and unfinished, with exposed ducting and steel balustrades. Social areas are visually softened by wooden details, including an area of tiered seating.

On the building's exterior, panels of glazing and corrugated metal have been pulled back to express the concrete structure. In each corner, the grid is cut away to create sheltered external areas for the cafe and canteen, which are open to the public.

"You see the same raw, minimalist exposed column-girder structure both from the outside and the inside," said EFFEKT co-founder Sinus Lynge.

"The space essentially flows through the building's structure, and the intriguing aspect concerning the concrete elements is that SIMAC's structure is the architecture," he added.

SIMAC is the first project to be completed as part of a wider masterplan for a new district in Svendborg, which is set to transform 5.5 hectares of industrial area with new education, business and residential buildings.

Elsewhere, EFFEKT also recently completed Denmark's first treetop walkway at the Hamaren Activity Park in Fyresdal and CF Møller Architects created the headquarters for Lego in Billund with a bright yellow atrium.

The photography is by Rasmus Hjortshøj.

The post Exposed concrete frame creates "resilient" spaces for maritime academy in Denmark appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture studio DROO has extended and refurbished Arc Polo Farm in Surrey, UK, adding a clubhouse clad in charred timber to an existing ensemble of barns and stables.

After the polo club was recently acquired by new owners, DROO was approached to refurbish its stables and training areas and supplement them with an events space for guests to view matches.

The studio's masterplan for Arc Polo Farm is informed by the Japanese concept of "shakkei" or "borrowed scenery", and aims to frame views of the existing landscape with an arc-shaped route around the central polo field.

At the centre of the route is the clubhouse, a single-storey structure that draws from the barns on the site. It has a gabled, spruce-framed structure clad in wooden shingles that have been charred using the Japanese technique of Shou Sugi Ban.

"Shakkei is the process of designing a garden around a borrowed landscape, like a frame around a distant tree or a mountain," DROO founder Amrita Mahindroo told Dezeen.

"We wanted to turn the idea of borrowing from context a bit on its head, as we are often pushed to borrow from built context, even in the most absurd scenarios where the landscape context bears so much more weight than a nearby stable," she added.

The arc-shaped route is framed by two oak trees on the site, one next to the existing stables to the east and the other at the edge of the open fields to the west, where there is a paved patio with an outdoor kitchen.

The northern facade of the clubhouse is gently curved to hug the arc-shaped path, with a wood-decked veranda providing space for spectators to watch games on the polo field.

"We wanted to create a barn-like structure with deep verandas which would second as outdoor rooms to watch the matches from," Mahindroo told Dezeen.

"Whilst the clubhouse building itself is a modest size in square meterage it feels expansive thanks to the principles of shakkei," she added.

Inside, the glue-laminated timber (glulam) structure is left exposed. Spruce beams and oak panelling contrast an end wall of veined stone that frames a fireplace.

"We wanted to create rhythmically panelled room finishes which would age majestically and develop a beautiful patina with time, as well as express the joints between each panel," said Mahindroo.

To maintain and irrigate the surrounding fields at Arc Polo Farm, the clubhouse funnels rainwater into collection pits that lead into a nearby lake.

In the existing barns, a gym and workout space for riders has been added, alongside improvements to drainage, water management and thermal performance.

DROO was founded by Mahindroo and Michel Da Costa Goncalves and has offices in London, Paris and Melbourne.

Previous projects by the studio include the extension of a warehouse in London with four adaptable apartments and an office and apartment building in Shoreditch with a "crumpled paper" facade.

The photography is by Henry Woide.

The post DROO adds charred-timber clubhouse to polo field in Surrey appeared first on Dezeen.

Czech studio Mar.s Architects drew on traditional mountain architecture when designing this house in the village of Malá Úpa, creating steep gables to help deal with heavy snowfall.

Named Family House Dolní Malá Úpa, the home is located within the mountainous Krkonoše National Park, which required Mar.s Architects to adhere to strict construction rules.

This led the Prague-based studio to reference the shapes and materiality of the area's typical stone and timber dwellings in its design.

"The main challenge was just to find a new form for a traditional local building to preserve the best of the history but at the same time maintain a high standard of 21st-century living," studio founder Martin Šenberger told Dezeen.

"In general, we think that in these historically exposed locations, this is the best way to interact with the existing environment and further develop it in a very sensitive way," he continued.

Using an approach common to the area, a plinth made from local stone creates a level base for Family House Dolní Malá Úpa on its sloping site.

The plinth is topped by a steep gabled form designed to prevent heavy snow load. While the roof is lined with black aluminium, the walls are clad in vertical wooden planks that will weather and turn a silver-grey colour over time.

Set back slightly from the road with a gravel driveway, the home's sheltered steel-box entrance leads into a small lobby flanked by a staircase, bathroom and storage area.

The centre of Family House Dolní Malá Úpa contains a living, kitchen and dining space finished in dark wood, which Mar.s Architects described as a "dignified haven" to offer comfort and warmth during storms.

To the west, the living area opens out onto an elevated lookout sheltered by wooden screens. A drop in site level means this terrace projects out over the sloped site, perched on two narrow steel columns.

"As an accent, a contemporary, fully open steel terrace extends from the veranda, hovering above the surrounding terrain, supported by a pair of splayed legs," explained Šenberger.

"During extreme weather conditions, when the surroundings blur and visibility is minimal, it becomes a commanding bridge in the middle of nothingness," he continued.

Above, the first floor of Family House Dolní Malá Úpa contains bedrooms and a secondary lounge space, illuminated by dormer windows that project from the steeply sloping roof and frame views out across the landscape.

Traditional Czech dwellings also served as a reference point for a home on a nature reserve near Prague by Studio Circle Growth, with a simple exterior contrasted internally by bright, pine-lined interiors.

Elsewhere in the Czech Republic, Byró Architekti recently completed Cabin Above the Town and RO_AR created a sweeping grass-topped home.

The photography is by BoysPlayNice.

The post Traditional Czech dwellings inform mountain home by Mar.s Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Prefabricated units of concrete and wood were given varied facades to "mitigate the feeling of repetition" at this student housing project in Agen, France, by Parisian studio Ignacio Prego Architectures.

Designed for the National School of the Penitentiary Administration (ENAP), the scheme provides 461 rooms set within a 15-hectare park, which the studio wanted the project to "harmonise" with rather than disrupt.

"This project was a challenge: building quality accommodation for one thousand residents at the heart of a limited site in under a year," explained the studio.

"This meant solving a tricky puzzle: designing architecture that is both standardised and welcoming," it continued.

Ignacio Prego Architectures looked to the concept of the garden city – where people live in small towns surrounded by greenbelts – in response, as a means of blending the relatively high-density accommodation programme with a "small-scale urban aspect" like that of a village.

Three blocks oriented north-south are separated by green "alleyways" through the site, bookended by a run of smaller blocks along the southern edge and by arcade-style concrete walkways to the north.

"The nine-metre wide alleyways – the size of a street – form a landscaped space enabling residents to circulate and stroll around, creating the residential aspect that we sought to establish," explained the studio.

"The role of these alleyways is also to introduce a scale factor, a smooth transition between the campus covering several hectares and the room measuring a few square meters," it added.

To prevent a feeling of repetition among the blocks, they are broken up by external staircases and have been given a variety of claddings, with pale brickwork facing out towards the park and corrugated metal panels overlooking the alleyways.

"We worked with coherent materials and colours to establish an identity in keeping with the local area," said Ignacio Prego Architectures.

"Around the plot, terracotta paving in light and warm local tones intrinsically harks back to the region's built landscape, [and] for the alleyways, metal cladding in powder-coated steel in the same hues brings light between the buildings," it continued.

Inside, the rooms were designed to feel "more reminiscent of a hotel than a residential property," with simple, pale-wood carpentry and prefabricated bathroom pods.

With the prefabricated structures manufactured in advance, once the foundations were in place the whole structure was able to be constructed in just 11 months.

Smaller-scale urbanism also served as a reference point for Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios' low-carbon, crescent-shaped student housing blocks for the University of Cambridge, while HCMA aimed to embed "indigenous design principles" in its British Columbia student housing.

 The photography is by Luc Boegly.

The post Ignacio Prego Architectures designs "standardised and welcoming" student housing appeared first on Dezeen.

Reddish-brown bricks made from local stone were used for the construction of SuoiHai Villa, a low-slung home in rural Vietnam designed by local studio APDI Architecture.

Situated overlooking Suoi Hai Lake and the famous Tản Viên Peak, the dwelling is one of the only buildings in the picturesque area.

This informed its unobtrusive single-storey profile and APDI Architecture's use of local materials such as bricks made from laterite – rusty-red stone formed from the leaching of rocks and soil.

"The main desire of the client and the project is to enhance the interaction between humans and nature from various perspectives, and to judiciously use locally characteristic materials to harmonise with the environment," director Nhâm Chí Kiên told Dezeen.

"The goal was to create a vibrant living space seamlessly blending into the natural landscape," he added.

SuoiHai Villa's long, narrow plan provides almost all of its spaces with a view over the lake to the south through full-height windows. The less exposed northern side is sheltered by perforated brick walls.

In the centre of SuoiHai Villa, a living, dining and kitchen area sits beneath a large pyramid roof with a skylight at its apex, flanked by the main bedroom to the west and smaller guest rooms to the east.

Three small courtyard gardens break up the interior, providing ventilation and more intimate spaces for connection to the outdoors, in contrast to the expansive views of the lake.

"[The gardens] resemble 'fragments' of smaller natural elements that flow into the building, blurring the lines between inside and outside," explained the studio.

"Large glass panels are used to optimise the views from the inside, but climate solutions are meticulously calculated to ensure maximum energy efficiency for the structure."

A long area of bamboo decking that lines the southern edge of the building steps down to a pool and terrace, partially sheltered by a long section of wall that extends out of the home.

Dark wooden carpentry, plaster walls and grey stone floors add warmth to the interiors, while a textured laterite wall is left exposed at the centre of the living area to further blend inside and outside.

"There is a contrast between the more refined finish of the laterite and the rougher finish, creating a uniqueness in the architecture by combining sophistication with the natural essence of the material," Kiên told Dezeen.

Atop SuoHai Villa, a grass roof provides a natural form of insulation, lined by a drainage system topped by gravel.

Elsewhere in Vietnam, other homes designed to connect with nature include Labri House by Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates and De Chill House by X11 Design Studio.

The photography is by Trieu Chien.

The post Villa in rural Vietnam uses local materials to "harmonise with the environment" appeared first on Dezeen.

Grey brick chimneys contrast the interlocking white-rendered blocks of Hallen, a home in southern Sweden completed by local studio Åsa Hjort Architects.

Designed for the studio's founder, Åsa Hjort, the dwelling is located on the outskirts of Kivik, where it is surrounded by woodland and enjoys views out across the Baltic Sea.

The studio had originally intended to restore a 1920s home already on the site, but when this proved unsuitable it developed an entirely new design, which was required by planning to match the volume of the previous structure.

Hallen was conceived as a home that would embrace the surrounding landscape, playing with the contrast of light and dark in reference to its dual condition between dense woodland and the open coast to create a "tranquil" retreat.

“After living many years in the original house, I had a clear idea of how I wanted the house to work and how we wanted our life to be there," Hjort told Dezeen.

"I wanted to create a tranquil atmosphere that made us slow down, as opposed to the fast-paced lifestyle we live day to day in a big city."

"The closeness to nature was very important and the minimal palette of materials allow the surrounding landscape to take a prominent role," she added.

The blocky form of Hallen steps down and opens up towards the coast, presenting a more enclosed facade to the nearby road and large windows towards the sea.

"Like the neighbouring houses, it was important that the house was visible from the road, however, I did not want it to look too oversized or dominant," explained Hjort.

"The five smaller volumes derived from breaking up one large volume to complement the landscape and the gentle slope towards the ocean," she added.

Internally the home also reflects this idea, with bedrooms on the upper storey and tucked in between the more exposed living, dining and kitchen areas that occupy the ground floor.

