Living Room Storage Ceiling Lighting Bookcase Sofa Concrete Floors Design Photos and Ideas

Designer Ralph Germann inserted a partially glazed box into a 19th-century barn to form the main living space of Christine Bonvin’s home in Switzerland. Soft light enters through original arrow-loop windows.
In the living area and kitchen, materials such as concrete and ceramic tiles were chosen for affordability and durability. The angled skylight above the living room provides a void in the slab that could be utilized for a stair or ladder should a third story need to be added in the future.
The open-plan residential floor has been designed so that it can be easily adapted in the future. The joinery between the bedroom and the living space offers privacy without completely separating the two areas.
The floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto the stone terrace and provide a strong connection with the outdoors.
Clerestory windows line the top edge of the room.
Retractable walls allow the interior to fluidly merge with its natural surroundings. Per the architects: "While trying to always maintain the relationship between built and wild, the indoors opens completely to allow the breeze and the red sunset light to inundate the space."
The cedar-clad interior provides protection from the sun and orients views towards the ocean.
The Rod XL sofa by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani joins custom nesting tables, also designed by Di Stefano and Bongiorni and fabricated by Motta, in the refreshed living room.
Combining a prefab steel super-structure with concrete walls and insulated metal panels, Anthrazit House in Santa Barbara was designed by architects Pamela and Hector Magnus and built in collaboration with EcoSteel.“This wasn’t a traditional Santa Barbara site with large acreage,” Hector says. “It was small and steep.” Expansive windows on the second floor face a park.