Built in the mid-19th century, The Pilot’s House was one of the original ‘Winchester Villas’; a collection of family homes built for the wealthy and located close to England’s oldest school, Winchester College. Built using fine brick-work and flint masonry, the houses were an exquisite example of a grand family home.
Jumping ahead by nearly two hundred years, a married couple facing Winchester’s soaring house prices and in search of a family home for their four children and dog, stumbled upon the house in a sorry state of disrepair. Seeing the potential to restore it back to its former glory they knew they had to purchase it. Occupied with Department of Health and Social Services tenants, the house had a myriad of damp and oddly shaped rooms that had unceremoniously been arranged to maximise occupancy with little care to the quality of the living space or respect to the old home. The roof was also leaky and close to disrepair.
AR Design Studio was approached by the clients with a brief to return the home to its original splendour and add a 21st Century twist. As well as finely detailed conservation and restoration, the clients were keen to add a modern open-plan living space and an indoor swimming pool. As experts in both restoration and contemporary design, AR Design Studio were the perfect architects to undertake the work and proposed a scheme that would give the clients the family home that they had always dreamed of whilst making their mark on the house with a modern enhancement.
The Victorian-era rooms were inconsiderate of the way in which we live today, so without wanting to disrupt the original layout too much, AR Design Studio proposed a large open-plan living space that would allow the family to make the most of their time together. Adjacent to this space, the indoor swimming pool is a further addition that has become a firm favourite with friends and family for gatherings to suit all ages. The whole extension is covered by a familiar pitched roof that runs away from the rear of the house and elegantly reaches east towards the ancient boundary wall and the rising sun. Informed by the buildings traditional gables and clad in anthracite zinc to tie in with the building’s slate tiles, the new aspect is a contemporary nod towards the old building’s identity. Absorbed in to the garden, the scheme now has a connection to its naturally sloping site. Making the most of this landscape, AR Design Studio included a theme of full-width steps which flow from the garden through the house and into the private courtyard, reducing a visual mass and helping to zone the new spaces whilst responsibly dealing with the changes in level. A further expression of the stepped landscape are the two additional roofs above the living space which help to reduce the contrasting appearance and blur the boundary between the old and the new. The entire southern façade of the extension is glazed and then shaded by an overhanging canopy supported by a colonnade that expresses the form of the new extension and evokes a feeling of grandeur.
The Pilot’s House is now a home with a transcendence quality. The clients have finally found a place to capture a feeling of calm and enjoy the spacious family life that they had always dreamed of.
On the 29th December, 1940, at the height of the Second World War, an air raid by the Luftwaffe razed a 35-acre site in the heart of the City of London to the ground. The site was known as the Barbican (a Middle English word meaning fortification), so-called for the Roman wall which once stood in the area. Following the war, the City of London Corporation—the municipal governing body for the area—started to explore possibilities to bring this historic site into the twentieth century.
The Barbican’s location in the financial center of the British capital made it attractive to commercial developers and, as a result, several office schemes were proposed. These were rejected by the Corporation, partly due to the area’s dwindling population. As the area had become increasingly commercialized, the number of residents had plummeted from 100,000 in 1851 to just over 5,000 in 1951.[1] With such a small electorate, the City of London was at risk of losing its Member of Parliament (MP) and, as a result, its political clout. A housing scheme put forward by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in 1955 offered an opportunity to reverse the population decline by enticing new residents into this void in the City.
Since 1948, Peter Chamberlin (b. London) and Geoffry Powell (b. Bangalore, India) had been teaching colleagues at London’s Kingston School of Art, where they were joined in 1950 by Christof Bon (b. St. Gall, Switzerland). Their architectural partnership began two years later, after Powell won a competition to design the Golden Lane Estate – a large scale residential project also commissioned by the City of London Corporation. The design of this earlier scheme, located just north of the proposed Barbican site, paved the way for their more ambitious neighboring project.
While the selection of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s housing scheme would allow the Corporation better chances of maintaining its parliamentary representation, it would bring in far less revenue than a commercial development. In order to maximize rental income and make the scheme financially viable, the architects proposed a high-density development aimed at those earning a mid-to-high income.[2] The complex was designed as an urban microcosm, with residential blocks arranged around communal spaces – an approach inspired by the work of Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation housing project in Marseilles had been recently completed; his vision for a ‘vertical garden city’ is evident in both the Golden Lane Estate and the Barbican.
