In our coverage of freshly built and redesigned homes, we often come across architectural projects that involve updating older homes to give them a fresh lease a life. Occasionally we find that contemporary changes and additions can detract from the older charm of the building or look out of place in an older neighbourhood, but designers who really invest in the project and take care in creating contrast between the..
Sunbeams Music Centre / MawsonKerr Architects
© Simon Kennedy Photography
- Architects: MawsonKerr Architects
- Location: Penrith, United Kingdom
- Architect In Charge: Will Mawson
- Area: 600.0 m2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Simon Kennedy Photography
- Client: Sunbeams Music Trust
- Main Contractor: Thomas Armstrong Construction Ltd
- Structural Engineer: JS Engineering
- Cost Consultant : Johnstons
- Acoustic Consultant: DACS
- Service Engineers: JH Partners
© Simon Kennedy Photography
Completion of the £2.0 million Sunbeams Music Centre marks a significant milestone in an extraordinary journey for Sunbeams Music Trust and Newcastle based MawsonKerr Architects.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
This journey began 12 years ago as a university thesis project for MawsonKerr director Will Mawson then studying the charity for his final year project at Newcastle University; in an unusual turn of events this became a live project following unanimous approval by the board of trustees.
Pencil Render
Established in 1992, Sunbeams Music Trust deliver their ‘Music For Life’ programme to tens of thousands of needing members of society each year and were eager for a home.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
A green field site with transformational therapeutic qualities was generously donated overlooking Ullswater Valley near Penrith following which a lengthy fund raising period began for the centre including a number of sponsored “endurance challenges” by MawsonKerr and friends of the charity such as a Forrest Gump style 24 hour coast to coast run.
Floor Plan
MawsonKerr’s resultant building is designed to embody musical qualities of rhythm, timbre and melody within the landscape; shaped along the curved natural contours it grows with a crescendo at the canopy to the eastern main entrance. Inserted along the rhythmical elevation are a series of playful introverted volumes housing key activities.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
The architecture is intended to reflect synthesis between the natural context, a contemporary vernacular and musical union; housing several unique functions it is also importantly an outward facing advert for the charity.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
External envelope materials are primarily slate stone clad spine walls with an oak façade to the main curved elevation, a series of lozenge shaped cedar shingle clad volumes all topped with an extensive green roof; many of these materials continue internally to create a rich interior texture. Radially spanning glulam beams run with a rhythm throughout the building creating the projecting eaves and entrance canopy.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
The primary function of the centre is providing music therapy, in acoustically treated spaces specifically designed for group sessions or one on one. Secondly the important administrative requirement for a growing charity like Sunbeams Music Trust and thirdly the centre allows promotion of Sunbeams work throughout with exhibitions open to the public and music concerts generating funds for the programmes they run.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
There is a strong sustainable agenda to the design based on first principles; the six hundred square metre Sunbeams Music Centre is predominantly naturally ventilated, naturally lit and the heating provided by ground source heat pump. U-values are to passivhaus standards with a large amount of locally sourced sheep wool and carefully designed south facing elevation to limit overheating. All materials are sustainably sourced and from as local a source as possible.
Section
Integrated into the centre are a host of bespoke designed elements, such as the reception desk formed around the music signature of a harp, green walls, musically derived ironmongery, tiling incorporating imagery of the fund raising challenges and the main Glassical Hall (named after Philip Glass one of the patrons) whose oak clad walls are design to create an optimum acoustic performance.
© Simon Kennedy Photography
Product Description. Burlington Slate Wall – One of the key drivers to the design is in creating a beautiful aesthetic of natural materials that are resilient and locally sourced. We were able to have great buy in by local quarry Burlington who were the source of all the amazing stone which runs radially throughout the building internally and externally.