Two glazed corners in the living and dining room allow the landscape to be a "constant presence", with framed views of the woodland provided by a narrow window in the kitchen and smaller openings in the bedrooms.

"The building slowly reveals itself as you enter the front door...the entrance is dark but offers views towards the ocean in one direction and the forest in another," Hjort said.

"As you walk around you enter the various volumes that are different in height, size and atmosphere. A constant presence is the surrounding landscape," she added.

Finishes were chosen to feel like a "warm, protective enclosure," with pale wooden carpentry and floors, white-painted walls and exposed brickwork around the fireplaces.

A large L-shaped terrace wraps the northern, sea-facing side of the home, creating a sheltered space onto which the living areas can spill out.

Other homes in Sweden recently featured on Dezeen include a red-painted home in Boden by Claessen Koivisto, and House Tjurpannan by HengessonGonzaga, a cabin clad in tar-coated timber to reference the nearby boathouses.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

The post Åsa Hjort Architects completes blocky home on Sweden's southern coast appeared first on Dezeen.

The "ruin-like" concrete frame of a former chemistry laboratory has been transformed into a series of workspaces for the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, in this project by Civic Architects and VDNDP.

Providing a new home for the International Institute for Geo-Information Sciences (ITC), the building was designed to be a "sustainable symbol" for the campus.

It repurposes an abandoned 1970s structure to house bright interiors organised around courtyard gardens.

Local studios Civic Architects and VDNDP sought to "embrace the imperfections" of the existing building, using its concrete frame to support a demountable steel structure and partition walls that could easily be reconfigured to suit future needs.

"The original building was designed for machinery and, due to its low ceilings and significant depth (40 metres), was very, very dark – it proved difficult to repurpose," founding partner at Civic Architects Jan Lebbink told Dezeen.

"Our approach involved a shift in programming: rather than forcing the existing structure to conform, we tailored the building's organisation to suit it," he added.

Entry to the ITC is via a large hall envisioned as its "social heart", set back beyond a small garden and featuring a large tiered wooden staircase, providing space for staff and students to gather and leading up to the first-floor restaurant.

Inside, four atria planted with trees and plants provide fresh air and natural light throughout the building, each containing a metal spiral stair to allow them to act as social connectors between floors.

"During the competition, we uncovered that the original ground floor was merely concrete poured without a structural purpose," Lebbink told Dezeen.

"Seizing this opportunity, we designated the atriums as spaces reserved for nature, featuring trees planted directly in local soil, with people as guests rather than the other way around."

"Taking this concept one step further, each of the four atriums was crafted with its own unique natural character, incorporating wood, water, and stone generously," he continued.

The workspaces themselves are divided between a ground floor of smaller, more focused work rooms and an upper storey of higher "more dynamic" areas.

This division is also reflected externally, with wood-framed smaller windows on the ground floor and large areas of glazing on the upper storey sheltered by horizontal louvres.

The interior design, completed in collaboration with Studio Groen+Schild, prioritised bio-based and recycled materials, with oak frames and bamboo flooring.

"This principle extended to all our chosen products, each carefully selected for its sustainability and robust materiality that embraces imperfections," explained Lebbink.

"This, combined with the almost ruin-like quality of the existing structure, contributed to the warm and inviting atmosphere that users fondly describe as 'homey’," he continued.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, Civic Architects recently converted a heritage-listed 1930s brick town hall building in Waalwijk into a shoe museum. The studio has previously also created a public library inside a locomotive shed.

The photography is by Stijn Bollaert & Mike Bink.

Project credits:

Building physics: Arup
Installation: Valstar Simonis, Croonwolter&dros
Structural engineer: Schreuders bouwtechniek
Landscape designers: DS Landschapsarchitecten, Flora Nova
Lighting: Joost de Beij
Contractor: Dura Vermeer Bouw Hengelo, Trebbe
Sustainability advisor: Buro Loo

The post Civic Architects and VDNDP "embrace imperfections" for retrofit at Dutch university appeared first on Dezeen.

A zigzagging plan was used to bring "spatial depth" to the small site of House in Fujiidera, a family home in Osaka, Japan, designed by local studio FujiwaraMuro Architects.

Created for a family of four on a narrow site, the home is formed of a cluster of blocks with contrasting finishes that intersect around a series of small courtyards.

"The goal in House in Fujiidera is to create a sense of distance and spatial depth by layering many small spaces," FujiwaraMuro Architects told Dezeen.

"It is also to create a sense of continuity by blurring the simple division between inside and outside," it continued.

The lower level of the home is clad in charred cedar and faces the street with a garage space. It is wrapped by a paved path sheltered by the large overhanging eaves of the roof.

A side entrance leads into an enclosed entrance space, with a corridor turning the corner and stepping up into a central kitchen diner, before turning again to pass a courtyard and into the living space.

As well as creating a play between open and compressed spaces, the zigzagging plan allows for a variety of sight lines across the home, giving a sense of connection while maintaining privacy where needed.

Where the different forms of the home intersect, the large eaves of the roof have been maintained and exposed in the interiors to "draw the outside into the inside".

On the smaller first floor above, a central corridor separates the bedrooms that have small windows placed to provide views while minimising overlooking.

"Places for the family members to spend time in various ways are located around the corridor, allowing them to move about as they see fit and maintain a reasonable distance from each other," explained FujiwaraMuro Architects.

"This house facilitates spontaneous communication between the family members while maintaining a comfortable distance between them, whether interacting with each other, enjoying time alone, or working as needed," it added.

To heighten the changes in atmosphere throughout the home, smaller areas have been finished with darker materials while more open spaces are finished with white-painted walls.

FujiwaraMuro Architects is based in Osaka and works across various sectors including residential projects, offices and retail spaces. Previous projects by the studio include another home near Osaka with "maze-like" concrete walls and

The photography is by Katsuya Taira.

The post Intersecting blocks form House in Fujiidera by FujiwaraMuro Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Balconies shaded by trailing plants front this slender concrete home in Vietnam, which has been designed by local architecture practice X11 Design Studio to "promote a connection between nature and people".

Designed for a three-generation family in Quang Ninh the home is called De Chill House. It features planted yards at either end, a central courtyard with a tree and a rooftop garden that shelter its interiors while creating "peaceful" spaces for its inhabitants.

"Three 'breathing' spaces in the front, back and middle of the house and a void through the vertical axis makes spaces that are in direct contact with natural light and ventilation," explained the studio.

"The atmosphere in the house is gentle, relaxing and pleasant so that people can regain energy after returning from work."

Set back from the street with a paved patio and parking area creating a "buffer zone", wide concrete steps lead through a door alongside a window into the ground floor, where a large living, dining and kitchen space stretches almost the entire length of the plan.

The skylit central courtyard separates the lounge at the front from the kitchen diner to the rear, and at the back of the home a single bedroom looks out onto a private patio space.

On the first floor, two larger bedrooms sit either side of a communal space, and above the second floor landing is flanked by an additional bedroom, worship room and rooftop garden at the rear of the home.

"The skylight in the middle connects the common spaces with the living spaces above...in addition to providing natural light and air convection," explained the studio.

"Green spaces are seamlessly combined with other functions, creating a connection between nature and daily activities."

A spiral staircase of black steel leads from the third floor garden up onto the roof, where an area of planting at the front of the home is sheltered by a slatted metal canopy, intended as a space for the residents to gather together.

Despite not being bordered directly above the ground floor on either side, the home was designed in the style of a typical Vietnamese townhouse, with sheer, windowless walls of rendered concrete forming its side elevations with cut-outs for the rooftop gardens.

Elsewhere in Vietnam, local studio Nguyen Khai Architects & Associates also celebrated a connection to nature in Labri House, a glass home next to a pond that is immersed in lush planting.

The photography is by Hoang Le.

The post X11 Design Studio "connects nature with daily activities" at De Chill House in Vietnam appeared first on Dezeen.

Berlin studio Mono Architekten has combined a perforated concrete viewing tower with a car park topped by a public park to create a new entrance to the town of Neuenburg am Rhein, Germany.

Located close to the border with France and Switzerland, the project is situated between the town itself and the recently redeveloped green spaces a Stadtpark am Wuhrloch, a meeting point which was previously difficult to traverse due to a nine-metre height difference.

Bridging these two conditions, Mono Architekten sought to complement the functional need for a 231-space car park with more public facilities, including a new public plaza and a 36-metre-high viewing tower.

"The aim was to develop independent typologies from the functional requirements of parking and barrier-free access to the city park," Mono co-founder André Schmidt told Dezeen.

"Together they create an identity-forming urban ensemble," he continued.

"The parking garage roof was thus designed as a public square – Münsterplatz – and the vertical access structure to the city park was designed as a tower – Bertholdturm – with a publicly accessible viewing platform."

Using the site's level change as an advantage, the new car park meets the level of the town to allow it to connect seamlessly to the new public square, which is finished with planting and paved seating areas.

Two spiralling ramps at either end of the carpark provide access for vehicles, while the perimeter of the structure curves to meet the existing road with its perforated concrete facade.

In the nearby viewing tower, an elevator core links the ground floor entrance with the rooftop, where 360-degree views of the landscape are accompanied by corten steel panels on the parapet that detail landmarks and their distances.

A bridge of corten steel links the car park roof with an upper entrance to the tower, and in future there is a plan to extend this bridge to create a ramp down to the adjacent parkland, creating a step-free, accessible route between it and the town.

The two structures were united by their matching exterior finish, with blocks of tamped concrete arranged to create square perforations that allow air to flow freely.

"The sedimentary tamped concrete layers at the entrance to the city are inspired by the city's former location on the banks of the Rhine," explained Schmidt.

"The reddish pigmentation harmonizes with the sandstone traditionally used in this area," he continued. "The monolithic construction emphasizes the archaic character of the buildings."

Mono Architekten took a similar approach to blending infrastructure with public facilities in their design for a service station in Thuringia, which also includes an exhibition space about the site's nearby bronze-age burial mound.

The photography is by Gregor Schmidt. 

The post Mono Architekten tops perforated concrete car park with public plaza appeared first on Dezeen.

A "mountainous" zigzag roofline and bright yellow balconies define the ParkLife apartment block in the Brunswick neighbourhood of Melbourne, designed by local studio Austin Maynard Architects.

The block is located within Nightingale Village, a collection of six apartment buildings by different architects for housing not-for-profit Nightingale Housing that all demonstrate its development model, aiming to create housing which is "environmentally, socially and financially sustainable".

The entire Nightingale Village development was shortlisted in the sustainable building category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Bordered by neighbouring buildings to the east and west, Austin Maynard Architects opened-up the block of 37 apartments to face a public park to the north, to which it presents a series of ground floor gardens and a facade of yellow balconies.

Cutting through the centre of the block is a yellow-painted pathway, which forges a new connection between the park and the more urban condition of the front of the block, as well as providing secure bicycle parking for residents.

"Our site was challenging, with pre-existing interface to the east and proposed planning for an apartment building of a similar scale at the rear," explained the studio.

"Fortunately, just prior to construction, the council acquired the rear site and approved a public park instead."

"Now afforded a lush outlook we were able to share the opportunity with The Village," it continued.

"By separating our ParkLife community entry and secure bike parking we made a pathway, creating a central walkway right through the centre of our building, to connect The Village 'hub' at Duckett Street with the new park."

ParkLife is divided into one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well as two of what Nightingale Housing calls "Telihaus apartments" – space-efficient subsidised dwellings that are designated social housing.

Apartments are organised at the front and rear of the block, with two large "light courts" at the centre allowing each to include dual-aspect spaces and an external common space alongside the lift and stair cores.

On the roof, shared facilities including a toilet, laundry and drying area sit alongside a sheltered terrace and the "amphitheatre", an area of stepped wooden seating that overlooks the front of the block.

"Designed in collaboration with the Landscape Architects Openwork, [rooftop] spaces include a productive garden with fruit trees and a real grass lawn for picnics," explained the studio.

"There is a covered deck, big enough for large gatherings, with an electric barbecue, sheltered from the harsh sun and strong winds."

