As Nicolás Tovo and Teresa Sarmiento of La Base embraced modular design as part of their architectural practice, they noticed that prospective clients were wary of prefabricated construction. So the duo teamed up with Place, an Argentine prefab builder, to make a proof of concept just outside the Patagonian resort town of Bariloche.
The house's interior includes custom millwork in nearly every room, courtesy of general contractor Green Compass Builders.
The narrow, walled-in kitchen was just one of the cramped dark spaces in the old "cueva".
Building new roof trusses and gables made it easy to add a large skylight in the living room.
Their office is at the front of the property, with their home behind.
Chandigarh Chairs by Pierre Jeanneret furnish the living space beyond the double-height entrance doors.
“The morning light is amazing. From our kitchen window we can see the sun rising over the poplars along the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal,” says architect and resident Farah Agarwal.
Inside, the living areas flow around a green box that contains the kitchen and a full bath.
The living area has a PK22 chair by Poul Kjaerholm and a Float sofa and Zoe rug from Paola Lenti’s outdoor collection. Pietre Del Nord porcelain stoneware from Emser Tile runs from the patio through the house.
A new metal roof syncs with the addition’s metal siding and knits the changes together.
The backyard is a hive of activity. Pictured here are the couple with their dogs, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.
The backyard fire pit is handmade by Fire Pits of Atlanta with chairs by Room & Board.
Sun loungers are integrated into the roof terrace, which features timber decking and lush landscaping.
The new volume extends into the backyard but increases the house’s footprint by only 225 square feet. It is slightly taller than the existing structure, minimizing overlap between roofs. The cladding is composed of marine-grade plywood panels, colored black with Benjamin Moore’s Arborcoat exterior stain, to create an affordable facsimile of cement fiberboard panels. The patio is paved in black decomposed granite.
A koi moat surround this thatched-roof home—a collaboration between AmDesign Studio and Creative Architects—near Ho Chi Minh City.
The living room leads to a cedar deck complete with a RODA LAZE rocking chair, accentuating the clients' desire for a seamless fluidity with the outdoors.
Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.
In addition to its rear deck, which features an outdoor kitchen and hot tub and capitalizes on stunning ocean views, the Surf House in Santa Cruz, California, includes a sunny front patio that’s tucked between a customized surfboard storage unit and a garage.
Known for furniture and interior design, Ezequiel Farca transformed a 1970s-style concrete home in Mexico City into a tranquil sanctuary. The temple-like retreat blends into the hilly Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood with its pale gray-green hue and strategic plantings, which soften the boundaries between house, garden, and street. The Recinto lava stone patio accessed through the living room holds teak outdoor furniture designed by Farca himself.
A wood walkway connects the two volumes.
The screened porch provides a covered outdoor space that is still open to the elements. Scott built many of the furnishings himself, including the coffee table and integrated bench.
The simple wood deck features innovative cutouts that allow full-grown Yucca trees to peek through.
One of the second-level bedrooms looks down to the ground-level courtyard.
In one of several distinct outdoor spaces, a pink terrazzo tub creates an oasis under the palms.
In an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, a verdant green roof of native grasses, wildflowers, and fruits creates an oasis.
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