Enjoy Concrete HQ / Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects
© Tim Van De Velde
- Architects: Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects
- Location: Veurne, Belgium
- Architect In Charge: Benny Govaert, Damiaan Vanhoutte
- Area: 6974.0 m2
- Project Year: 2014
- Photographs: Tim Van De Velde
© Tim Van De Velde
From the architect. Enjoy Concrete produces and installs architectural prefabricated concrete elements. The brief for their new corporate building was to combine a production hanger together with offices, while integrating their own product within the building. Being on a strategic point in between an industrial estate and a green canal, they wanted to be seen by the passing traffic, as well as to become a transition from green to industrial.
© Tim Van De Velde
The design for the headquarters for Enjoy Concrete became a true showcase for their own capabilities, being constructed entirely out of prefabricated concrete elements. Its facade are made out of concrete slabs of 6 by 3 meters. All windows share these same proportions.
© Tim Van De Velde
The building mainly consists out of a hall for production and storage. The office spaces are in front of the building, spread over 4 levels, allowing light and visibility onto the main road. A cantilevered volume (12m50 in total) containing the board room is located at the top corner of the building. This box also shares the same 6×3 meters proportion. The long volume was made out of a lighter steel structure, allowing large windows on the south west façade. The steel structure is internally anchored into the concrete staircase, creating a counter weight for the long cantilever. Inside the boardroom a solid steel table stands only on 2 legs, having an over span of 7m50.
© Tim Van De Velde
The facade is further characterized by a pattern image, of the beautiful treeline along the canal “Damse Vaart” on the prefab slabs through the application of the “Graphic Concrete” procedure. The digital image was broken down into big dots, making the total picture become clear only from a distance. The facade creates an interesting interaction between the building and its surroundings, as the building reflects the nature across the street and canal.
Section Detail
In essence the HQ for enjoy concrete is one big concrete block. The floating boardroom functions as an eye catcher for the approaching traffic, and also breaks the simple volume. The print of the treeline blends the concrete mass into the green surroundings.
© Tim Van De Velde
Product Description. – Enjoy Concrete produces and installs architectural prefabricated concrete elements. The brief for their new corporate building was to combine a production hanger together with offices, while integrating their own product within the building. Being on a strategic point in between an industrial estate and a green canal, they wanted to be seen by the passing traffic, as well as to become a transition from green to industrial.
© Tim Van De Velde
The design for the headquarters for Enjoy Concrete became a true showcase for their own capabilities, being constructed entirely out of prefabricated concrete elements. Its facade are made out of concrete slabs of 6 by 3 meters. All windows share these same proportions.
© Tim Van De Velde
The building mainly consists out of a hall for production and storage. The office spaces are in front of the building, spread over 4 levels, allowing light and visibility onto the main road. A cantilevered volume (12m50 in total) containing the board room is located at the top corner of the building. This box also shares the same 6×3 meters proportion. The long volume was made out of a lighter steel structure, allowing large windows on the south west façade. The steel structure is internally anchored into the concrete staircase, creating a counter weight for the long cantilever. Inside the boardroom a solid steel table stands only on 2 legs, having an over span of 7m50.
Section Detail
The facade is further characterized by a pattern image, of the beautiful treeline along the canal “Damse Vaart” on the prefab slabs through the application of the “Graphic Concrete” procedure. The digital image was broken down into big dots, making the total picture become clear only from a distance. The facade creates an interesting interaction between the building and its surroundings, as the building reflects the nature across the street and canal.
© Tim Van De Velde
In essence the HQ for enjoy concrete is one big concrete block. The floating boardroom functions as an eye catcher for the approaching traffic, and also breaks the simple volume. The print of the treeline blends the concrete mass into the green surroundings.
Córdoba-Flat / Cadaval & Solà-Morales
© Imagen Subliminal
- Architects: Cadaval & Solà-Morales
- Location: Calle Córdoba, Roma Nte., Ciudad de México, CDMX, México
- Architects In Charge: Eduardo Cadaval & Clara Solà-Morales
- Area: 90.0 m2
- Year Project: 2015
- Photographs: Imagen Subliminal
- Builders: Eugenio Eraña, Juan Carlos Cajiga
- Structure: Ricardo Camacho.