Austin Maynard Architects drew on visual motifs from its previous residential projects for the finishes of the block, such as the zigzagging roofline from RaeRae House, and the yellow colour used in My-House.

White steel cladding covers the exterior, with cables, grills and rods to allow vegetation to grow, and internally the apartments were kept "deliberately simple", with timber floors, white walls and concrete ceilings.

"The intent was to allow the community to personalise their homes rather than apply too many finishes and textures," explained the studio.

"Attractive, functional spaces were created with great views and lots of light, which can be embellished in any way the residents want to make the apartment their home," it continued.

Other apartment buildings completed as part of Nightingale Village include Leftfield, an affordable housing block by Kennedy Nolan finished with ochre-pigmented concrete.

The photography is by Tom Ross

The post Bright yellow balconies enliven Melbourne apartment block by Austin Maynard Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

A desire to "eliminate unnecessary spaces as much as possible" drove the design of Tiny Forest, a flexible study space in Jongno-gu, Seoul completed by YounghanChung Architects.

The two-storey building was created for a retired university lecturer who wanted a space separate from her main home to serve as a study and gathering space for entertaining guests.

Tasked with this brief, YounghanChung Architects drew from a space found in traditional Korean homes called a sarangbang, where typically the man of the house would entertain guests or enjoy hobbies.

Freed from being part of a larger dwelling with competing functions, the studio felt that Tiny Forest would be able to reclaim this more historic role of a dedicated study and relaxation space.

"Spaces as a hobby space or study have gradually loosened in the frame of housing, and lost the power of their original function," explained founder Younghan Chung.

"However, the desire to escape from the house and experience a space like a microcosm for oneself is desperate for all of us living in modern times...[so] this building was intended to create a small private room," he continued.

The massing of Tiny Forest comprises of two stacked cubes, the upper of which is slightly rotated, both built using a steel frame and clad in panels of corrugated metal painted white.

Both levels of the building were conceived as single, flexible spaces, each with a bathroom and storage space at the rear and minimal fixings or fittings so as not to dictate any one particular use.

"Conventional structural methods can trap the choreography of users with diverse ways of life within a strictly prescribed framework," explains Chung.

On the ground floor, the steel structure was left exposed and painted white, with a large shopfront-style window in the wood-clad facade facing the street, incorporating an external bench.

Above, a warmer-feeling wood-lined space features built-in desk space and bookshelves along one wall, with a window box projecting from the northwestern corner that is oriented to frame views of Inwangsan mountain.

An external spiral staircase in black steel at the rear of the building connects the two floors, while a straight stair along the western side of the upper level leads to a rooftop garden.

"I have always thought that the completion of space in my architecture is completed by the user, not by the architect who creates the physical state and leaves the empty house," said Chung.

"If the function and use of the space, not the problem of scale, has the possibility of being translated variously by the user beyond the large scale architecture, I think it is a small architecture that can withstand the change of time more firmly."

Elsewhere in Seoul, interior designer Ian Lee used birch wood to create a pared-back, "blank canvas" for the tenants of LIFE, a block of micro-apartments developed by co-working space provider Fast Five.

The photography is by Yoon Joon Hwan.

The post YounghanChung Architects creates small study space in Seoul as a "microcosm for oneself" appeared first on Dezeen.

Scalloped sections of green-painted timber clad the facade of Lumber 4, a mixed-use building in Norway designed by local consulting agency Oslotre to demonstrate the capabilities of timber construction.

Located in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city of Kristiansand, Lumber 4 comprises a ground floor with commercial spaces and five floors of office space above.

Timber construction specialist Oslotre acted as architect, interior architect and structural engineer for the project, which was constructed using a composite structure of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and concrete.

Connecting to the stair and lift core of the building, the recessed ground floor of Lumber 4 curves to follow the adjacent road while the upper floors project outwards, supported by large, angled wooden beams.

"The floors are constructed using a composite structure of CLT and concrete, creating a slim and efficient floor system that spans long distances while also addressing fire and acoustic requirements," explained the studio.

"Diagonals on the ground floor facilitate better vehicular access around the building, while the existing communication core from the adjacent building phases contributes to lateral stability and access to the office floors," it added.

Internally, high ceilings and large windows create light, airy workspaces, divided by partitions of wood and glass into a mixture of private meeting spaces and communal areas.

The third and fourth floors have been united with a double-height atrium, which features a wooden staircase and large light fitting at its centre.

On the exterior, glazed openings and curved panels of green timber create a checkerboard pattern across the office storeys, while the curved ground floor features full-height glazing framed with timber that has also been painted green.

"The eaves above the curved elements are straight, creating a curved shadow on the panel," described the studio.

"Over time, the paint under the shadow will weather, leading to a changing facade with lighter and darker curved sections," it added.

Internally, the wooden structure of the building has been left visible, with white-pigmented spruce panels and exposed wood-wool acoustic panels used to clad the walls and ceilings.

Ducting was also left exposed throughout, painted a pale beige colour to better blend in with the wooden surfaces.

"Wooded elements are prominently displayed in the interior, providing warmth in winter and cooling in summer," said the studio.

Other projects recently completed in Kristiansand include one of two outdoor care retreats by Snøhetta, designed to provide "physical and psychological respite" to patients at two of Norway's largest hospitals.

The photography is by Kyrre Sundal and Christoffer Imislund.

The post Curved panels of green timber clad office in Norway by Oslotre appeared first on Dezeen.

Raw finishes and "as found" materials informed by brutalist architecture are used throughout this home, which Portuguese studio Atelier Local has created on a nature reserve near Porto.

Called House in Ancede, the house sits on the site of a former stone ruin that it was required to roughly match in terms of its footprint and volume.

A mismatch between the documentation of the site and the built reality allowed Atelier Local to expand the footprint of the building slightly, using the existing stones to rebuild retaining walls and make space for a bathroom and staircase.

"The house is a reconstruction of sorts," said the studio's co-founders Maria Rebelo and João Paupério. "Its proportions, the slope of the roof as well as the basis for the facade's composition was set from the beginning," they told Dezeen.

"In a way, we might say that the house was found as a ready-made and re-designed 'as found', to [refer] to Alison and Peter Smithson’s famous expression," they continued.

Stepping down the sloping site, the dwelling looks out towards a nearby woodland and the River Duoro through large rectangular and circular windows, with aluminium frames finished in a bright shade of red.

The living areas and bedrooms are organised across three floors, each finished with exposed materials and minimalist fittings. These were informed by descriptions of an old brutalist house belonging to the client's family.

"We've never actually been in this house and we've never even got to see proper images of it, but it has been described over and over again during the long discussions we had with the family," explained Rebelo and Paupério.

"Thus it began to build up in our imagination: a house where there were wide and narrow spaces, light and dark spaces, and they all seemed to be equally indispensable," they added. "Somehow, the project began and tried to reconstitute the seductive brutalism of this house."

The large openings face south, illuminating the staircase and a double-height living area, while to the west and east, smaller deep-set windows provide light to more private rooms.

While the concrete block construction is visible on the interior, it has been insulated and covered on the exterior with plaster in an ochre colour that matches the surrounding earth and the yellow shade of the existing granite walls.

Based in Valongo, Atelier Local was founded in 2019 by architects Paupério and Rebelo.

In nearby Porto, a similarly raw aesthetic was adopted by local studio Anarchlab, which designed a house covered in iron bars that will gradually be overgrown by plants.

Other recently completed Portuguese houses include an angular four-storey home formed of stacks of concrete and a green-tiled residence in Lisbon.

The photography is by Francisco Ascensão.

Project credits:

Architect: Atelier Local
Team: João Paupério, Maria Rebelo, Francisco Craveiro
Contractor: Varandas & Alpendres
Carpenter: Carpimestre
Engineer: FACE, lda

The post Atelier Local draws on brutalist architecture for House in Ancede appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture practice Studio AMB has renovated a century-old traditional Japanese home in the Misumi region of Shimane to create a minimalist guesthouse, featuring a communal ground floor that is open to the elements.

Intended to give a new generation of visitors the opportunity to "experience the local climate and culture" of the small fishing village, the dwelling was intended not only for private guests, but also as a gathering space for the local community when empty.

Retaining and reinforcing the existing wooden structure, Studio AMB looked to reinterpret the typical spaces of a traditional Japanese home, including the doma – an interstitial, dirt-floored space, and the engawa – a porch-style ledge around the edge of the building.

"Our approach diverges from the prevalent issue in Japan of 'scrap and build', opting instead to create spaces that reinterpret ancient traditions to pass on traditional homes to the future," the studio's founder Haruki Nakayama told Dezeen.

Digging down into the ground floor of the home has created space for a sunken kitchen and bathing area, partially hidden from view by the wooden engawa that wraps the perimeter of the home.

Slim wooden columns and the overhanging roof shelter these spaces, with the front of the home left almost entirely open to the elements and the rear protected by the sloping nature of the site.

"In traditional Japanese dwellings, rooms with tatami mats are typically elevated about 50-60 centimetres above the ground, fostering a cultural practice of removing shoes when entering indoor spaces," explained Nakayama.

"Considering the places dealing with water – kitchens and baths – we envisioned creating a versatile space akin to the 'doma', enabling various activities depending on the users."

"It might transform into a traditional 'onsen' 'footbath', a 'pool', or even a pond for fish and plants for creating an installation to communicate with neighbours," he continued.

A small wooden staircase between the bathroom and kitchen leads up to the first floor, where the more private bedroom spaces are located, featuring tatami flooring and wooden screens that can open them up to the outside.

Wherever possible the project maintained the existing wooden finishes of the home, with the sunken ground floor areas finished with mortex coating to provide greater resilience and waterproofing while still "embodying the texture" of a traditional earthen doma.

Other conversions of traditional Japanese homes include DDAA's transformation of an 86-year-old dwelling in Nagasaki prefecture into and office for pottery brand Maruhiro.

The photography is by Ryo Tsuchida and Studio AMB

The post Studio AMB "reinterprets ancient traditions" for guesthouse in Japan appeared first on Dezeen.

Indian studio 3dor Concepts has completed The Slab, a family home in Kerala that is protected from the elements by a facade of wooden louvres and a large concrete roof.

Situated on an elevated and exposed site in Taliparamba, the home is designed to take advantage of the views across the landscape while providing sufficient shade and privacy for its residents.

"Three things were decided in the initial visit," explained 3dor Concepts.

"Utilise the stupendous views, build a properly shaded house from the heat of the sun and cover the house with layers of vegetation that will in turn bring down the temperature inside," it continued.

Organised across two storeys, The Slab is wrapped by a ground-floor veranda and a balcony on the first floor, both sheltered beneath the overhang of the home's concrete roof.

On the ground floor, a double-height living and dining area can be opened up to the garden via sliding glass doors, with a wall of wooden shutters providing additional shading to the south.

Also on the home's southern side is a grey-metal frame, designed to be overgrown with climbing plants to offer an additional layer of climate protection and shading.

"The distinctive and long reinforced concrete roof slab is the main design component along with large brown wooden louvred doors covering the entire front facade of the house," explained the studio.

Two bedrooms, a utility space and the kitchen are housed on the more enclosed northeastern side of the ground floor, with an additional two bedrooms on the first floor alongside a lounge space.

The interiors of The Slab have been finished predominantly with dark wood, with custom pieces of furniture created to fit around the structure's slender concrete columns.

"Interiors are designed in a way that it unifies the whole structure, and the custom yet minimal furniture outrivals the interiors," said 3dor Concepts.

"A floating table fixed to pillars is a conspicuous feature in the dining area, an artistic piece in the living area symbolises the residence and its surroundings, and a custom single-flight stair becomes a welcoming treat," it continued.

3dor Concepts was founded in 2013 by architects Muhammed Jiyad CP, Ahmed Thaneem Abdul Majeed and Muhammed Naseem M.

Its previous residential projects include a house in Kerela sheltered by a large roof clad in locally-sourced tiles and House of Ayoob that is animated by curves.

The photography is by Syam Sreesylam.

The post Oversized roof shelters house in Kerala by 3dor Concepts appeared first on Dezeen.

