THE CLOUD HOUSE
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.
Coated 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’.
‘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.
PROJECT – VSTR – The Plus with Vestre, the Norwegian manufacturer of urban furniture, BIG unveils The Plus as the world’s most sustainable furniture factory tucked in the heart of the Norwegian forest. Envisioned as a village for a community dedicated to the cleanest, carbon neutral …
Located just outside Winthrop in eastern Washington, the site for this small cabin lies in the Methow Valley. Nestled in the foothills of the North Cascade mountains, the dramatic views from the site and opportunity for year round recreation drew our client to this region. A strong relationship to the site topography and varying climate was key to the design.
The program for the project was to design a two bedroom cabin which maximized the connection to the surrounding natural environment and outdoor living. This cabin would initially serve as a weekend retreat from the city, and later become a permanent home. Our client wanted to create an efficient floor plan for the house, with open interior/exterior living, bedrooms above, and garage below. It was important to use durable materials throughout the exterior of the cabin due to the extreme climate and fire hazard in the area. The upper levels of the cabin sit on a concrete plinth which forms the garage. Concrete is used to both ground the cabin and retain the natural slope of the site that the cabin sits in. Above, black corrugated metal sheets are used as an efficient and weather resistant siding material. A shed roof with large overhangs on all sides protects the cabin from the heavy winter snowload. A large cantilevered exterior deck opens out from the main level, vastly increasing the living space in the summer months. Views from the deck capture the surrounding mountain ranges and natural beauty of the site.
Air
“from roots to crowns” describes the vertical metamorphosis of a hybrid building, moving from below ground through fields and trunks up to the crowns. It is a living shell on the move, able to take on 3 main positions “under the earth”(-1), “on the fields” (0) and “in the tree crowns” (+1+2). The lifting house is a visionary way of adapting the concept of “living and working in nature” to the varying requirements of its inhabitants. 
The result is a home with four gabled boxes connected by glass hallways. The two double-story bookend boxes are the private living spaces for each client and the two center boxes house the shared common spaces with one box for the kitchen and dining area and the other for the shared living room.
Boomers Daily 