© Imagen Subliminal
From the architect. The project is located in the Colonia Roma, a historic neighbourhood in the central sector of Mexico City. La Roma developed in the 19th century as one of the first extensions of the city centre, with an orthogonal grid of large houses inhabited by the upper classes of the city. With the emergence of suburban life in the 50s, la Roma decreased its population throughout the second half of the 20th century, getting to its worst with earthquake of 1985.
© Imagen Subliminal
Due to the location of la Roma in what once was Lake Texcoco, the subsoil is highly muddy, so seismic waves are amplified; thus, during the strong earthquake of 85, la Roma was one of the more affected areas of the city: many buildings collapsed, and many of those which resisted were abandoned by its inhabitants because of their structural damage or because of the fear that the buildings would not resist another earthquake.
© Imagen Subliminal
Plan
© Imagen Subliminal
The neighbourhood became deeply deteriorated, with high levels of insecurity and abandoned buildings, until its recent re-emergence as one of the most active areas of the city, filled with art galleries, small restaurants, cafés and young people occupying again its streets and public areas.
© Imagen Subliminal
Plan
© Imagen Subliminal
The project seeks to explore new possible configurations within the framework of the spatial distribution that allows the existing space. The intervention acts on the horizontal planes, divi- ding the space into two. An area of rooms with low ceilings, of small and cozy spaces and a spacious public area with double height. Two rooms, a studio relate to a unique space containing the living room, dining room and kitchen. A simplification of the spatial structure of the apartment is sought as a tool to allow a clear reading of the main space and their relationship with the city.
© Imagen Subliminal
13 Spectacular Living Roofs in Detail
© Paul Warchol
In Le Corbusier’s 5 points of architecture, he advocates the inclusion of flat roofs hosting roof gardens, providing valuable outdoor space for the inhabitants of the building in order to replace the ground lost to the construction of the building. But while this acknowledgement of outdoor space was important for people, Le Corbusier‘s sculptural concrete roof gardens were little consolation to the non-human flora and fauna that were displaced by his works.
Recent improvements in our understanding of ecosystems and the environment, as well as a better scientific understanding of the needs of plants, have changed this dramatically. In the past few decades, green roofs and living roofs have exploded in popularity, and now adorn every kind of building–from small private houses to the gigantic surface of Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn.
We’ve collected together some excellent examples of these living roofs, including the structural detailing that makes them possible. Read on for 13 spectacular green roofs that achieve environmental benefits including reduced stormwater runoff, and reductions in energy use and the heat island effect.
© Paul Warchol
Lakeside Retreat / GLUCK+
+ House for Trees / Vo Trong Nghia Architects
© Hiroyuki Oki
House for Trees / Vo Trong Nghia Architects
+ Vias Cultural Center / Estudio SIC
© Esaú Acosta
Centro Creación Joven Espacio Vias / Estudio SIC
+ House at León / ALARCÓN + ASOCIADOS
© Cortesía de Alarcón + Asociados
Casa en León / Alarcón + Asociados
+ House C / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
© Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Casa C / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
+ Galeria Mario Sequeira / Carvalho Araújo
© Pedro Lobo
Galería Mario Sequeira / Atelier Carvalho Araújo
+ Cubierta Verde / Cardoso + Zúñiga
© Luis Alonso
Cubierta Verde / Cardoso + Zúñiga
+ Senior Citizen Community Center / F451 Arquitectura
© José Hevia
Senior Citizen Community Center / F451 Arquitectura
© José Hevia
Casa OS / Nolaster
© RPBW
Vulcano Buono / Renzo Piano
© Lluís Ros / Optical Adiction
Villa Bio / Enric Ruiz Geli
+ Line of Work / Jill Anholt Studio
© Martin Tessler
Line of Work / Jill Anholt Studio
+ Sports Pavilion / Filipe Brandão and Nuno Sanches
© Nuno Sanches
Pabellón de Deporte / Felipe Brandão y Nuno Sanches
Check out more great projects with green roofs here.