A series of small gardens designed to "encourage play and movement" breaks up Hopscotch House, a cottage in Brisbane with an extension by local studio John Ellway.

Situated on a low-rise estate in the suburb of Woolloongabba, the project leaves the original building and its relationship to the street largely untouched, instead extending backwards to fill the site.

"When extending a house in this city, the existing timber structure is generally lifted into the air and built-in under – it is cheap and quick, but destroys the streetscape of the last 100 years," the studio's founder John Ellway told Dezeen.

"The project engages with the street and neighbourhood rather than turning its back," he continued.

John Ellway arranged Hopscotch House's living spaces around five gardens, which it said is hoped to "encourage play and movement".

Each one has been given its own character, from a "neighbourhood garden" at the front of the home to encourage interaction with the street, to a more intimate "secure courtyard" overlooked by the living spaces at the back of the site.

"The five gardens give each adjacent room an aspect to capture sun, breeze, and light," explained Ellway. "Walls, roofs and openings are assembled as a repeating kit-of-parts designed to mediate weather through the year," he continued.

"Wall-sized openings of solid shutters manage airflow and rain," Ellway added.

Entry to the home has been moved to its eastern side. Here, an entrance garden leads into a brick-paved corridor that forms a "spine" that runs the length of the house.

Bedrooms and more private spaces occupy the original footprint of the cottage, while new living, dining and lounge spaces have been created in the stepped, checkerboard-like plan of the rear extension.

"A brick floor extends through the addition stepping to link the slightly elevated timber cottage back to the garden, and out into the dining courtyard," explained Ellway.

"This central hallway allows diagonal views between living spaces and sets up a circulation spine between old and new," he added.

Materially, the palette of Hopscotch House is kept exposed and raw, intended to make the extension feel more like an external space.

Corrugated metal clads external walls, covered in a layer of metal mesh with vines to both soften the home's appearance and provide an additional layer of weather protection.

Hopscotch House was recently longlisted in the house extension category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Other Australian houses recently featured on Dezeen include a Sydney residence with a "playful and textured" facade and a "private oasis" in Melbourne.

The photography is by Toby Scott.

The post John Ellway updates Brisbane cottage with staggered extension and gardens appeared first on Dezeen.

A series of red-concrete cylinders were used to update the layout, circulation and lighting of this house in Versaille, renovated by French studio Atelier Delalande Tabourin.

Dating back to the 1950s, the existing brick and concrete home previously had a compartmentalised interior that felt separated from its large garden, as well as an unused basement.

Atelier Delalande Tabourin reconfigured and unified these spaces by inserting a series of curved concrete volumes, which contain internal and external staircases as well as light wells for the basement and a fireplace in the living area.

"Breaking with the existing structure, the geometrically circular movement sequences different living experiences whilst also 'fluidifying' transitions," said Atelier Delalande Tabourin.

"[It is] a radical statement also aiming to restore importance and emotion to circulation areas, too often ignored or devoid of any particular physical sensation," it continued.

The concrete insertions were created using "grogs" – aggregates made from crushed bricks that are discarded during production. This led the studio to name the project House Rehabilitation with Bricks Shards.

Working in collaboration with designer and researcher Anna Saint-Pierre, the aggregates were sourced from brickworks close to the site, creating a colour palette that complements the existing brick structure.

"During a visit to the DeWulf brickworks, we were quickly intrigued by an immense pile of shards referred to as 'grogs', comprising all the unsold, deformed and overly fired bricks, which are then crushed on the industrial site," explained the studio.

"From that moment, it seemed obvious to us that we had to seize this deposit as the material basis for our project," it continued.

In the centre of the home, the largest of the cylinders contains a skylit spiral staircase, opening onto each of the home's three floors through large cutouts on its side.

Surrounding this central form are a living, kitchen and dining area on the ground floor and bedrooms and bathrooms above. It also extends into the now-usable basement.

Against the reddish-brown concrete, the rest of the home's interior has been kept minimal and white, with areas on the floor and walls left exposed to reveal where previous partition walls once stood.

Large folding doors in the living area open onto a raised garden patio and a side entrance is accessed via a concrete stair.

Other housing projects in France include the Maison Jericho extension in Marseille by Olivia Fauvelle Architecture and the all-glass Maison de Verre by Odile Decq.

The photography is by Maxime Delvaux.

Project credits:

Architect: Atelier Delalande Tabourin (ADT)
Project manager: François-Xavier Jamin
Materials reuse: Anna Saint Pierre
BET structure: Con-Struct

The post Concrete "wells" illuminate French home renovated by Atelier Delalande Tabourin appeared first on Dezeen.

Gabled forms clad in blackened wood are curved and pulled apart to create "dynamic and memorable" spaces at Harudot, a cafe in Thailand by local studio IDIN Architects.

Located in the beachside town of Chonburi, Harudot was designed for both the cafe brand Nana Coffee Roasters and the owner of the site.

IDIN Architects said the owner has a "particular interest in unique plants", which informed the curving shapes of the cafe.

Harudot is organised across three interconnected buildings. A meeting room, toilets and kitchen are contained in a rectilinear structure to the north, while seating areas occupy the curved structures to the south.

In these southern structures, the seating hugs circular areas of planting, with the gable roofs pulled open to allow for natural light to enter from above.

This roof opening also creates space for a large baobab tree to grow.

"The building is separated into smaller masses to make it more human-scale, which established different zones such as the bar, coffee drinking zone, a lounge, a meeting room and the restrooms," explained IDIN Architects.

"The giant gable roof form of each mass is pulled apart at certain parts, allowing the tree to penetrate through a void to the sky creating a semi-outdoor space underneath," it continued. "It appears as if the seed of the baobab has been planted long before and grew out through the architecture as time passes."

Large triangular entrances lead into the two curving forms, with full-height glazing incorporating doors that connect the external seating areas with the interiors.

While separate from the outside, the three forms are connected by large arched openings internally. Flowing lines and text embedded in the stone floor between them provide wayfinding and create a sense of continuity.

Harudot's exterior is clad in vertical blackened timber planks that emphasise its curving form, contrasted internally by pale timber and black furniture and fittings.

The visual identity of the cafe is informed by Japanese design, which led to an approach described by IDIN Architects as "humble simplicity with attention to details".

IDIN Architects was founded by Jeravej Hongsakul in 2006, and its name is an acronym for Integrating Design into Nature, a strategy that carries through all of the studio's work.

The studio previously completed another cafe for Nana Coffee Roasters in Bangkok, the same city in which it created its own charred-wood office.

The photography is by DOF Sky|Ground.

The post Baobab tree grows through curving cafe in Thailand by IDIN Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

British architecture studio Stanton Williams has refurbished and extended the Grade II*-listed Rhodes House at the University of Oxford, adding a lantern-like glazed pavilion for events.

Originally designed by architect Herbert Baker and completed in 1929, Rhodes House has historically housed events, accommodation and archive spaces, set amid landscaped gardens in Oxford's city centre.

Tasked with doubling the usable space of the site as well as bringing its environmental performance up to modern standards, Stanton Williams reconfigured the building's layout while retaining its historic character.

"The spatial and environmental performance of Rhodes House no longer met the needs of its host organisation," Stanton Williams associate Tom Fotheringham told Dezeen.

"To allow the Trust to evolve while remaining within its historic premises, we had to find ways to double Rhodes House's usable space and provide new conference facilities, new working accommodation for staff and scholars, and new residential uses," he added.

In the biggest alteration to the site, a previously restricted archive space on the lower ground floor has been converted into a 300-seat conference hall and foyer, accessed via a newly created spiral stone staircase in the Rotunda and illuminated by high-level windows.

Forming a new "sculpture" at the main entrance of Rhodes House, the post-tensioned stone stair was developed with Webb Yates Engineers, and features a carved pattern that references the hexagonal tiling of the original floor.

This hexagonal pattern was also used as a motif in the conference hall itself, where a vaulted ceiling has been clad with wooden panelling.

"The new sculptural stone staircase complements the existing Rotunda, fulfilling Herbert Baker's ambition that a sculpture should be installed to help this space become 'the centre of beauty and interest in the building'," Fotheringham told Dezeen.

The building's western wing houses staff and scholar working accommodation, while the eastern wing holds 21 ensuite rooms for conference delegates, and has been extended with a new brick block providing 16 further bedrooms overlooking a residential courtyard.

"The new residential courtyard within the East Garden is placed below ground to preserve key views between the existing building and the Civil War Rampart on the site boundary," explained Fotheringham.

"It has been designed as a sunken volume within the garden, with chamfered soffits and piers around the perimeter to maximise daylight and provide privacy for the bedrooms below," he told Dezeen.

In the west garden, Stanton Williams has inserted a glass pavilion providing space for events, with a flexible, 50-seat space beneath a sweeping wooden roof.

Intended as a "solar collector", the pavilion collects heat from the sun and redistributes it through the main building for heating and hot water, while fan-coil units keep the pavilion itself comfortable.

Other projects recently completed by Stanton Williams include a new academic building for University College London in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is clad in textured concrete panels.

The photography is courtesy of Stanton Williams. 

The post Stanton Williams updates historic home of the Rhodes Trust in Oxford appeared first on Dezeen.

Norwegian consulting agency Oslotre has completed HasleTre, an office building with a timber structure that was designed to be easily disassembled and reused in the future.

Located close to Oslo's city centre and currently occupied by charity Save the Children, the five-storey structure provides 3,000-square-metres of office space that is "rooted in environmental consciousness, adaptability and innovation," the studio said.

Oslotre designed a five-by-five-metre timber grid for the structure, which aims to reduce the building's embodied carbon and allow all of its components to be easily reused.

This "timber-centric" approach saw large timber dowels used to connect structural elements, timber nails used instead of screws for fixings and wood insulation used in the walls.

"Essentially, we view the building as a material bank for future construction if HasleTre reaches the end of its lifespan," lead architect Moritz Groba told Dezeen.

"Timber elements were kept as close to maximum production size as possible, with minimal perforations to enhance reusability, [and] we have documented all assembly drawings, serving as a manual for disassembly," he continued.

Inside HasleTre, office spaces are organised by the dimensions of the timber frame, with a range of wood and curtain dividers creating meeting rooms and framing larger banks of desks and communal spaces with stepped seating.

Full-height windows open up the ground floor to the planting and patio surrounding the building, while large windows illuminate the upper storey offices.

Both the structure and the internal wooden panelling have been left exposed throughout, contrasted by black metal light fittings and pops of bright colour in the furniture.

"Internally, we aim to expose as much of the wooden construction as possible, combining it with wooden sheets for light walls," said Groba.

"Research shows the health benefits of living and working in buildings with exposed timber," he added.

Shingles of heartwood pine that will weather to create shades of grey and brown over time were used to clad the building's exterior, chosen to reference the palette of the neighbouring brick building.

Reused and recycled materials were used for the acoustic ceiling plates and flooring internally, with 60 per cent of the furniture being up-cycled and the remainder being created from biodegradable or waste materials.

Cycle parking spaces have been created alongside the building, with the basement containing changing rooms and showers for staff to encourage the use of bicycles instead of cars.

Large-scale timber construction is increasingly popular in Norway, which is home to one of the first true timber skyscrapers, Mjøstårnet by Voll Arkitekter, an 18-storey timber tower containing apartments, a hotel, office space and a restaurant.

The photography is by Einar Aslaksen and Dmitry Tkachenko.

The post Oslotre designs timber office in Norway as a demountable "materials bank" appeared first on Dezeen.

Indonesian practice Stilt Studios has completed a series of "nature-centric" villas for the Grün Uluwatu resort in Bali, which are elevated on steel columns to sit among the tree canopy.

Called Treehouse Villas, the project comprises seven separate guesthouses arranged side-by-side in a sloping, forested landscape, with large terraces providing expansive views out towards the Indian Ocean.

"While most share a common design, each villa boasts its unique charm, accentuated by its distinct view – be it the serene ocean, lush forestry, or picturesque hills," Stilt Studios lead architect Prayoga Arya Wirasana told Dezeen.