In addition to “luxury” housing, Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s masterplan for the Barbican featured cultural facilities (including a concert hall and theater), a shopping mall, underground parking, private gardens, and lakes with fountains and a waterfall. It was hoped that the vast array of amenities within the estate would attract their target market and justify the higher cost of the housing. The Guildhall School of Music and the City of London School for Girls would also be moved to new premises on the site, forging a sense of community within the complex. St. Giles Church, one of the few buildings to survive the bombings of 1940, would stand in the center of the estate.
Collectively, the residential blocks of the estate form one of the most remarkable examples of Brutalist architecture anywhere in the world. The term ‘Brutalism’ is derived from the French béton brut, meaning raw or unfinished concrete. Although the concrete at the Barbican Estate was left exposed, it was not unfinished, having been pick-hammered to give it a rough, rusticated appearance implying a sense of monumentality.
The estate comprises three tower blocks, thirteen terrace blocks, two “mews” (terraces of small two-story houses) and a row of townhouses. The tower blocks dominate the skyline, their facades featuring a grid pattern of concrete paneling. The horizontals of this concrete grid are broken by the continuous lines of the verticals, emphasizing the height of the towers. The terrace blocks, meanwhile, are orientated horizontally, creating a dynamic contrast to the soaring towers. In both the tower and terrace blocks, the layout of the apartments was designed to maximize the amount of natural light in the rooms that would most benefit from it. Bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms are therefore positioned along external walls, while kitchens and bathrooms are placed against inner walls.
The residential blocks are linked by two systems of pedestrian circulation: the highwalk and the podium. The highwalk, a network of bridges and narrow walkways, encompasses the estate. The podium is a raised platform which becomes a new ‘ground level’ once inside the boundary of the estate. This design feature allows the Barbican to be entirely pedestrianized, with road and rail traffic passing underneath, out of both sight and sound.
All three tower blocks and the majority of the terrace blocks stand above the podium on piloti, enabling pedestrians to navigate the estate unimpeded by buildings. Perhaps the most striking of these can be found beneath Gilbert House, a terrace block spanning the lake which bisects the podium. The height of the columns allows even the highwalk to pass beneath the main structure; a bridge is nestled amongst the supporting colonnade. The podium creates a sense of airiness, while the highwalk encourages movement and exploration; together, they produce open space which flows throughout the estate.
While developing the design for the Barbican, Chamberlin, Powell and Bon travelled abroad extensively to seek architectural inspiration, spending much of their time in Italy. Bon had spent part of his earlier career working in Milan, and the architecture of Italy held a great fascination for the three architects. This influence is evident in the estate; the penthouses of the terrace blocks, for example, have barrel-vaulted roofs – a feature widely employed in Roman architecture. The architects cited the canals, bridges and pavements of Venice as the model for the pedestrians systems of the Barbican, describing it as “the best example of a city where foot and service traffic is completely segregated. This segregation,” they continued, “has worked admirably for many centuries and there is no good reason why the principle should not be applied equally effectively in the City of London.”[3]
The lake and gardens provide the residents with generous communal outdoor space; a rarity in an otherwise heavily built-up area of London. These landscaped areas lie below the level of the podium, with the changing elevations adding visual interest and lending a sense of seclusion. To ensure the underground line below did not disturb those enjoying the gardens, Ove Arup devised an engineering solution to reduce vibration from passing trains. The track was mounted on rubber bearings; the only section of the entire London Underground network to be modified in this way.
Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s original plans featured five tower blocks of twenty stories. These designs were rejected by the planning authority, primarily on the grounds that the scheme had insufficient outdoor space.[4] In response, the architects reduced the number of tower blocks to three in order to minimize the buildings’ footprints. At the same time, they more than doubled their height to maintain housing density.