Detail: Washrooms, Restrooms, Bathrooms, Lavatories, and Toilets
Besides the kitchen, the bathroom often takes top priority when building or renovating a home. However, choosing a look is not always easy, so here we have gathered 13 stunning bathrooms from previously published projects to provide inspiration in your own designs. Each is filled with inspiring ideas for your own project; from relaxing tubs to sleek showers, one of these bathrooms is sure to suit your style.
The first steps in the evolution of the physical space of the bathroom that we know of today occurred in Scotland, where the first rustic latrines were constructed, and in Pakistan, where systems of pipes of cooked mud embedded in brick constructions have been found. These innovations date back to 3000 BC, later evolving into the first vats, toilets and ceramic pipes of the Minoan nobility, then to the copper plumbing of the Egyptians (who used their baths to celebrate religious ceremonies), then to the Romans, who transformed personal hygiene into a social act with public baths, covered with tiles.
During the middle ages, a widespread lack of concern for hygiene arose, but plumbing systems resurfaced in the early seventeenth century – although some of this era’s most impressive constructions, such as the palace of Versailles, did not include bathrooms. The early industrial revolution in England also did not contribute much, since the rapidity of urbanization and industrialization caused an overcrowding that was very difficult to control. It was only in the 1830s that an outbreak of cholera in London forced the authorities to launch a campaign to incorporate sanitary facilities into homes, taking the first step towards the toilets with cisterns that we use today.
Today the bathroom as a space has gone beyond its purely hygienic function and has entered into an exclusive area of its own design. Now, regardless of whether you are a bath person or strictly a shower person, these 13 awe-inducing bathrooms take daily cleansing to a whole new level.
+ Returning Hut / FM.X Interior Design
© WU Yong-Chang
+ Takapuna House / Athfield Architects
Takapuna House / Athfield Architects. Image © Simon Devitt
Casa W / 01Arq . Image © Mauricio Fuertes
+ Tigh Port na Long / Dualchas Architects
Tigh Port na Long / Dualchas Architects . Image © Andre Lee
+ Caterpillar House / Sebastián Irarrázaval
Casa Oruga / Sebastián Irarrázaval Delpiano . Image © Sergio Pirrone
+ Refugi Lieptgas / Georg Nickisch + Selina Walder
© Ralph Feiner
Courtesy of rzlbd
+ Casa L / Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos
Casa L / Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos. Image © Jaime Navarro
+ Can Manuel d’en Corda / Marià Castelló + Daniel Redolat
Can Manuel d’en Corda / Marià Castelló + Daniel Redolat . Image © Estudi Es Pujol de s'Era
+ Apartment Refurbishment in Pamplona / Iñigo Beguiristain
JA Rehabilitación de departamento en Pamplona / Iñigo Beguiristáin . Image © Iñaki Bergera
+ Grow / APOLLO Architects & Associates
Grow / APOLLO Architects & Associates . Image © Masao Nishikawa
+ Fagerstrom House / Claesson Koivisto Rune
Vivienda Fagerstrom / Claesson Koivisto Rune . Image © Åke E:son Lindman
+ House On The River Reuss / Dolmus Architects
Casa en el río Reuss / Dolmus Arquitectos. Image © Roger Frei
Need more inspiration? Check out our Pinterest bathroom board, and remember you can find all the latest materials by checking out our Product Catalog.
The Dunn House / The Practice of Everyday Design
© Arnaud Marthouret
- Architects: The Practice of Everyday Design
- Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
- Architect In Charge: Antoine Morris, David Long, Melanie Morris
- Area: 3520.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2014
- Photographs: Arnaud Marthouret, Kim Jeffery
© Arnaud Marthouret
From the architect. Our clients, a young married couple, purchased a two and a half story historic home in Parkdale, Toronto. The house had previously been subdivided into three apartments that they wished to convert back into a single family dwelling to accommodate their future family. They wanted a friendly, open concept house that would allow them to entertain anything from dinner parties to sports viewing. The design strategy was to open up the common areas so that everyone could more easily be connected. A variety of nooks were created throughout the house which serve as both reading and hangout spaces.