“[It is] a testament to the resort's commitment to immersive nature-centric experiences, deftly treading the delicate line between luxury and ecological responsibility,” he added.

Each villa is organised across two storeys with a living area and two bedrooms, save for one where the upper storey has been swapped for a panoramic roof terrace.

Concrete feet and steel stilts support each of the villas, intended to lighten their impact on the site while also enhancing the "immersive" feeling of the interiors by raising them to the level of the treetops.

"The main goal of raising the villas on steel stilts was to minimize the ecological footprint and preserve a strong connection with the surrounding natural landscape, particularly the garden beneath," Wirasana said.

"This approach allows for a more sustainable and harmonious coexistence between the built environment and nature,” he added.

A wood and steel staircase leads up into the first floor spaces, where a living, kitchen and dining area alongside a bedroom opens onto an external terrace with full-height glazing and doors.

Inside the villas, a wooden staircase leads to the upper level, where a second bedroom and bathroom open onto an additional terrace.

Full-height, wood-framed glazing wraps each level of the villas, providing 360-degree views, while white curtains and wooden panelling provide additional privacy and sun shading where necessary.

The steel structure of the villas has been left exposed and painted in a pale shade of green, complemented by fittings in teak, woven rattan and banana paper.

In the bathrooms, the walls have been finished using marbled panels of recycled plastic, which were developed in collaboration with Ecollabo.

"We aimed to craft a space that not only harmonises with the environment but also highlights the richness of local materials and craftsmanship," lead interior designer Frans Sihombing told Dezeen.

"[It] celebrates the local artistry while creating a warm, inviting, and harmonious environment that immediately feels like home," he added.

Treehouses also served as a reference point for another resort in Bali, the Lost Lindenberg by local architects Alexis Dornier and Studio Jencquel, which also featured raised living spaces to elevate guests into the surrounding tree canopy.

The photography is by Indra Wiras.

The post Stilt Studios creates Treehouse Villas to "immerse" guests in nature at Bali resort appeared first on Dezeen.

Belgian architecture studio Mamout has refurbished a townhouse in Brussels with a series of simple alterations that "make the most of what already exists".

Located in Koekelberg, northeast of Brussels' centre, the four-storey brick townhouse had previously been given a two-storey rear extension that Mamout said had left its interior dark and "almost unusable".

Instead of reworking the entire site, Mamout opened up the centre of the home by carving out a double-height, skylit atrium. This has created the effect of two buildings, connected by a pale blue metal staircase.

The staircase links the two lower storeys containing the client's own home, while an existing staircase at the front of the home has been repurposed to provide access to a standalone apartment on the upper two levels.

In the atrium, existing openings in the walls have been reimagined as internal windows or balconies, providing views from the first-floor bedrooms onto the ground-floor living, dining and kitchen spaces.

"The building was originally an imposing eclectic-style townhouse with a large Expo 58-style extension – each has an inherent quality, but the two entities did not communicate with each other and lacked natural light," explained studio architect Sébastian Dachy.

"We tried to keep as much as possible of the existing elements in the house, turning the previous openings into interior windows or balconies, tying to blur the distinction between indoor and outdoor," he told Dezeen.

At the rear of the home, a garden room with a curved, glazed wall overlooks a patio with an outdoor seating area and a lawn leading to an existing shed.

Many of the existing internal finishes were retained but painted white, including a rough brick wall in the atrium, creating subtle contrasts in texture throughout.

Wooden floors in the front of the home give way to tiling at the rear, with the atrium demarcated by a contrasting tiled finish.

"The walls have many different textures," Dachy told Dezeen. "It was decided to paint it all white to refresh the place and give some coherence – the different textures creating a subtle vibrance," he continued.

"We wanted the [blue] stair to pop up, being the new iconic element of the place," he added.

White, textured walls and pastel colours were also featured in a previous townhouse refurbishment by Mamout in collaboration with AUXAU, which involved reconfiguring the home's interiors to improve its access to natural light.

Elsewhere in Brussels, Notan Office recently created a "micro-city" of housing on an industrial site.

The photography is by Séverin Malaud.

The post Mamout opens up Brussels townhouse with skylit atrium appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio IGArchitects conceived this home in Tokyo as an adaptable space for both living and working, with stepped living areas framed by boardmarked concrete walls.

Named Building Frame of the House, the home in Saitama was designed by IGArchitects to function as "one big room".

"[The clients] have a vague boundary between their private and work life, therefore they were imagining a house where they can work anywhere and where they can sense the presence of each other wherever in the house," founder Masato Igarashi told Dezeen.

"With such lifestyle, rather than have small spaces for compact living, the house was designed to have a large volume and scale that makes various interactions between inside and outside space," he added.

To keep the central space as open as possible, IGA organised the floors of the home as irregularly stepped mezzanine levels, connected by black-metal staircases and a ladder.

The ground-floor kitchen and first-floor bathroom both sit at the rear of the home, while the bedrooms and living spaces are at the front. Here, a large bookshelf extends the height of the southern wall.

While the side walls have been left almost completely blank, sections of full-height glazing at the front of the home provide ample natural light through the depth of the plan.

"The floors are divided to make it difficult to see the interior from the outside, which is treated like a wall," Igarashi told Dezeen.

"The way the space is used overlaps, responding to the residents' lifestyle," he continued. "The floors can turn into a seat, table, shelve, ceiling or bed."

Throughout the home, the boardmarked concrete structure has been left exposed and complemented by wooden floors and shelving and metal countertops in the kitchen.

"We selected materials that would develop their own flavour as they age, and we wanted to bring out the texture and strength of the materials and their shades in the space," said Igarashi.

"Since the site is too small to create a garden, the interior and exterior are treated equally, and the materials are unified inside and out."

IGArchitects previously created a similarly flexible living space for One Legged House in Okinama, which is wrapped by sliding glass doors that open it up to the landscape.

Other Japanese homes recently featured on Dezeen include a house in Kamakura designed by Tan Yamanouchi & AWGL as "one big cat tree" and a stripped-back "warehouse villa" in Isumi by Arii Irie Architects.

The photography is by Ooki Jingu.

The post IGArchitects designs home in Japan as "one big room" appeared first on Dezeen.

Timber balconies project from the corner of this skinny concrete hotel in Nah Trang, Vietnam, designed by local studio 324Praxis.

Located in a popular tourist area, the hotel called the Sep'on Heartfulness Centre is designed by 324Praxis to create a feeling of "protection and intimacy" for guests.

It has an exposed concrete structure, visually softened by plant-filled interiors and wooden details.

Subverting the typical row house typology, 324Praxis designed the rooms of the hotel to be independent "cubes". These are positioned around a series of open and planted public spaces and connected by walkways in wood and steel.

"This project could be considered as another attempt to find a contemporary living manner in row house typology," 324Praxis founder Dat Dinh told Dezeen.

"Through the composition of 'cubes' and the public areas together with staircases, the circulation is a 'silk ribbon' created to connect all spaces, providing a non-stop adventure to discover different places throughout the building," he continued.

The bulk of Sep'on Heartfulness Centre is elevated on concrete and steel columns. The open ground floor features a plant-filled cafe and bar that sit directly off the street.

Once inside, two staircases and a lift connect the building's five storeys, where three different room types are organised across the front, centre and rear of the narrow plan.

The largest rooms overlook the street and feature timber balconies. These project from the southwestern corner of the hotel on the lower three storeys and sit internally on the upper two levels, sheltered by glazing.

Deeper into the plan, other bedrooms look out onto the open, planted spaces of the hotel, including a yoga and meditation space.

"Compositions of geometry increase the privacy for private spaces and at the same time increase the open atmosphere, connecting indoor and outdoor, providing natural air ventilation and shade," Dinh told Dezeen.

"We understood it was essential to introduce a more dynamic conception of space, for different temporalities to inhabit the building without hindering each other," he added.

All of the materials that 324Praxis used for the Sep'on Heartfulness Centre, whether concrete, steel or wood, have been left exposed with minimal treatment. This is hoped to make visible to guests how the building is constructed.

Other skinny hotels featured on Dezeen include PituRooms in Java by Sahabat Selojene and the One Room Hotel in Antwerp by DMVA.

The photography is by Duy Nhat, Le Ba Loc. 

The post Skinny hotel in Vietnam offers guests a feeling of "protection and intimacy" appeared first on Dezeen.

A series of freestanding brick walls designed to resemble ruins frame this community centre near Bangalore, India, designed by local architecture studio A Threshold.

Appropriately called Subterranean Ruins, the building is dug into a steeply sloping site overgrown with mango, banana and coconut trees and designed as a freely accessible, multifunctional centre for the village of Kaggalipura.

A series of parallel brick walls punctured by circular and arched openings divide the site into several strips, avoiding the site's existing trees. According to the studio, they are intended to resemble "ancient ruins".

Between each strip is a subterranean space that opens onto an external patio. These spaces are topped by planted roofs to help conceal the building from sight.

"The idea started with multifunctional caves, tucked within the earth with its existing terrain, like unfinished ruins, planned in and around existing trees, eventually over the years becoming part of nature," explained A Threshold.

"The complex is not immediately apparent to the visitor, whose gaze is first drawn to the planted roofs," it continued. "Perfectly camouflaged in the natural landscape, the complex seems almost uninhabited."

Arched openings through each of the brick walls are aligned to create the main route through the site, their surfaces animated by areas of perforated and projecting brickwork and terracotta birdhouses.

Wood-framed doors lead into the centre's rooms, which face north to maximise daylight and are shaded by the surrounding trees to prevent overheating.

Inside, Subterranean Ruins feature exposed brick walls and stone flooring, with minimal fixed fittings to allow their use to be easily changed and adapted.

"The built and unbuilt elements complement each other, the unbuilt spaces in the form of voids around the existing trees to be used for various spill-over activities," explained the studio.

"The 'caves' and courtyards can be used as a homestay, a kindergarten or a primary school, by village people for community activities or gatherings, also as artists residency where the nearby artists can come and stay to spread their skills," continued A Threshold.

Local materials sourced from within a 50-kilometre radius of the site were used to construct the centre, including red bricks for the walls, stone for the paving and black granite for cobblestones.

Subterranean Ruins was recently longlisted in the sustainable building category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Elsewhere in India, architecture studio Wallmakers designed a partially subterranean home surrounded by snaking walls that wrap around the site's trees.

The photography is by Edmund Sumner.

The post A Threshold disguises community centre in India as "ancient ruins" appeared first on Dezeen.

Local studio Witherford Watson Mann aimed to "set a new benchmark" for inner-city older people's accommodation with Appleby Blue, a social housing development in Southwark, London, for over-65s.

Designed for and managed by the United St Saviour's Charity with developer JTRE London, the scheme replaces a former care home on the site that had fallen into disrepair. It includes 57 new apartments and communal facilities, including a courtyard and garden room.

Witherford Watson Mann sought to challenge what they saw as the typical ideas of retreat and seclusion in older people's housing, instead creating an "active, open and shared building" that engaged with the surrounding city.

The practice drew on the historic typology of almshouses – a form of low-cost sheltered housing provided by a private charity for the elderly often arranged around a courtyard – and "flipped" it to have a closer relationship with the city and street.

"It has become increasingly common practice to relocate over 60s away from urban centres, pushed or incentivised to the city edge or the coast," explained director Stephen Witherford.

"Yet, as people live longer and remain active later in life, not everyone wants to withdraw from the bustle of the city; on the contrary, many wish to remain close to the neighbourhoods they have spent their lives in," he continued.

"We wanted to develop an innovative almshouse that catered to the needs and desires of Southwark residents who wanted to grow old in a vibrant, modern inner-city environment," added United St Saviour's CEO Martyn Craddock.

The five-storey block was designed to "extend the grain of the Victorian streets", incorporating bay windows and cut-outs that make room for street-level planting.

To the north, Appleby Blue meets the street with a fully-glazed two-storey volume, creating a light-filled entrance and porch and a visual connection through to a double-height garden room.

Once inside, the ground floor contains a variety of communal functions including a community kitchen, cookery school, hairdressers and lounge.

