Category Archives: Home Design

Home Tours: “The Malt House” In Chipping Campden, The Cotswolds, England (Country Life)

Country Life Magazine (July 26, 2020):

Country Life Magazine July 2020Chipping Campden is a town charmed by limestone. Its walls dance by the light of the dying day… Chipping Campden’s High Street is best viewed from the covered market of 1627, looking up towards the church tower. The houses are of a creamy local limestone. Walls are offset by grey-brown roof tiles and white woodwork, fronted by foxgloves, hydrangeas and a skirt of lawn.’

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The High Street of Chipping Campden is described as ‘the best piece of townscape in Gloucestershire and arguably one of the best in England’, not by the agents, but by Nikolaus Pevsner himself.

The 18th-century, five-bedroom home is awash with period features, such as an oak staircase, fireplaces and exposed beams. The garden planted with hornbeam, yew and box hedging, as well as rose beds and herbaceous borders, leads through to the private parking area with three spaces.

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The Cotswolds is a rural area of south central England covering parts of 6 counties, notably Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Its rolling hills and grassland harbour thatched medieval villages, churches and stately homes built of distinctive local yellow limestone. The 102-mile Cotswold Way walking trail follows the Cotswold Edge escarpment from Bath in the south to Chipping Campden in the north.

Top Ecological Design: “Roatán Próspera” In Honduras Designed By Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid ArchitectsThe first residential units on Roatán Próspera are a case study in local sustainability and global integration. Combining the most advanced modular construction techniques with sustainably-sourced local materials, the design and planning for the first dwellings in Próspera is a tangible example of the dramatic shift in development methodologies taking place around the world. 

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The people of neighboring settlements will take part in construction and management and part of the purchase of each residence goes toward the construction of a sister residence in the neighboring community.

Roatán Próspera rethinks the whole design and conventional delivery approach to development, starting from understanding the local supply chain, logistics, energy and economical aspects as a basis to engage technologically-curious, ecologically-minded, entrepreneurial building contractors. Local labor and methods are engaged for construction methodologies and logistics of supply, procurement, and assembly in Roatán.

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Top Interior Design: “The Print House” In London

‘Soaring ceilings, original timber beams and wooden flooring, flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling sash windows at both aspects’ 

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THE MODERN HOUSE: Brilliantly located in Hoxton, this 19th-century former print house is now a three-bedroom house of exceptional character, scale and versatility. It is arranged across five floors with over 3,700 sq ft of internal living space, including a cinema and artists’ studio, and has two large south-facing terraces.

The house is accessed via a gated front courtyard and entered through an intimate cloakroom. The ground floor is predominantly open plan with the living room and kitchen separated by a wonderful wall of timber-framed stained glass. Painted-brick walls and original timber beams unite the two spaces with wooden floors in the reception becoming concrete in the kitchen. The latter is an enormous space arranged around a large island unit, with a dining area and, beneath a series of pitched roof lights, a six-oven Aga.

The Modern House

From the reception, a concealed door leads to the lower-ground level; a flowing warren of spatial ingenuity comprising steam room, office, utility room, guest WC, and a beautifully finished cinema with seating for seven.

A staircase with timber-panelled walls ascends to the first floor. Here, a dramatic library with soaring ceilings, original timber beams and wooden flooring is flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling sash windows at both aspects. A gas stove and its chimney stack are the only interruption to a towering wall of custom-made bookshelves. Incorporated into the cabinetry, a tropical fish tank offers a distorted glimpse into the room beyond; an elegant guest bedroom with painted-panel walls, a free-standing bath and an excellent walk-in shower with mosaic-tiled flooring and exposed-brick walls.

Reached via an elegant open-tread staircase from the library and occupying the entire second floor, is the master bedroom, with dressing room and en-suite bathroom. An exposed-brick patina on one wall is matched with painted brick on another, all set against dark wooden floors and punctuated with a sculptural free-standing copper bath. With a south-facing window and French doors that lead onto a wonderfully large terrace, this is one of the brightest rooms in the house.

The third floor is a recent addition to the house and is similarly bathed in natural light from walls of Crittall at both aspects; from the north-facing balcony of the artists’ studio, a south-facing landing and a bedroom with gas stove, currently used a room for reading. Steps lead from the studio through an electric roof light and onto an excellent roof terrace, with far-reaching views in every direction.

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Top Home Design: “House Of The Tall Chimneys” In Waterberg, South Africa -Frankie Pappas Architects

House of the Tall Chimneys - Frankie Pappas Architects - South AfricaThe brief: A bed amidst the trees; a shower amongst the rocks, the site sits in a nature conservation in rural South Africa; where trees and shrubs and rocks create the architectural backdrop for any home.

A bedroom that opens itself out into the treescape; that invites in the smells, and wind, and rustle; a bathroom that grounds itself against the landscape; that speaks of earth, and rock, and shrub.

House of the Tall Chimneys - Frankie Pappas Architects - South Africa

The idea: The originating idea was to root the bathroom into the rockscape, whilst allowing the bedroom to float amongst the trees. The building is organised as a long thin building which allows it to fit snugly between the forest trees. The two chimneys are not only essential to the structure of the building, but also naturally ventilate the bedroom  (the building was designed in such a manner as to not disturb any tree during construction).

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Design: “LivingHomes YB1” Accessory Dwelling Units

LivingHomes YB1 Accesory Dwelling Units ExteriorWhen governor Jerry Brown signed a law that made Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) legal in California, it started a revolution in the ways that homeowners, builders and city planners think of small living. Homeowners’ applications for these small backyard buildings have skyrocketed after this regulatory reform in 2018. 