© Arnaud Marthouret
The front of the house was largely left intact. Some minor repairs were done to the brickwork and new windows were installed that respect the historic character of the house. The interior was completely gutted and a new, underpinned basement was dug out. An extension, clad in black aluminum to contrast it from the existing house, was constructed in the back. Between this addition and the original house is a load-bearing brick wall which was stripped bare on the inside, white washed, and pierced to create passages between the new and the old.
© Arnaud Marthouret
© Arnaud Marthouret
The front entrance opens onto a large living-dining-room space and a kitchen beyond. A stair, lined with a large wooden bookcase, leads up to a double-height family room and a wood-clad structure housing two bedrooms and a bathroom. Above these rooms is a cozy loft accessible by ladder and which overlooks the double-height space below. Through an opening in the brick wall is the master bedroom suite overlooking the garden below.
© Arnaud Marthouret
Section
© Arnaud Marthouret
Product Description:
The original rear brick facade was left exposed and painted white, emphasizing the passage between the old house and the new addition.
© Arnaud Marthouret
13 Stunning Inner Courtyards
We would like to take a second to focus on the wonderful, yet often overlooked, inner courtyard. The inner courtyard is essentially a “contained outside space” made up of transparent walls, and a well thought-out drainage system is a must. Other elements such as furnishings, decks, vegetation, stairs, water are then added, complicating the space created. The inner courtyard also plays a role in the building’s layout; in most cases it functions as the central point from which the other rooms and functions of the project are organized, giving them air and light when the façade openings are not enough.
Here is our selection of 13 stunning inner courtyards of houses and buildings that we have previously published on our site.
+ House Quinta Do Carvalheiro / GSMM Architetti
Casa Quinta Do Carvalheiro / GSMM Architetti . Image © FS + SG
Casa W / 01Arq . Image © Mauricio Fuertes
+ Residence In Legrena / Thymio Papayannis and Associates
Residencia en Legrena / Thymio Papayannis and Associates . Image © Charalampos Louizidis
+ Chilean House / Smiljan Radic
Casa Chilena 1 y 2 / Smiljan Radic . Image © Gonzalo Puga
+ Evangelical Temple in Terrassa / OAB
Templo Evangelico en Terrassa / OAB . Image © Alejo Bagué
The Wall House / FARM . Image © Bryan van der Beek & Edward Hendricks
+ Spa Querétaro / Ambrosi I Etchegaray
Spa Querétaro / Ambrosi I Etchegaray . Image © Luis Gordoa
+ Casa SL / Llosa Cortegana Arquitectos
Casa SL / Llosa Cortegana Arquitectos . Image Courtesy of Llosa Cortegana Arquitectos
+ Bamboo Courtyard Teahouse / Harmony World Consulting & Design
Casa del Té de Bambú / Harmony World Consulting & Design . Image © T+E
Casa PR / Bach Arquitectes . Image © Lluís Casals
+ Roku Museum / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Museo Roku / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP . Image © Masumi Kawamura
+ Casa in Palmela / Pedro Rogado + Catarina Almada
Casa en Palmela / Pedro Rogado + Catarina Almada . Image © Thorsten Humpel
+ Joanopolis House / Una Arquitetos
Casa en Joanopolis / Una Arquitetos . Image © Bebete Viégas
Find more inspiration by visiting our Pinterest boards, and remember you can find all the latest materials by checking out our Product Catalog.
16 CAD Files of Skylights and Light Tubes Available for Your Next Project
GGL single standard install into natural slate © Velux
In the spirit of supporting our readers’ design work, the company Velux has shared a series of .DWG files with us of their different roofing windows models. The files can be downloaded directly from this article and include great amounts of detail and information.
Check the files below, separated into ‘Pitched Roofs’, ‘Flat Roofs’ and ‘Light Tube’.