Cromwell Tower is forty-three stories high, while Lauderdale Tower and Shakespeare Tower stand at forty-four stories; at the time they were the tallest residential towers in Europe.[5] The architects devised ingenious solutions to the perceived problems of living in buildings of this height. “Each lift,” for example, “is designed with a secondary small panel door which provides direct access between the lift and a tenant’s service cupboard. […] In this way the daily milk, the morning newspaper and post can be delivered directly from the lifts to the individual flats without the milkman or the postman having to get out of the lift.”[6] Similar attention to detail was paid to the fixtures and fittings: the architects installed windows which pivoted horizontally to make them easy to clean from the inside, and a Garchey sink unit was employed across almost all residential blocks to facilitate waste disposal.[7]
Standing at such a height and with complex programmatic requirements, the project demanded specialised engineering, delivered by Ove Arup & Partners. The towers utilise pre-cast reinforced concrete elements for the frame, which places the majority of the load around the exterior of the building “on the same principle as is familiar in a chimney.”[8] Roughly triangular in plan, each floor of the towers contains three apartments arranged around a central core of lift shafts, stairwells and service risers. The living rooms are located at each corner of the triangle, where the meeting of two walls affords panoramic views.
Plan: Lauderdale Tower
The highly distinctive cantilevered balconies of the towers, with their elegantly curved tips, resemble the hull of a ship. They also have a practical application: their unique form reduces wind resistance and eases the strain on the structural frame. The long protrusions of the balconies, a design feature recommended by the engineers, create deep eaves over the apartments below.[9] The eaves offer both protection from the elements and a sense of security to residents, some of whom, the architects reasoned, “might otherwise dislike the impression of living on the edge of a cliff.”[10]
Surviving fragments of the ancient Roman wall, and a later 13th-century bastion, can be found about the estate. History and modernity collide as the weathered bricks of these ruins are juxtaposed against the grey concrete of the monolithic structures above. Further references to the history of the site were made by naming each of the residential blocks after a prominent local figure. Shakespeare Tower, for instance, is so called because the great playwright once lived in the area.
Construction of the Barbican Estate took thirteen years, concluding in 1976 with the completion of Shakespeare Tower. Critics have accused the layout of the estate as being disorientating and cluttered, though the blame for this cannot be entirely attributed to the design. In 1964 the City of London Corporation presented Chamberlin, Powell and Bon with a revised brief which demanded an expanded theater and concert hall. The outcome of this was the Barbican Center, a building which had to be shoehorned into the master plan after construction had already begun.
As Brutalism became the prevailing architectural style for new housing estates in Britain throughout the 1970s, the reputation of the Barbican suffered from association with less successful projects (such as the Hulme Crescents in Manchester). More recently, however, the estate has benefited from a resurgence of public interest in Modernist and Brutalist architecture. It received Grade II listed status from the British government in 2001, and apartments in the estate are now highly sought after.
Residents speak of the excellent quality of life they enjoy there; architecture critic Jonathan Glancey spent four years living in the estate, and proclaims that “there is nothing like [it] in scale, intelligence, ingenuity, quality, urban landscaping and sheer abstract artistry anywhere else in Britain, perhaps even the world.”[11] Alongside buildings such as the Royal National Theatre in London and Park Hill Estate in Sheffield, the Barbican Estate has become a symbol of British post-war architecture.
References [1] Harwood, Elain. Space, Hope and Brutalism: English Architecture, 1945-1975. London: Yale University Press, 2015. p.73 [2] Harwood, Elain. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon: The Barbican and Beyond. London: RIBA Publishing, 2011. p.103 [3] Chamberlin, Powell and Bon Architects. “Proposals” In Barbican Redevelopment 1959. London: City of London Corporation, 1959. p.5 [4] Ibid. Harwood. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. p.108 [5] Orazi, Stefi. Modernist Estates: the buildings and the people who live in them today. London: Frances Lincoln, 2015. p.109 [6] Ibid. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon Architects. p.15 [7] Ibid. Harwood. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. p.118 [8] Ibid. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon Architects. “Technical Section”. p.6 [9] Ibid. Harwood. Space, Hope and Brutalism. p.74 [10] Ibid. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon Architects. “Proposals”. p.15 [11] Glancey, Jonathan. “Barbican: the critics’ verdict”. Time Out, 6 February, 2007. Accessed 10 June, 2016 [access]
From the architect. A building included inside the town The facade on the boulevard represents a major turning point although it remains integrated in the existing templates. The facility exposes itself as a symbol of renewal, at the same time respecting the balance of the urban context that surrounds it.
Courtesy of ARC.AME
A building opened over the town. The copper woven mesh opens like a curtain over the city. It unfolds like a filter in front of a fully glazed façade. It shows off the facility while protecting it. The underlying play of transparency and light varies depending on the time of day and school schedules. The life of the building reflects and is integrated in the lively downtown.