The structural system of YB1 allows for a wide range of internal layouts. It is based on a 4’ grid that is full height, allowing the homeowner to pick full height windows, clerestory or rigid walls all around the building. This allows for shaping light, privacy and cost needs very precisely. A unique feature of YB1 is that it allows for multiple roofline options: the home can be designed with a standard 8’ ceiling height and flat roof, a 10’ ceiling with a clerestory running the entire building, or a pitched roof that provides climate adaptability, neighborhood style integration, or adds a loft addition.

YB1 Accessorie Dwelling Units ADU

The design is cost-efficient and adheres to LivingHomes’ high environmental efficient standards, using materials like wood slats paneling, concrete and stucco panels. The model options are also responsive to climate. Flat roofs that allow for solar panels can be incorporated, which work well in southern regions; likewise, the design of pitch roofs assimilate well in colder areas and mountain regions. YB1 homes offer a wide range of creative building configurations — modules for full kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms and bedrooms (or offices) will be available, and because of the flexible features, they can accommodate different sites, design interests and lifestyle preferences.

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Top Architectural Design: Antony Gibbon Designs “Pushing The Boundaries”

Antony Gibbon Designs logoEmbracing nature’s forms as a source of inspiration and pushing the boundaries of architectural design, Antony’s body of work has gained world-wide recognition and been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Times, Huffington Post, Dezeen, Dwell, Designboom and the Secret Homes Television series.

Antony sees the environment as an important driving force behind his work, each structure is individually created to consider the surroundings using sustainable materials wherever possible. He aims to create the connection between Nature & Nurture, seeking a path to merge one into the other. To combine each unique, bespoke structure and its individual habitat and to develop harmony, so they grow together.

Antony Gibbon Designs Work

Wherever you are based, the team works with you to create a design that meets your exact needs. Working with a selection of the best building companies around the world to deliver the highest quality service tailored to each individual project.

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World’s Top Architecture: “Atelier Alice Trepp” In Switzerland By Mino Caggiula Architects (2019)

ATELIER ALICE TREPP - Mino Caggiula Architects 2019Atelier Alice Trepp, located in Origlio, a small and stunning village, is an atelier designed for Alice Trepp, an Ecuadorian sculptress. The site is characterized by a gentle descending slope, the view of the pastures and of Monte Tamaro, and the coolness given by the lake.

The site resembles the Greek theatres that used to lie on hill slopes, often in locations that offered a fascinating view and a spectacular perspective. The concept of lying on a natural slope gave the idea for Atelier Alice Trepp.

Mino Caggiula ArchitectsThe shape develops from the analysis of the contour lines and the folding of two of them upwards, under which the building is inserted by cutting out sinuous spaces and movements. The volumes take shape like leaves lifted from the ground, so that the architecture actually seems to be a part of Earth itself.

ATELIER ALICE TREPP - Mino Caggiula Architects 2019

The symbiosis with the context is emphasised by the continuous and essential presence of the vegetation, that transforms the villa into a large expanse with an opening. It resembles a natural cave with its open-air cenote into which the light and the evanescent green dive, reflecting and refracting in a pool of water that creates light shows, vibrations and sounds.

Top Home Design: “The Cloud House” – Peter Morris Architects (2020)

THE CLOUD HOUSE

Peter Morris Architects - Cloud House - Top View

The Cloud House takes its cue from the beautifully eccentric Grade I listed St Martin’s Church opposite, which looks like it could come straight from fairy tales – we have embraced that spirit too. Arches appear again and again on the church, so we modernized and simplified this shape, as the starting point for The Cloud House.

It’s not in a conservation area, and the architecture on the street is wildly eclectic, so a little flamboyance feels appropriate.

Peter Morris ArchitectsCoated in a buff render, with a pale pink tone and duck egg blue metalwork, it brings some gentle colour to the street. As one neighbour has kindly put it: ‘The Cloud House introduces a valuable ‘softer’ element to the street’s dressing, with its hoops and curves and decorations. It is just what Vicars Road needs and will lighten and humanise the street’.

Peter Morris Architects - Cloud House 2020

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Design Podcast: Islamic Geometric Patterns, Eco-Architecture & Shelley Klein’s Scottish Home

Monocle on Design Logo‘Monocle On Design’ discusses the origins of tessellations in Islamic art and ask how architecture affects our work-life balance. Plus: author Shelley Klein recounts her childhood in a mid-century house in Scotland and we preview Monocle’s city-themed July/August issue.

Monocle On Design - June 30 2020

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Future Homes: “Modular Water Dwellings” By Grimshaw Architects

The Water Dwellings use minimal energy, with well-insulated and shaded lower pontoons and upper stories, and energy provided by solar roof panels and heat exchangers built into base boxes below the waterline. By developing a communal energy supply, the Water Dwellings’ environmental efficiency has the potential to achieve near zero energy use.

Modular Water Dwellings - Grimshaw Architects + Concrete Valley - 2020

Global design practice Grimshaw and Dutch manufacturing specialists Concrete Valley have developed an innovative design for Modular Water Dwellings, in response to the growing risks of climate change and the challenges of increasing urbanisation.

Sustainability Strategy - Modular Water Dwellings - Grimshaw Architects 2020

Grimshaw ArchitectsThe Modular Water Dwellings incorporate standardised components that provide efficiency in manufacturing, while still allowing a variety of internal layouts for occupants’ individual requirements. The Dwellings can be orientated and spaced in different ways, responding to varying site contexts, local conditions, light sources and primary views. They also maximise the use of durable and non-corroding materials, such as concrete and glass, ensuring a long design life that anticipates multiple occupants.

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