“Exposing the craft and detail of the materials was a key part of the design,” Flato notes. The texture of the house, he says, can be observed in the concrete retaining wall for the lap pool.
Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden in the Mill Valley home of Dwell founder Lara Hedberg Deam and architect Chris Deam. Photo by Dustin Aksland.
The house is intended to be experienced as a continuous sequence from the public living areas to the private office and bedrooms. Instead of organizing the plan linearly, Priatman thought of it as a spiral that wraps around a central green space.
Delivering a modern look, concrete serves as a long-lasting, hardwearing material.
"It was nothing but a muddy pit," landscape architect Terence Lee says about the 500-square-foot yard behind his Pacifica, California, house. Instead of filling the space with potted plants or paving it over for a quick fix, Lee devised a simple budget-friendly plan involving tilted lines and a few plants to fashion a functional, low-maintenance space fit his family of five's lifestyle.
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.
Once through the street-level entrance, the property's modern garage door comes into view. Stairs lead up to the kitchen.
Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.
Yumi (left) and Maya (right) cheese around on the steps leading into the front door. Inside, there is ample space for removing and leaving one's shoes, another Japanese element.
Pros: Concrete countertops are durable, resistant to heat, and can be less expensive than natural stone, especially when completed as a DIY project.
Cons: Concrete must be sealed before being used; otherwise, its porous nature means that it will stain very easily.
The bathrooms feature the same polished concrete flooring and poured concrete counters found elsewhere in the home. A honed granite recessed shower provides a visual counterpoint to the sea of white and steel.
Concrete stairs leading up to a sleeping loft are illuminated with wall sconces.
A spacious deck was created as part of the addition. A cantilevered concrete bench stretches out to the rear garden and complements the adjacent concrete wall.
Casteñada explains, “Everything starts with an interview that I personally conduct with the owner in order to understand his lifestyle and expectations. The final result needs to satisfy the owner’s lifestyle, dreams and expectations, as well as my firm’s vision and design concepts.”
@concretecollaborative shared a shot of their colorful concrete tiles.
The Coleman Bar Stool is a sophisticated design that blends mixed materials, color, and geometry to create a distinctive seating option for a kitchen bar. This stool is comprised of a sculptural powder-coated steel base that is met with a hand-cast concrete seat.
Shown in Aspen Green.