Courtesy of ARC.AME
Plan
Courtesy of ARC.AME
A full light building Artistic activities require natural high-quality light. Light without dazzle requires a detailed and specific approach in each direction. The gardens and patios are outstanding pieces of work, which allow soft light to radiate – in depth – within the entire building. All workshops benefit from a full front natural light.
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A work of art building An art school opens the way for specific thought, allowing to directly express its showcase vocation in the service of artistic disciplines.
Courtesy of ARC.AME
We favoured the use of materials strongly expressing this particularity: -Copper for its intrinsic qualities of natural material: brightness, lightness, but also for its outstanding longevity which makes it the king of all the material used in the greatest public monuments blankets. -A convergence between sculpture, painting, engraving and architecture, it is one of the materials that best reflects the artistic ambition of the architectural project. -The concrete mould completes the mineral look of the project. Its textured appearance contrasts with the image of a bas-relief with the smooth patina copper. -The plant completes the composition of raw materials. Garden Arts, planted patios, grassed roofs and a green wall, make the vegetation pervasive and visible everywhere in the project.
Courtesy of ARC.AME
Diversity programs centrality Town Houses. The project brings together in a unique framework an art school and 25 flats. These are not two separate buildings, but a project composed of two programs carried out with the same ambition and inventiveness of renewal for the heart of town. The flats are like houses placed on the roof, they offer a unique architectural response adapted to the needs of a new way of living in the city centre.
Located on one of the most prominent routes along the iconic Atlantic coast, this small island has always been a hot spot for travelers; its breathtaking ocean views and proximity to the curving bridge makes it a destination for reflecting on the relationship between the natural and the manmade. In 2007 the national tourist road department held an architecture and landscape competition for upgrading the site with a viewing platform, a small service building, and larger parking capacity.
Plan
Our winning project integrates the platform, the car park, and the service building into a single infrastructural facility. The 700m walking path features 197 steel frames and 196 composite permeable grates, which protect the local flora by allowing wind, rain and light to filter through, providing for a non-slippery walking surface. It offers the road traveler a smooth pedestrian break around the island while enjoying panoramic views and sitting areas for resting and contemplation. The platform is engineered from a radial logic so as to adapt tightly but fluently to the topographical conditions; the path raises, sinks and turns by means of varying generative radiuses in both plan and elevation. The framework consists on an adjustable kit-of-parts made of stainless steel, and it is designed to avoid cutting and welding structural parts on site in order to mitigate the risks for corrosion. The service building contains a café, restrooms and tourist information, and it is concealed under the path behind a 150m long retaining wall, with its fenestration and décor featuring an abstract shoal of herring.
In its conception and engineering, Eldhusøya draws entirely from transport infrastructure and its adaptability to the natural landscape, borrowing materials and prefabrication techniques from maritime and offshore industries.
Contribution This project belongs to an ongoing effort of re-branding the Norwegian landscape as a unique travel destination. It actively contributes to the future of tourism in Scandinavia and its development towards softer, and more sustainable, forms of natural resources exploitation.
A peek preview into SCDA’s most recent luxury high-rise residential project in Jakarta, the design of Arzuria sales gallery reflects the main development’s clean lines and sculptural form. Housing an exhibition space and sales offices, as well as two fully furnished and fitted-out typical units, the gallery spans over two levels connected by an origami-inspired, blackened steel staircase.
Situated by the main development’s basement boundary, the sales gallery was also intended to function as an observation point from which prospective buyers could witness the construction progress. To maximize the view, the gallery’s northern façade features glazing spanning the full height of its two floors, and framed by a timber-clad portal that opens out towards the building site. In the evening, warm uplights reveal the rich texture of the belian wood chosen for the portal, creating a striking contrast with the rest of the structure’s envelope finished in smooth, composite cement panels. Folding inwards, the eastern façade indicates the main entrance, whilst the southern side is covered with expanded aluminium mesh screening off the strong tropical sun.