Pitched Roofs
+ Pitched Roofs / Basic Installation
GGL single standard install into natural slate © Velux
GGL single standard install into low profiled tile © Velux
+ Pitched Roofs / Multiple Installations
GGL combi standard install into natural slate © Velux
GGL coupled standard install into plain tile © Velux
GGL combi standard install into profiled tile © Velux
Flat Roofs
+ Flat Roofs / CFP-CVP Extension
CVPCFP extension install into timber flat roof © Velux
+ Flat Roofs / CFP-CVP Standard
CVPCFP standard install into timber flat roof © Velux
Light Tube
These are designed to provide natural light in corridors, stairwells, bathrooms and closets, where installing a skylight isn’t possible.
+ Sun Tunnel / Residential Tunnel
TCR TCF © Velux
TLF flexible sun tunnel into slate © Velux
TLR rigid sun tunnel into slate © Velux
TWF flexible sun tunnel into tile © Velux
TWR rigid sun tunnel into tile © Velux
+ Sun Tunnel / Industrial
TTK TTC Hard finished ceiling © Velux
TTK TTC Hard finished ceiling © Velux
TOC Open ceiling installation © Velux
TTK TTC Tile ceiling installation © Velux
*Find more related products here.
Spazio Lilt / Ottavio Di Blasi & Partners
© Beppe Raso
- Architects: Ottavio Di Blasi & Partners
- Location: 13900 Biella, Province of Biella, Italy
- Architect In Charge: Ottavio Di Blasi
- Area: 2700.0 m2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Beppe Raso
- Structural Engineering: Davide Besana
- Job Architect: Marzia Roncoroni
- Mechanical Engineering: Claudio Riva
© Beppe Raso
From the architect. The new center, designed by OTTAVIO DI BLASI & Partners (Milan), has an area of 2,700 square meters. It represents a point of excellence of the Health Care Network of Piedmont hosting Prevention and Rehabilitation facilities managed by LILT (Italian league against Cancer)
SPAZIO LILT is a two-storey building conceived around a central distribution core articulating two juxtaposed curved wings. It is not just the container of LILT activities but it is also its mirror by embodying the image and values of the League.
Scheme
• An “open house” and a landmark for the entire city of Biella– The modern curved shape make it easily accessible for all the citizens and is a reference point for the whole community. In addition to LILT offices, it houses surgeries, the prevention center, the rehabilitation gym, a conference room and hosts a number of volunteers associations operating in the area.
• A friendly and efficient building – Easy access, immediacy guidance and the quality of services offered play a major role to the perception of warmth and efficiency that characterize LILT – SPAZIO LILT is a place where prevention and treatment coexist as two aspects of the same human reality.
© Beppe Raso
• A place where the link between health and environment is fully expressed by the relationship between architecture, light and efficient and green environment. SPAZIO LILT is energy efficient and built with environmentally friendly and recyclable materials.
The unique features of the building are due to the glazed terracotta façade in red and white, the colors of LILT. The large terracotta louvers shield the building from direct sunlight and provide privacy to clinics. The choice of terracotta has to do with the durability and the self-clean ability of the surfaces.
© Beppe Raso
In this project, the emotional value and the technical features of the louvers façade are an unicum in which the brightness of the surfaces is most fitting with the bright and positive atmosphere that inspires the entire building.
The open floor plan and the curved shape of the facades of the building and amplify the dynamism that characterize it in an original way.
© Beppe Raso
Product Description. The custom Glazed terracotta façade give the unique features of the building. Glazed terracotta profiles are about 150/160 cm long.- They are assembled on an aluminum frame holding louvers of two different sizes ( 21 cm end 8 cm) . An aluminum tube inside the hollow profile of every terracotta louver secures the structure. Glazed terracotta provides bright looking and self-cleaning features. The ventilated façade ensure privacy and shelter sunrays. The empty space between the terracotta skin and the building façade host maintenance walkway.
© Beppe Raso
Sig Nordal 