Stone walls, a pine tree exploding out of a deep overhang, iroko decking, outdoor rooms, a glassy swimming pool, and endless views of the sea make this home a paragon of indoor-outdoor living.
This 3,200-square-foot structure was assembled with a prefabricated foundation, concrete panel siding, and efficient built-ins, minimizing construction debris and toxins—such as concrete foundation tar—on the site.
Mike Kurokawa and Paul Fishman set out for the beach from their house in the Puna region of Hawaii. A bridge leads from street level to the upper floor of the house, which is situated in a natural depression, or kipuka.
The home’s geometric silhouette echoes the classic typology of the region’s gable roof barns. “We took our inspiration from this vernacular architecture and re-interpreted it with a contemporary twist,” Dworkind says.
A cantilevered cabin designed by R D Gentzler blends into the forest, even as it hovers above a 20-foot drop-off. Its south face is almost entirely glass, but a roof canopy limits solar gain. “We sit on the deck all afternoon watching the trees, and the time just flies by,” says resident Maricela Salas.
If there were a theme song for architect Christi Azevedo’s rehabilitation of the crumbling 1885 abode she purchased in San Francisco’s Mission District, it would have to be “Love the One You’re With.” Instead of an extreme makeover, the self-described modernist undertook a thoughtful refurbishment—–preserving trim,
retaining the layout, making furniture from framing lumber excavated from the site, and fabricating new elements as needed. Musing on the Victorian hybrid that she shares with her partner, Katherine Catlos, Azevedo notes, “I think the world will look more and more like Blade Runner, where you have an old Chevy Nova as well as some crazy thing flying through the air. There’s room for both.”
The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.
In a Manhattan Beach home, homeowner Matt Jacobson and architect Michael Lee designed the long steel-and-Ipe bench surrounding a square, concrete outdoor fire pit, which suspends from the low concrete wall in their outdoor space. Dukes relaxes on a Willy Guhl Loop chair with her German Shepherd, Major.
To reduce the home's environmental footprint, OLA installed rain water collection tanks and solar panels, which the house relies upon for water and electricity. White tile and tan travertine pool pavers mimic the color palette of the nearby beach.
The facade uses sustainably harvested and local PEFC-certified Australian timber cladding. Not only does the material palette blend in with the surrounding landscape, but it also serves a practical purposes: it is resistant to brush fire and extreme weather.
A gallery occupies the lower level. "The house really ended up becoming a vessel through which the art is experienced," says Dolezal.
To learn more about how architects design around art collections, view our story on the Housemuseum in Melbourne, Australia.
Yurika Ninomiya says good morning to busy central Nagoya from her third-floor bedroom while husband Takuya opens up the shop and gallery that they run below.
Mark Fekete and Viviana de Loera of MARK+VIVI transformed a former tire shop in the Verdun borough of Montreal into a welcoming home-office, exposing beams on the ground floor and making liberal use of locally sourced Canadian plywood.
Set in a beautiful stretch of fjord country about 250 miles northwest of Oslo, the Juvet Landscape Hotel is the kind of place you could not even dream up. The minimalist design of the Juvet's rooms bring guests into close contact with the Valldola River and the sublime valley beyond it.
In the farmhouse architect Lucy Marston built for her family in Suffolk, England, she balanced off-the-shelf pieces, such as a velvet-covered sofa from sofa.com, with customized key elements, like the kitchen. The refrigerator is from Fisher & Paykel, and the tiles are from Topps Tiles.
When Belgian fashion retailer Nathalie Vandemoortele was seeking a new nest for her brood, she stumbled upon a fortresslike house in the countryside designed in 1972 by a pair of Ghent architects, Johan Raman and Fritz Schaffrath. While the Brutalist concrete architecture and petite but lush gardens suited her tastes to a tee, the interiors needed a few updates.
Transforming shipping containers into habitable spaces is a growingly popular subset of prefab. Just off the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, Martha Moseley and Bill Mathesius adapted an unused concrete foundation to create a home made from 11 stacked shipping containers. "We were inspired by the site, and our desire to have something cool and different," says Moseley.
Cool with a Capital "C"
Submitted by Giuseppe Saltarelli
Designer's Statement:
"The slogan “Cool with a Capital C” and my custom made font illustration dictated the style of the design. After that the challenge was to take something from each Capital and make it work together. For Amsterdam I went with their signature bicycle, for Antwerp it was the diamonds they are famous for, Valencia, I chose to go with the Bull, for Vienna where Mozart came from and is the music capital of the World I went with the Treble Clef and finally for Zürich I decided to add circle spots which represents the Swiss cheese holes and/or pieces of chocolate. The choice of colour was another challenge where I wanted to go with a feminine colour that men would not be embarrassed with. I think it worked."
With the help of architects X+L Studio, Nynke Meeuwissen and Mark Aink rehabilitated an old school outside of Amsterdam into a comfortable roost for their family of five. The former gym—with original herringbone parquet floors—is now the living room, furnished with Minotti sofas, a Danskina rug, and a Gyrofocus wood-burning stove.
Amsterdam Showroom & Brand Store; Photo by Valerie van der Wal
In the living room, Bram and Dirk sit on a sofa by Cocoon near a Persian rug and tables from Leen Bakker. The architects illuminated one side of the stairway leading to the bedrooms.
In a family's house in Amsterdam, a New York cityscape takes up one wall in Bram’s room, which has furnishings from Ikea and a bed from Goed Gemaakt.
Similar architectural geometries are at play in the ceiling of a bathroom, where custom sinks by Concr3te accompany Grohe fixtures.
“We wanted to create a natural mood, like you’re in a forest,” he says. “We went for a more abstract reference to nature.” Stark white walls create the feel of wide-open space in the single story, roughly 2,500-square-foot dwelling. The white palette is offset by rough oak finishes.
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