Inside the main exhibition space, a towering 1:100 scale model of the Arzuria development stands between the reception counter and the discussion area. Passing by through a generous lounge, the visitors arrive at the 2-bedroom show suite complete with the tower’s signature balconies that span the unit’s entire length. Here, they serve as additional circulation, connecting the show suite’s different rooms as well as providing views towards the construction site. The gallery’s second floor houses the sales offices and the 3-bedroom show suite. Just as the rest of the building’s interiors, the show suites were fully designed and styled by SCDA’s Interiors team, creating a holistic experience and offering a fresh take on contemporary Jakartan lifestyle.
From the architect. This is a factory renovation project. Rebuilt into an office in its latest renovation, the old factory experienced several times of renovation after its construction in 1970s. Unlike other factories with large space, the factory doesn’t have a big space span while the height is normal showing no special features. However, a 100 square meters backyard is quite impressive. Based on the owner’s requirement, designers need to reconstruct it into a Zen Chamber.
As a Zen Chamber, it should have the Eastern spirit and ancient concept. Certainly, the ancient concept is not a simple display of traditional symbols. This design wishes to convey the essence of the Chinese private gardens, such as “seeing a bigger picture from small matters” and “the path winds through high peaks”.
The core of the design is restructuring the circulation of the space. Designers gave up the simple layout of the existing circulation space with hanging stairs directly attached to its entrance. The design creates a longer circulation for people to calm down when entering the main space in the philosophy of ZenTea. An extra-long, zigzag path is made: people can enter the building from the west side after passing through a long and narrow semi-outdoor corridor. They will enter the backyard after turning to the north and walking through the entire Zen Chamber.
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Architect added a folded stairs in this area, located between the long ramp and paralleled stairs. People will see the inner courtyard and a big tearoom through the grating racks while stepping up the stairs. Then they can reach to the second floor through a long, narrow, and closed space. The second floor is served as the main public space of the building, including a Guqin (a representative instrument of traditional Chinese musical culture) room, small tearooms, meditation room and a large tearoom.
The changing rhythm of the brightness is another key of renovation. Around the inner court, the newly created space changes its appearance between the natural light and the artificial light arranging the transparent, semi-transparent and close-up visual effects. After entering the building, people could enjoy the courtyard in different time and different perspectives, and vice versa, which is also a practice of sampling the Chinese garden.
“Everyone lived a child,” the designer with the “Star Wars” elements to meet the dreams and innocence owner in mind, to create a happy space scene, to let homeowners dream world beyond reality to give achieve. The open space design and use of materials defined floor space, with an open, surrounded by dynamic lines designed to amplify the effect of space, and the integration of the owner’s habits and moving lines, creating a natural interaction between people.
Spatial pattern designed to meet the basic requirements of homeowners (two bedrooms, a study, a kitchen) and storage demands, the designers all links to other spaces in the entrance with a move to integrate online, and through the line dividing door way piece hidden in the wall is an enlarged scale space.
Floor Plan
Extending from the main entrance of white storage cabinets integrated video wall design, the door on a white sheet irregularities irregular line is (Darth Vader) Das. Vader Darth Vader lightsaber left after cutting marks. The table is in accordance with the Imperial Army TIE fighter TIE Fighter construction of the build, with the double-bladed lightsaber Darth Maul Darth Maul chandelier used to create a fun dining space scenes, like the embodiment of a member of the Imperial Army.
Kids room Millennium Falcon Millennium Falcon driver cabin design concept, originally designed to drive windows viewfinder, shutter use inkjet printing to create a way to outer space Rebel and Imperial forces battle scenes, children’s clothes holding cabinet cabin space is also designed cabinet in a small space like the embodiment of the Resistance.
Space design the most important change is to make life comfortable and designers to play with heart, innocence as a starting point to create a unique space design.
Collaborators: Matthew Dwyer, Peter Tonkin, Nicholas Gammaldi, Richard Bryant, Michael Roberts, Walter di Giangregorio, Felicity Brown, Milan Kothari, Sofia Ward, Levi Kalms, Devla Kabas, Maria Plancarte Fexas, Amy Ang, Julia Morris, Renee Wheedon, Lindy Zerman, Kristina Tsalikis, Oliver Lagasca
From the architect. Built in 1861 the Sandhurst Gaol stands as part of a government precinct overlooking its city. Bendigo Senior Secondary College surrounds the Gaol, hosting around 1800 year 11 and 12 students on a tight campus block. In 2006 the gaol complex was transferred to the college, beginning a period of consultation with the college and community on the adaptation of this heritage listed facility into a high quality civic centre for Performing Arts.
