A Cleverly Designed Bangkok Residence Fits Two Homes Into One

Located in the center of Rome, the “Bow Window House” is a flat located on the fifth floor of a residential block. The building was constructed in the 1970s and was built using reinforced concrete. The flat’s interior was recently reimagined by the team at Laboratrio di Architettura e Design. The main living quarters in […]

You’re reading The ‘Bow Window House’: An Interior Redesign Project In The Heart Of Rome, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Tucked into the rocky terrain of Baja California, Casa Zilin is a minimalist concrete house that…

This was a 285 s.f. rear yard addition to an existing house, adding a family/dining room out back, and a roof deck above. It sits a half-floor below the main floor, allowing easy access to the backyard, and its new stairs to the basement replace the demo’d old stairs down from the kitchen, which opened up a lot of usable space there. Highlights of the project include the Panoramic folding-glass door wall, opening out to the new back yard terrace; the steel stairs (fabricated by the owner’s father) with thick fir treads; the vertical grain oak kitchen cabinets, with an island on casters, and eating bar overlooking the new room below; the new roof deck; and the standing-seam metal siding.

Known as a great place for the idyllic Tasmanian holiday, Shearwater, Australia is a setting where you can find relaxation and the fresh breeze of ocean greeting you at every turn. Not too far away from one of its more scenic beaches and overlooking the stunning Narawntapu National Park in the distance, Shearwater House paints […]

You’re reading Curved Mirrors and Timber Magic Unleashed at Spectacular Shearwater House, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

The clients of The Sanctuary, recent empty-nesters planning ahead to retirement, hoped to downsize and simplify in the design of their new Palo Alto home. When the clients purchased the property, an old wooden fence across the front yard and original house closed off the site from the street. Behind this rough and aged presentation however was an urban refuge of lush vegetation throughout the deep lot. This sense of discovery served as the original inspiration for the design of the house and directed both architect and client to its culmination. The proximity of the downtown Palo Alto area by foot and bike was fundamental to the clients’ decision to purchase this lot, and their belief in building to a higher density in an urban setting lead to the inclusion of a second story apartment. The couple fell in love with the overgrown garden and its obvious potential, approaching Ground Studio Landscape to help them enhance the landscape; retaining scenes of serenity and surprise while creating more of a cohesive and modern feel. Through their collaboration with Ground Studio Landscape, the clients connected with our firm, bringing with them a desire to design a long-lasting modern house that fit comfortably into the surrounding neighborhood while featuring its unique and charming landscape. The house is sited quietly behind the large heritage oak tree with its canopy stretching across the generously sized front yard. After passing under its branches, guests are lead through a series of courtyards and view gardens that weave through the undulating footprint of the building. Each interior space is paired with its own landscape moment, allowing the architecture and landscape to flow into each other. The structure floats on piers, allowing the building to participate in dialogue with the trees on site while protecting the root areas. The floor plate projects beyond the building envelope and dissolves into balconies to blur the sense of indoor/outdoor while at the same time lifting the building up from the ground. Even the driveway is constructed out of floating concrete structural slabs supported on piers to minimize the impact on the heritage oak tree. By expanding the living area to spill into the outdoor spaces, our teams provided ample room for the clients to entertain their ever expanding family. Three pavilions span the depth of the lot. The thoughtfully placed second story apartment is designed for rentals. Below, board-formed concrete walls serve as organizing elements in the main residence which separate private from public areas. Diffused natural light streams into the space throughout the day, working gently with the clean material palette of concrete and Alaskan yellow cedar. The Sanctuary was constructed as a modern house that allows the landscape to speak first. The design features its many hidden courtyards, inviting guests to experience the same sense of wonder that first drew our clients to this urban oasis.

Welcome to the G+B House — a modern family home designed for connection, leisure, and everyday…