The apartments themselves surround a central courtyard garden, designed by Grant Associates and conceived as an "abstract woodland glade" with a cascading water feature, trees and flower beds.

Each level overlooks this space from a communal, street-like paved walkway off which each apartment is entered. This features places to sit and socialise and is lined with oak-framed sliding screens.

"The acoustics of the space coupled with the sound of the water feature combine to create a relaxing, sanctuary-like space for residents and visitors, whilst remaining just a few feet away from the local transport links that connect them into the city," said the studio.

Towards the rear of the site the block steps down to two storeys, topped by a garden with raised beds for growing herbs, fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Witherford Watson Mann recently featured on the shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize 2023 for its "studious and bold" renovation of The Courtauld Gallery in London.

The photography is by Philip Vile.

The post Witherford Watson Mann draws on traditional almshouses for Appleby Blue senior housing appeared first on Dezeen.

London architecture studio Jonathan Tuckey Design has converted a former factory in Norway into a hotel and wellness centre, celebrating the traces of its previous uses.

Named Trevarefabrikken, the concrete-framed building in Henningsvaer in the Lofoten archipelago originally opened in the 1940s as a cod liver oil factory and carpentry workshop, before being abandoned.

In 2014, four friends purchased the dilapidated space with a view to refurbishing it with the help of the local community. Jonathan Tuckey Design was tasked with reworking its open-plan interior into a series of guest rooms and a restaurant.

Despite this radical change in use, Jonathan Tuckey Design looked to minimise alterations and retain as much of the "historical memory" of the factory as possible, including its board-marked concrete structure, rough rendered walls and even rusting machinery.

"The structural bones themselves were key to defining the layout of the space," explained project architect Dan Stilwell. "Unexpectedly deep concrete ribs ran throughout the interior, supported on equally unapologetically chunky columns," he continued.

"Rather than removing or adding to this structure, we looked at how to keep what was initially designed as a single warehouse space and divide it into intimate rooms that feel very separate and private," Stilwell added.

On Trevarefabrikken's ground floor, visitors enter into a large cafe and bar framed by concrete columns, with a small reception area and staircase leading up into the guest areas.

Above, a series of bedrooms flank a dark hallway ending at an industrial door. This leads to the light-filled Trandamperiet restaurant, which overlooks the Vestfjorden sea through large windows.

Formerly the cod liver oil production area, the first floor is punctuated by retained timber funnels and original machinery. Exposed concrete walls and ceilings in the bedrooms are softened by bespoke wooden fittings painted pale green.

"We were fascinated with the board-formed concrete surface, where the grain of long-past timber was imprinted in the surface for eternity before the board itself decayed," explained Stilwell.

"The machines themselves were kept not only a remnant of the past but also slightly mysterious sea-monster-like creatures greeting guests on the path to their rooms," he added.

Throughout, fittings and details have been created using both new and reused materials, including restored white tilework and steps up into the bedrooms that are formed from reclaimed bricks.

Trevarefabrikken's existing window openings were retained, with an additional layer of insulation and wooden shutters deepening the openings.

"We highlighted the feeling of hunkering down in a harsh landscape to seek refuge from the crashing waves," says Stilwell.

"This will be left to age naturally as before, settling into the island landscape the same way the building is settling into its newfound guise," he added.

Currently, the second floor remains a "work in progress", with the potential to provide further flexible accommodation, an events space or a bar in future stages of the project.

Reimagining existing buildings is a key focus of the work of Jonathan Tuckey Design. The studio's previous projects include the restoration and extension of a traditional farmstead in northern Italy and the reworking of a historic home in Cornwall with a stone-clad extension.

The photography is by Andrea Gjestvang.

The post Jonathan Tuckey Design transforms Norwegian factory into industrial Trevarefabrikken hotel appeared first on Dezeen.

Indonesian studio Ismail Solehudin Architecture has playfully adapted the forms and materials found in traditional Javanese homes for Distracted House, a family residence in Jakarta.

Distracted House is finished in a mix of concrete, brick and plaster and topped by an angular clay-tile roof based on those of traditional houses in the area called joglo.

The distinctive intersecting forms of the home are the result of a large communal space at its centre, which has been "twisted" so that the family can face the qibla – the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca – when praying.

"This house has been distracted because of one action of rotating one of the rooms so that it can face towards the qibla, a design action that is our solution to the needs of the residents," said Ismail Solehudin Architecture principal Ismail Solehudin.

"The character of the space obtained is a sense of spatial experience in the communal area and spatial disorientation from the existing landforms, causing a 'messy' impression," he told Dezeen.

The irregular spaces formed by the angular room at the home's centre have been used to create small lightwells and green areas, with large folding doors and perforated concrete walls providing light and ventilation.

To the west, a rectilinear block contains the home's bedrooms across two storeys. They are connected by a skylit spiral staircase, while a corridor leads to the central communal area.

Reflecting the interior organisation, the projecting rectangular cones of Distracted House's roof are also placed at different angles. This traditional joglo roof form is also updated with projecting elements such as window boxes.

The large overhang of the roof extends northwards to shelter a parking area at the front of the home, and an external terrace overlooking a swimming pool at the rear.

Internally, spaces have been finished with dark wooden floors and exposed concrete, brick and tile walls. Internal openings create a layering of views as well as ample access to light and air.

"Our efforts for this building are that it can still blend in with the environment but have its own character with the use of vernacular Indonesian roofs, transformed to be more contemporary but still reminiscent of the original form," explained Solehudin.

On the roof, paved walkways connect a series of terraces sheltered by the roof sections. One of these contains a hammock-like area above a lightwell that cuts through the home.

Other homes on Dezeen with distinctive tile roofs include House in Quang Yen that Ra.atelier and Ngo + Pasierbinski arranged around a central courtyard and Tile House by The Bloom Architects.

The photography is by Andhy Prayitno of Mario Wibowo Photography.

The post Angular clay-tile roof crowns Jakarta home by Ismail Solehudin Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Belgian architecture studios Mamout and Stéphanie Willocx have refurbished a 1960s home in Hoeilaart, stripping away previous extensions to celebrate the "spirit and quality" of its original design.

Located in a wooded area, the Belgian home was originally designed in 1962 for a group of musicians.

It comprises a brick and glass pavilion and a concrete blockwork garage, which step down its gently sloping site.

Over time, numerous additions to the home and its garden had distracted from its original structures and their relationship to the landscape, and so its new owners tasked Mamout and Stéphanie Willocx with restoring this condition.

"The house was originally a cabin fully glazed and nested in nature," Mamout founder Sébastien Dachy told Dezeen.

"With time, the previous owners have added many elements such as extra veranda, extra walls, and terraces, until it was unrecognisable," he continued.

"We tried to get back to the fully-glazed house and we replanted nature just next to the house, so it feels like it is surrounded by vegetation, blurring again the distinction between inside and outside," added Dachy.

By removing extensions to the home, the original frontage was restored with full-height, sliding glass doors. These open onto a terrace extending onto the roof of the former garage below.

A living, dining and kitchen area occupies the upper building, alongside the main bedroom and a study. Here, the original brick walls have been painted white and the wooden ceiling restored.

Metal kitchen counters, linoleum flooring and a curved wooden staircase in the dining area have been introduced, but chosen to echo the home's original character.

"We highlighted the existing elements such as the wooden structure, the wooden ceiling, the brick walls, the doors," Dachy told Dezeen.

"New elements, such as flooring in rosemary-green linoleum, the small round plywood staircase and the kitchen, were designed to integrate to the existing while subtly asserting their identity as new objects," he continued.

The partially sunken concrete garage has been turned into a bedroom and bathroom for the client's children, with a "stair tunnel" connecting it to the main home.

Its original garage doors have been removed and four tall windows now overlook the garden, which was curated by landscape architect Hélène Mariage to be a "naturalist punk garden" planted with a wide variety of species.

Mamout previously worked alongside Stéphanie Willocx, as well as local studio LD2 Architecture, to convert a former cigarette factory in Brussels into a council office.

Elsewhere in Belgium, architecture studio ISM Architecten also recently completed a mid-century house renovation. Named Beev, it was carried out to improve space efficiency.

The photography is by Séverin Malaud.

The post Mamout and Stéphanie Willocx restore 1960s home in Belgium appeared first on Dezeen.

A brick, steel and timber structure is left exposed in this office interior in Sydney, which local firm Cox Architecture has revamped to house its own studio.

Cox Architecture removed previous alterations to the structure, which occupies five floors of the heritage-listed Metcalfe Bond Stores warehouse in Tallawoladah, to highlight its original features and complement them with pared-back, flexible workspaces.

"Our objective was to do more with less, balancing the poetic with the pragmatic," explained the studio.

"Restrained interventions allow the heritage to be the hero and minimise the project's embodied energy," it continued. "Our starting point was a process of reduction, removing non-heritage elements to create clarity."

The interior is defined by the original steel and timber structure's columns and beams that have been painted white, and the brickwork of the outer walls that are left exposed.

New elements such as glass doors and walls, room dividers, curtains and furniture were chosen to touch the existing structure "as lightly as possible", and feature alongside dark-wood carpentry and gallery-style lighting tracks.

The workspaces themselves are designed to be flexible and "hackable", allowing areas to be reconfigured and subdivided easily by staff.

This includes a forum space on the fifth level of the building, which has a wall lined with magnetic whiteboards and can be used as anything from a collaborative workshop space to a presentation area for 200 people.

Alongside it is a kitchen with a backdrop of exposed brickwork and two long counters topped with unsealed brass that will patinate over time.

A black-steel stair leads up to a mezzanine level above containing further desk spaces. This sits at the top of the building, lit by skylights in the apex of the pitched roof.

"Anchored by a generous kitchen, a flexible forum space is a magnet for serendipitous exchange between Cox's own people and the wider design community," said the studio.

"The majority of elements within the space are movable, creating an experimental, nimble workspace allowing teams the autonomy to control their space and future-proofing the studio as the workplace evolves," it continued.

Facing the street, Cox Architecture created a "shopfront window", giving staff the opportunity to populate vitrines with the studio's work.

Cox Sydney Studio has recently been shortlisted in the large workplace interior category of Dezeen Awards 2023. Another office interior completed by the studio is the Midtown Workplace in Brisbane, which features a large, plant-filled atrium with by a weathered-steel staircase.

The photography is by Nicole England and Cameron Hallam.

The post Cox Architecture celebrates heritage features of its own Sydney studio appeared first on Dezeen.

An exposed concrete frame, red brickwork and a large silver curtain define House K in Thailand, which has been designed by local studio Bangkok Tokyo Architecture.

Designed for a mother and her son who wanted to rebuild their family home in Bangkok, the residence has an exposed, "understandable" structure that is intended to be easy to customise, adapt and modify over time.

"We wanted to expose the most typical building materials and construction method found in the surrounding context," said Bangkok Tokyo Architecture senior architect Poom Prakongpetch.

"This way, the architecture becomes comprehensible and accessible to everyone," they told Dezeen.

Each of the home's three floors serves a different function. The ground floor contains an en-suite bedroom for the mother, separated from a private living area by a central wall.

Above, the first floor contains a shared living, dining and kitchen area, and the third floor has a bedroom and bathroom for the son.

The floors have each been set back as they move up the building to create space for external terraces. One of these faces a neighbouring building and is enclosed by a brick wall, while another overlooking the street is sheltered by a large silver curtain.

A large concrete base forms a patio around House K, creating areas for planting and space for the house to be extended in the future.

"All the floors are designed to feel like a continuous one-room space with an accessible outdoor area," said Prakongpetch.

"For us, a house is something that can be continuously built upon and appropriated," added Prakongpetch. "Putting the house on a concrete plinth suggests the house as a 'platform' for various uses and adaptations."

Inside, the brick and concrete structure has been left exposed, teamed with white partition walls and white-tiled bathroom areas.

Large metal-framed windows, sliding doors and skylights provide each floor with ample amounts of natural light as well as access to the external terraces.