Ulumbarra Theatre provides a series of teaching spaces across hospitality, music and performing arts all in conjunction with a 4-star rated, 1000 seat community theatre. Facilities are spread across 4 main levels (with additional backstage components) and totals around 6,500m2, with heritage components threaded throughout. It is designed to create a central heart for the college that connects to both the campus facilities and the surrounding community. The complexities of the brief come in with the incorporation of a dual client body and the social history of the site including the constructed memory that often comes with a heritage building.
The design draws on the prison’s heritage while inverting its relationship with the community from place of imprisonment to a welcome place of gathering. To the north, the new pubic face of the centre addresses Gaol Road; inviting visitors through a break in the old gaol wall. The Theatre’s fly tower and contemporary facilities are deliberately located to rear of the site, drawing patrons through the heart of the former prison.
This journey leads to central hall connecting Ulumbarra’s old and new spaces. The Gaol’s radiating Pentoville plan becomes apparent when viewing the addition of the black box hospitality wing to the south. Ulumbarra encourages exploration of the site’s heritage with elements of the new lightly touching the old.
Frequently occupants are given new incites; from windows that frame old guard towers to reflections of the gaol viewed in the glazing of courtyards. The palette is deliberately restrained; the new providing a contemporary backdrop that allows the heritage elements to retain their clarity and status. Outside the Gaol’s Kitchen Gardens have been reinvigorated to form an alfresco dining area that connects with the central body of the college, creating a fluid engagement with the student body.
By working extensively with all stakeholders, the facility has been designed to turn its inherent complexities into opportunities. The planning allows for various occupants to work simultaneously either as independent users or in collaboration and the integration of the college’s Hospitality and Arts programs is crucial to the success of project.
Ulumbarra provides unique opportunities for its students to work both in industry relevant environments and with world class professionals, attracted to this regional centre due to the facilities available at Ulumbarra.
The community further benefits from access to a range of facilities including a drama room that doubles as a theatre, a dance studio and the commercial kitchens. Ulumbarra’s adaptation ensures that a redundant heritage facility retains a civic purposes and is transformed into an enriched community asset that intrinsically values both Bendigo’s history and its future.
From the architect. This is a robust structure, designed to form the centre piece of a remote, symmetrical and thundering surf beach. It is sited on one of New Zealand’s iconic coastal sheep and cattle stations and is intended as a farm experience for family groups up to 12 people.
It is accessed by helicopter from Christchurch Airport or by farm track. It was commissioned by an expatriate New Zealand owner as a base from the where multiple farm and coastal activities can be discovered enjoyed and recovered.
Floor Plan
A vernacular verandahed form belies its massive scale, the apex height is at 5.5 metre and its knee at 3.4 metre in a fully macrocarpa interior, traditionally detailed juxtaposed against black steel fittings. At the centre of the house is a stone fireplace, constructed from rock quarried from the station. The project incorporates mainly custom designed fittings, door hardware, furniture and lighting, oak grills and handles.
The building shuts down during storms or when unoccupied and when opened sets up both seaward and leeward exterior environments. It is conceived of as a piece of slowly aging farm driftwood, in the future stock might come right up to the building.
From the architect. Located on the a granite knob 30′ above a lily pond the house overlooks the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It is an optimal orientation that combines water views with a positive solar aspect. The house replaced an existing structure lived in by the current owners for the past 25 years. They were committed to building a low impact house which relies less on fossil fuel and produces most of it’s own power via a 7kw solar array.
The three main cubic volumes are clad in white cedar boards and zinc panels which will all weather to a silver gray further connecting the building to the site of granite ledges and native ground cover, shrubs and trees. The construction techniques include a high performance building envelop and triple glazed windows. The plan is very compact and organized around a series of split-levels. This allows the house to both hug the ledge and provide a series of high outlooks while reducing the overall height and mass of the house. A series of flat roofs provides an upper terrace and platforms for the solar PV panel system.
The contemplative mood of the site is reflected in the limited palette of materials on the inside. Exposed concrete floors, unpainted plaster walls, natural wood and blacked steel all contribute to the serenity of the house. Natural light suffuses every room. The main living spaces have multiple orientations that celebrates the changing light during the course of the day.
Sig Nordal 