"The look and feel of the house will depend on whoever is viewing or using the space – we did not intend to communicate a certain look or feel through the design of the house," explained Prakongpetch.

Elsewhere in Thailand, Bangkok studio PHTAA also used a visible concrete frame to create a home called House R3, which is infilled with pink-toned concrete panels.

Other houses in Bangkok featured on Dezeen include Basic House, a residence by Brownhouses that exhibits its owner's car collection, and an inward-facing family home that Thai architect Kuanchanok Pakavaleetorn designed for her own family.

The photography is by Soopakorn Srisakul.

The post Bangkok Tokyo Architecture creates concrete house with giant silver curtain appeared first on Dezeen.

London studio dRMM has completed WorkStack, a top-heavy stack of industrial units in Greenwich that is constructed from cross-laminated timber.

Designed for the Greenwich Enterprise Board and backed by the Greater London Authority, the building is intended as a model for high-density, affordable industrial space on compact sites, which challenges traditional "ugly, cold metal sheds", dRMM said.

"The project was deliberately designed as a model to address the problem of makers being pushed out of urban centres because of residential development," said dRMM co-founder Alex de Rijke.

"It also gives a powerful message that light industrial can mean socially and environmentally inspirational," he told Dezeen.

The stepped form of WorkStack, which references stacks of cut timber, is designed to fit 14 units on the site. This top-heavy design also provides cover for a central loading bay.

Access is provided by lifts and a staircase at the rear of the building alongside a plant room. Inside, current occupants include furniture makers, knitwear producers and a motorcycle workshop.

"Freshly cut timber, when stacked outside in order to ventilate and dry it, often includes an overhang to keep the water off," de Rijke told Dezeen.

"WorkStack's cantilevered form is derived not only from this but also the need to provide high density on a small site," he continued. "By stepping out progressively we could provide the client with the mix of workshop sizes they needed, integral solar shading and a covered delivery bay."

Cross-laminated timber was chosen for the structure to minimise construction time and material waste. It is left exposed throughout to eliminate the need for additional finishes.

Each unit provides workspace for approximately 60 people, facing out towards the car park through full-height windows and panels of translucent polycarbonate.

"[WorkStack] equates to a density of roughly 428 employees per hectare, compared to the London industrial average of 69 employees per hectare," said the studio.

Externally, corrugated-metal cladding references the appearance of more traditional industrial sheds, with "WorkStack" emblazoned vertically down one side.

"[It is] an engineered mass timber structure with limited steel, polycarbonate, glass and rubber introduced only where function or regulation demanded," said dRMM.

Another cross-laminated timber building designed by dRMM is Maggie's Centre in Oldham, which aims to emphasise the "hope and warmth" of wood as a material.

Elsewhere, Haworth Tompkins also recently completed a multi-storey industrial building. Named Industria, it is made up of two checkerboard-patterned wings.

The photography is by Fred Howarth unless stated.

The post Stacks of timber inform "inspirational" industrial units by dRMM appeared first on Dezeen.

Indian architecture studio Workers of Art has converted a former storage space into its own plant-filled office, using recycled and repurposed waste materials in almost every aspect of its design.

Called WOA Second Home, the office is located in Kochi, Kerala, and occupies a 1,450-square-foot (135-square-metre) concrete structure that was previously used for storing tiles.

Aiming to "underscore the necessity of the curtailment of waste output in architecture," Workers of Art (WOA) made use of materials that had been "relegated to landfill" including concrete board, PVC pipes and acrylic sheets, to create a workspace that would reflect the studio's ethos.

"The design celebrates the value of materials that might have otherwise been discarded, creatively forming patterns and combining different elements to breathe new life into the space," said the studio.

"For instance, odd-shaped waste tiles are harmoniously mixed and matched, finding their new home in the powder room. A strikingly repurposed tile piece also elevates the entry steps, underscoring the studio's attention to detail and innovative flair," it added.

Organised across one floor, the entrance to the office leads into a large space lined with a zig-zag of ferrocement desks along the eastern wall, next to a meeting table and sample board at the centre of the room and a more private workspace to the west.

A new partition with a large arched opening and blackout curtain leads through to a breakout area and facilities space containing a locker area, kitchen and bathroom.

"The design of the workstations, which meander through the shared workspace, was strategically planned to encourage teamwork while also allowing for individual space," WOA co-founder Priya Rose told Dezeen.

"The philosophy was to create a workspace that feels like a 'second home' – evident in the thoughtful design elements that prioritise comfort, aesthetic pleasure, and a sense of belonging," she added.

Custom black light fittings on the ceiling were created by repurposing lengths of PVC pipe, while bespoke planters were made using ferrocement lined with blue plastic barrels.

The existing tile floor in the building was retained, with areas that had become cracked removed and infilled with microcement to create contrasting dark grey geometric areas.

Throughout the studio, discarded antiques and over 100 species of local plants were introduced to bring a "homely" quality to the space.

WOA Second Home has been shortlisted in the workplace interior (small) category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

In Madrid, designer Lucas Muñoz used upcycled junk and construction waste to create nearly every interior element of the Mo de Movimiento restaurant.

The photography is by Ishita Sitwala. 

The post WOA designs own studio space using materials that had been "relegated to landfill" appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture studio Polysmiths has redesigned a basement apartment in north London to feel like a "cabin in the woods", surrounding its sunken living area with lush planting.

Named Walden after the novel by naturalist Henry David Thoreau, the apartment in Tufnell Park required refurbishing after being left vacant and damaged due to flash flooding.

By extending into the existing garden, Polysmiths created a new living, dining and kitchen area and used the space freed up at the front of the flat for an additional bedroom.

The extension also allowed for the insertion of a series of angled skylights and windows looking directly onto the garden, maximising natural light while minimising overlooking from the apartment above.

"The project resolves multiple conflicting requirements, including how to extend, insulate, flood-proof, and bring light into a basement apartment while maintaining as much precious garden area as possible," explained Polysmiths.

Taking cues from the amount of daylight in different areas of the home, the material and colour palette of the interiors transitions from light in the living spaces to dark in the bedrooms and bathroom.

Light grey wood-fibre panels line the living room ceiling, complemented by white walls, pale wooden panelling and a glass-brick screen.

In the kitchen, dark stained wood has been used for the walls and counters, while the bathroom features black ceramic tiles and the bedrooms are painted dark green.

"The light internal finishes were used in the public spaces – living room and dining room, to make sure they feel open and bright, more like a house in the woods than a typical basement apartment," founder Charles Wu told Dezeen.

"Private spaces – bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen – are darker to provide a level of comfort that is cosy and quiet," he added.

Externally, Walden has been wrapped with wooden slats that are intended to be gradually overgrown with plants. A set of concrete steps leads from the living area up to the level of the garden.

"As the garden is slightly elevated, it is important the plants chosen are loose and thin, with multi-stemmed semi-mature trees and short flowering plants being used throughout," said Wu.

Polysmiths was founded by Wu in 2017. The studio's previous projects include a home with cork panelling on both the external and internal walls.

Other recent home renovations in London include an extension by Bureau de Change that is informed by Victorian boxing rings and the colourful Graphic House by Office S&M.

The photography and videography are by French + Tye. 

The post Polysmiths refurbishes Walden basement flat to evoke woodland cabin appeared first on Dezeen.

Snaking "rivers" of embedded lighting flow through the alleyways of a development in Oslo in the Delta installation by local studio Void, which incorporates motion-detecting sensors to create ripples of illumination as people walk past.

Located in an area of Tullinløkka currently being developed by real estate company Entra, Delta was created to be both a light sculpture and a wayfinding device that would encourage visitors to explore the new neighbourhood.

Running through cobbled alleyways, the lighting strips converge at a concrete "waterfall" in the centre of the site, which traverses a level change via a series of curved steps and a ramp informed by the smooth rocks of Norway's coastline.

This provides wheelchair access through the neighbourhood, as well as a stepped seating space for impromptu gatherings and events.

"The main goal was to attract people into the narrow lanes and the courtyard of the quarter and to explore and discover what the inner area has to offer in terms of restaurants and nightlife," Void CEO Mikkel Lehne told Dezeen.

"The lights lead the public into the space, help them find their way through, as well as bringing a sense of warmth and safety," he added.

To create Delta, aluminium profiles lined with acrylic glass were set flush with the paving and concrete, into which flexible, waterproof LED strips were then inserted.

Each four-centimetre-long segment of the lighting strips is individually controllable in terms of both motion and colour, and is connected to 24 motion-sensing cameras that detect the presence of visitors in order to create "waves" of light.

While ordinarily the lights are intended to create an "unobtrusive backdrop" of warm white, they can also be programmed for special events, such as in a light show choreographed by artists Bendik Baksaas, Kristoffer Eikrem and Fredrik Høyer to mark the installation's opening.

"The general setting is a warm white light that interacts with the public as they move through and around the quarter," Lehne said.

"The lights are full colour, and can be changed and animated to countless different settings – during Pride Month, for instance, a full rainbow flows through the installation," he added.

"The idea is part of our philosophy at Void – to engage with people’s movement and presence and let our installations be influenced by them."

Delta was recently shortlisted in the architectural lighting design category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Other shortlisted projects include the media facade of the Novartis Pavilion in Basel by iart, and the interiors of the Fabrique des Lumières Amsterdam by D/Dock.

The photography is by Einar Aslaksen. 

The post Void installs rippling "rivers" of light in Oslo neighbourhood appeared first on Dezeen.

Copenhagen studio NORD Architects drew on research into the built environment's impact on people with dementia for the Alzheimer's Village in Dax, the first project of its kind in France.

Awarded via a competition in 2016, the studio's design references the urban layout of Dax's old town to create a sense of familiarity for its residents, with a communal "market square" wrapped by concrete arcades at its centre.

"When designing for people with dementia, where the loss of cognitive abilities is one of the main aspects of living with the condition, we design with the aim to help them in the best possible way," NORD Architects partner Morten Rask Gregersen told Dezeen.

"The design of the physical environment therefore relies on an idea of readability or recognition where simple design ideas and elements support the patient as their state and abilities change over time," he continued.

The Alzheimer's Village, which the studio said is "the first care home in France for people with dementia," is organised into four clusters.

Each of these houses around 30 residents and has its own dedicated facilities and courtyard.

To the north, the main square is surrounded by familiar functions, including a grocer, hairdresser and restaurant, which are intended to bring a sense of "recognisable day-to-day-life" to the village.

Modelled on the typology of a "bastide" – a type of fortified town that can be found nearby – concrete arches surround the village's main square, creating more shaded, private areas around the fountains and seating areas at its centre.

Throughout the village, timber plank cladding, plaster and pitched, clay-tiled roofs were also intended to evoke forms and textures that would be familiar to residents.

"The idea of creating an environment that the users can recognise led us to a contextual analysis of the nearby villages, where we experienced the arch motive is recurring motive in the old town squares in a typology called a 'bastide'," Gregersen said.

"The choice of materials can underline the idea of the recognisable environment, so we again looked at the local materials that the future residents would be used to in their own homes," he added.

Establishing a closeness to nature was also key to NORD Architects' design, with a small lake and trees in the middle of the site surrounded by a looping path and gardens with fragrant flowers to have a "stimulating effect".

The Alzheimer's Village in Dax was recently shortlisted in the health and wellbeing project category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Previous healthcare projects by NORD Architects include a hospice for palliative care in Copenhagen, which features golden facades and curved cutouts that create quiet courtyards.

The photography is by 11h45.

The post NORD Architects adopts recognisable architectural forms for Alzheimer's Village appeared first on Dezeen.

An oversized stepped roof that doubles as an "amphitheatre for the city" tops BBT Hilltop, a burger restaurant in Kuwait City designed by architecture studio TAEP/AAP.

Named after its client, Best Burger in Town (BBT), the restaurant in the Sharq district is elevated on a bright red plinth that doubles as an outdoor seating area for customers.

Above, the overhanging roof provides additional seating as well as a flexible events space that TAEP/AAP designed to be used for outdoor cinemas, parties and concerts.

According to the studio, the aim is to "create opportunity for certain activities to take place, that otherwise would be less likely to happen in the business centre".

"A building such as this does not merely occupy its plot, it gives something back," TAEP/AAP told Dezeen.

"It can host all sorts of parties and concerts, artistic-related events, expositions and so forth. The possibilities are limitless."

On the ground floor, an indoor seating area sits alongside the kitchens and logistical spaces. Glass hatches for ordering and picking up food are sheltered by the roof, the underside of which has also been finished in a bold shade of red.

An opening on the southern side of BBT Hilltop leads customers directly to a red spiral staircase that winds up onto the roof terrace.

On the roof, a group of red shipping containers contain a pop-up store selling the restaurant's merchandise. There is also a series of wide steps leading to seating areas sheltered beneath umbrellas and a yellow slide on the eastern edge.

The roof has been designed to be able to support additional pop-up structures in the future depending on its use.

"On top, a ludic contemplation area was developed to enjoy the views while eating, or simply resting," explained TAEP/AAP.

"A stand was created to be used as a sitting area and playground, with the addition of a slide that interacts with the inclination of the canopy," it added.

The use of red throughout BBT Hilltop is informed by BBT's branding and has been incorporated throughout the interiors in fixtures and fittings, as well as in the barriers for the drive-through area.

Other burger restaurants featured on Dezeen include an interior by Sapid Studio in Geneva informed by a Japanese patchwork technique and a restaurant in Turin by Masquespacio with brightly coloured tiles.

The photography is by Fernando Guerra.

The post TAEP/AAP tops Kuwait burger restaurant with large stepped roof appeared first on Dezeen.

A stack of meeting rooms and a moss-covered wall overlook the atriums of Here + Now, a pair of office buildings in England refurbished by architecture studio Hawkins\Brown.

Informed by changing attitudes to workplace design following the Covid-19 pandemic, the two buildings have been renovated with a focus on wellbeing and a connection to nature.

They are located within a wider business park in Reading, formerly used by Microsoft.

Connected by a bridge at their centre, the two buildings contain different facilities. One of them, named Here, offers space for more established companies, while the other, named Now, contains offices for smaller companies and start-ups.

"Here + Now is located on a business park, not in a city centre, which provides users with a much closer connection to nature and therefore better opportunity for activity and wellbeing," Hawkins\Brown partner Massimo Tepedino told Dezeen.

"The idea is that companies can scale up or down and thereby stay on the campus for longer – this ultimately helps to create a sense of community," he added.

While the two buildings share a similar material and colour palette, the finishes of each were slightly different based on its tenants.

The approach to the Now building focuses on more cost-effective, flexible spaces, while the Here building is finished to a higher specification.

Each of the two buildings features a large arrival atrium designed to evoke a sense of "wonder".

In the Here building, this space has a stack of meeting pods described by Hawkins\Brown as a "treehouse", while dehydrated moss-covered balconies animate the atrium in Now.

Shared by both buildings are a range of on-site amenities, including a gym and treatment rooms, as well as a "lifestyle manager" who organises events and workshops.

"The benefit of having two buildings share amenities is that office spaces can accommodate a wide range of budgets, while everyone benefits from best-in-class amenities and the opportunity to socialise with established professionals and young entrepreneurs," explained Tepedino.

The glass and metal structures of the existing buildings have been treated internally with wooden panelling, which complements new wooden seating areas and nooks.

Particular attention was paid to the colour scheme, with a muted palette intended to evoke the nearby natural landscape and create a relaxing atmosphere.

"We know that colours can facilitate, regulate, and even influence people's behaviour – our colour palette takes its cues from the natural landscape and compliments the neutral tones of the existing buildings," explained Hawkins\Brown.

"The bathrooms take inspiration from spas and hotels, with green shades and bold graphics create a strong visual connection to nature and a calming environment."

Here + Now has been shortlisted in the large workplace interior category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Other projects recently completed by Hawkins\Brown include a student hub at Queen's University Belfast with RPP Architects and the transformation of the historic Central Foundation Boys' School in London.

The photography is by Jack Hobhouse.

The post Hawkins\Brown renovates Reading offices to create a "connection to nature" appeared first on Dezeen.

Local studio WXCA has completed the Polish History Museum and Polish Army Museum alongside a new public square on the site of the former Warsaw Citadel in Poland.

Dating back to the 19th Century, the site in Warsaw was already home to the Tenth Pavilion Museum and Katyn Museum, with the new buildings making it one of the largest museum complexes in Europe.

WXCA's designed a layout that referenced the arrangement of the former barracks on the site that would both connect to and emphasise the surrounding parkland.

"The Warsaw Citadel remained separated off from the City and closed to its residents for the last 200 years," said WXCA architect Szczepan Wroński.

"Thanks to this, a vast green area and ancient stand of trees have remained on the site of the historical fortifications," he continued.

"Together with the Polish History Museum and the Polish Army Museum, we want to open up the Citadel itself so that it can be brought back to life and become a unique cultural park."

The three low, rectilinear buildings enclose three sides of a large paved square, with pathways on each side creating new routes through the wider site and underground parking below.

Occupying the largest of the three buildings is the History Museum, which has been clad in different layers of marble that were chosen to create an "archaeological cross-section" referencing different eras of Polish history.

"Each of the marble slabs is different, unique, and – just like history – comprises exceptional, individual events," explained Wroński.

"They reference such patterns as the relief from the Gniezno Doors, the decorations of St Sigismund's Chapel in Krakow, or the modernist Spodek arena complex in Katowice," added the studio.

Flanking the square on either side, the two buildings of the Army Museum are finished in a reddish-brown pigmented concrete, chosen to complement the historic brick walls of the Warsaw Citadel.

Alongside spaces for the storage and display of the museum's permanent collection, the History Museum also contains a 600-seat concert hall, theatre, cinema, library and conference spaces.

"Contemporary museums are not just about the exhibits," explained Wroński. "They are, in fact, a comprehensive agenda of different and complementing but also independent functions."

"The permanent and temporary exhibition spaces at the Polish History Museum will, in fact, constitute less than one fifth of the entire surface area, the rest comprises public and technical facilities," he continued.

"The plan of the interior was conceived to give the freedom to roam and meander between the various functional blocks, just like in a chiselled-out monolithic block."

Each of the three buildings is topped by a sedum roof, seen as an "extension of the park".

The roof of the History Museum is accessible to the public, providing a panorama of Warsaw.

"The green roofs of the museum complex buildings are an extension of the park at the Warsaw Citadel," said the studio. They were designed as the 'fifth facade'."

"On the roof of the Polish Army Museum, sedums are a metaphor for military camouflage, and hidden in the recesses of the green roof are the gardens of the office patios."

Inside, the raw stone exterior has been complemented with glossy bronzed brass, weathered steelwork and walnut veneers in the concert hall.

The nearby Katyn Museum in Warsaw's barbican was completed in 2017 by BBGK Arkitekti, with cavernous, red concrete spaces that commemorate the mass murder of more than 20,000 Polish citizens between 1939 and 1940 in Russia's Katyn Forest.

The photography is by Daniel Ciesielski.

The post WXCA creates "chiselled-out monolithic block" for Polish History Museum appeared first on Dezeen.

Diamond-shaped windows puncture the cylindrical brick form of The Hoxton Mule, a playschool and apartment designed by London practice Sam Jacob Studio.

Located on a "left-over" corner site in Hoxton, east London, the space is designed for local charity Ivy Street Family Centre (ISFC) and incorporates the frontage of a former Victorian pub where the organisation was established in 1984.

For the distinctive form of The Hoxton Mule, Sam Jacob Studio drew on the "ad-hoc" nature of its surroundings and a range of architectural references including the work of Russian constructivist Konstantin Melnikov and English draughtsman Joseph Gandy.

This idea of hybridity gave the project its name, which is a reference to Fairchild's Mule – the first-ever hybrid plant created by gardener Thomas Fairchild in Hoxton in the 18th century.

"The mix of hyper-contextualism with imagination gives the building its character and form," said the studio's founder Sam Jacob.

"There is a coming together of architectural references with the language of the London street – or even more specifically a kind of Hoxton urban typology that is a product of its very specific history," he told Dezeen.

"There's Melnikov mixed with a drawing by Joseph Gandy in the windows, Toyo Ito's U-House, New York City water tanks for the cylinder on top, a little bit of John Soane's house staircase in the niches that are part of the journey upwards, and a kind of idea of character from John Hejduck," Jacob added.

The original frontage of the former pub leads into a large multipurpose space on the ground floor for the playschool. It is surrounded by an office for ISFC, as well as an external store and terrace sheltered by a small brick arcade.

An external stair wrapped by a stepped, curving section of brick wall leads up into the apartment. It is accessed through an art deco-style gate bearing the number 54, which references the famous New York nightclub Studio 54.

Inside the apartment, a double-height living room is illuminated by the distinctive angular windows and features a steel ladder leading up to a small mezzanine.

Overlooking the street through the retained openings of the pub's upper storey is a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, and to the south is a workspace.

An internal staircase leads up to the roof where a set-back wooden room is wrapped by a terrace.

Internally, both the playschool and apartment have been finished with a minimal white colour palette, contrasted by black metalwork and light fittings.

"In a way, this is a project about form and space, rather than excessive materiality," explained Jacob. "It is about the volumes created as an exterior massing but also about the volumes of the space as an interior and as a sequence of interior spaces."

Sam Jacob Studio was founded in 2014 by Jacob who is a former founder of architecture practice FAT. The Hoxton Mule has recently been shortlisted in the mixed-use project category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

His studio's other projects include a new ribbed-glass entrance to London's V&A Museum and an events space for the ArtReview magazine.

The post Sam Jacob Studio blends architectural references at The Hoxton Mule in London appeared first on Dezeen.

Chinese practice Lel Design Studio has completed a factory in Yongchun that combines  traditional and modern brewing facilities for vinegar with a sightseeing route for tourists.

Occupying and expanding on a series of brick buildings on the site that formerly housed a power station, the Yongchun Vinegar Sightseeing Factory was designed to connect visitors to the "intangible cultural heritage" of hand-brewed red vinegar.

"We hope the unique factory will not only balances production and tourism, but also let visitors fully experience the production process of red vinegar and deeply feel the fascination of vinegar fermentation," explained the studio.

"At the same time, visitors are also expected to observe the innovation of the intangible cultural heritage of red vinegar," it continued.

With limited space, Lel Design Studio worked closely with fermentation engineers to create two primary routes on the site – a production route and a visitor route – that were carefully positioned so as not to disrupt one another.

The visitor route begins in front of the factory, where a space named the Ancient Brewing Square was filled with giant storage jars of fermenting vinegar.

Overlooking this square is a concrete walkway raised on steel columns, with information panels explaining the brewing process to visitors sheltered beneath a steel canopy.

The raised walkways leads from the square into a low-slung building with a sloping steel-framed roof informed by the traditional architecture of Yongchun, which contains the traditional brewing spaces.

Wrapped by a stone wall, the large fermentation space was surrounded by glazing to give visitors a view of the process, with high-level transom windows that can used to closely control the internal temperature.

Alongside, an existing concrete-framed brick building houses more modern brewing spaces, with the tourist route continuing along a black metal walkway that wraps around the chimney.

Granite bricks sourced from the surrounding Fuijian province were used for the new buildings, contrasted with glass and steel intended to reflect the idea of a "modern factory rooted in tradition".

"The design uses a simple natural granite wall throughout the touring route, and by guiding and limiting the viewer's sight, it offers a spatial experience similar to walking through a classical Chinese garden or art gallery," explained the studio.

"The design creates a continuous, immersive, and pure atmosphere, enhancing the visitors’ perception of the natural and rustic qualities of red vinegar."

Yongchun Vinegar Sightseeing Factory was recently shortlisted in the cultural project category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Elsewhere, Chinese practice JSPA Design took a similar approach to blending private factory spaces with public areas in their design for the Ningwu Oatmeal Factory in Shanxi province.

The photography is by Qingyan Zhu.

The post "Sightseeing factory" in China celebrates the heritage of red vinegar appeared first on Dezeen.