TomaHouse - Prefab Bach

TomaHouse

Recently I've been hunting down a way to ship in a prefab structure to remote locations, without it being a container house. These classy Baches, Bales, Fales and Bungalows are top of my list now. As a Prefab, they don't match MKD's breeze houses, but they do work as small cabins for remote areas.
What particularly caught my attention was their Montserrat project seen below and above left. Which, perhaps in it's tent like nature, reminds me of Christmases in the far north of New Zealand.

I've been "Google-Earthing" (my new verb) to hunt for the right spot and now have the structure to put in. The versatility means I can build individual units in suitable areas and join them using their connecting platforms and additions. The four, four foot deep foundation struts mean minimal impact on the area and the plug and play nature suits me to a tee. The neat bit too is if I want to change the inside or outside one day I can just order up some replacement panels and install. No dust or paint fumes in the process as the wiring and plumbing is fed through the aluminium skeleton. Merbau (need to check if environmentally sourced) and Bamboo flooring options, yum, and shiny stainless fittings, very tasty. I might see if they can source some Brazilian Jatoba or Ipe instead, the Ipe for the outside as apparently it breaks drills and standard saws it's that tough and loves getting wet, good for the beach.

Treehugger have featured these prefabs and the Jericho house made from the same components. "The core of the house is a framework of interlocking struts made of aluminum. These connect using a patented locking system. The basic structure of a TomaHouse is a 4 x 4 grid supported by four foundation columns driven 4 feet into the ground." Treehugger

They are hoping to bring out waste water units, solar power and turbines as add-ons soon - a must.
Hopefully a media pass and some emails will reveal more from their site.


Their Montserrat number in movie form.

Via: TomaHouse & Treehugger

Some additional shots from their website. (09/09/07)

Isay Weinfeld - Casa Marrom

Isay Weinfeld
Casa Marrom

Now I realise that many people have this fantastic residence by one of my top 3 Brazilian residential architects up on their website and there's very few posts of his other houses. I'll see what I can do later on, but I thought for now I'd put up my version of Isay's Maroon house. You just can't help post this guy's attention to detail and impeccable finishes. I'm even more envoked as I know what it's like trying to get anything built with quality in Brazil.

Unfortunately no floor plans for this work but the colourings, rough cast concrete with brown Ipé wood look fantastic. And what concrete, so super smooth with their 45 deg edges finished to perfection. The latest Brazilian houses seem to be pushing the limits with concrete spans. Door openings and huge panoramic windows seem to run the entire length of nearly every wall of this house. I'm also a fan of the sunken living area, which levels you up with people standing in the swimming pool outside.

The house is built to have private areas for their two teenage kids and a common entertaining area with outdoor churrasquería and then above, private bedrooms and a more intimate private lounge. Works for me!

My favourite house of his the Casa Suiça, with a living room almost 3 stories high and twice as wide, opening out to the back yard. His open plan spaces even top Arthur Casa for glass spans, only beaten by Marcio Kogan who seems to make entire walls of houses open up onto pools or patios.

Via: archidose.org & architecture-page.com

Arthur Casas - Casa in Santana de Parnaíba

Arthur Casas
Casa in Santana de Parnaíba

Arthur has created an opulent São Paulo residence here, in stark contrast to my last entry on Prefab in Brazil. The use of prefabricated concrete panels and a steel skeletal structure made this a super quick build in Brazilian terms at just 10 months. I love the two storey glass sliding door! Fantastic! It's just so open!

One of Arthur's other works that I love is his house in Iporanga - São Paulo. Clad in local wood with a double height central living area flanked by cozy sleeping and eating spaces, wonderful!

Floor Plans

My rough translations once again:

Rigorous planning guarantees strict and swift execution of this project.

Open plan living, not only in the flow between living areas, but also with the outdoors, was one of the most important points in the brief for this residence of steel and concrete, situated in a gated condominium in Santana de Parnaíba, a city in the greater São Paulo area. The organisation of construction, detailing and finishing of this work into compatible mini projects to be completed simultaneously, allowed the house to be completed without interruptions in just 10 months.
When one talks of minuscule detailing, compatibility of projects, sequencing and the use of prefabricated solutions, the first image to mind is large skyscrapers or buildings usually commercial in nature. This residence of around 500 built square metres, designed by Arthur Casas and finished in 10 months, is one of the exception that confirms the rule.
The choice of a steel skeletal structure for the build was one of the factors that drove the project towards a production line factory type build. "The system requires modulation and planned solutions" says Arthur Casas. This requirement, meant that 4 months were invested in pre build planning. Time spent in planning was recuperated in the clockwork executed construction of the house, that didn't need on the spot alterations, so common these days in an architecturally designed house.
For the outer protective skin of the house, Casa chose prefabricated concrete panels, some raw, others with a sprayed on textured mineral coating. Common in industrial warehouses, this solution appeared as a practical alternative, functional and easily integrated into the design of the house, defined by svelte lines and great transparent openings. The same prefab concrete slabs but without the textured coating, make up the external patios.
Internally ,the house is define by two symmetrical blocks and for integrated areas. "In the brief, the client made it very clear that what they didn't want was living compartmentalised by walls" says Casas. The division of rooms was made longitudinally, reserving half the downstairs area of the larger space for the kitchen, dining and outdoor Churrasqueria (a proper BBQ), all linked visually and divided by sliding glass doors. The other half was left for a small guest bedroom, atelier and large living area, separated from the dining area by a pivoting door and the fireplace.
The end of the living area is closed off by that HUGE sliding picture door, painted white. This automated door moves easily to close off either the living area, or protect the outdoor BBQ area from the wind. "She moves so easily that we opted to automate it, in order to slow it's movement and prevent accidents," says Casas. The two storey living room is even more impressive due to the use of floor to ceiling glass along two of its sides. Which as the architect wanted, allows light and the outside in.
The wooden stairs lead up to the second storey with the master and another guest bedroom. The open circulation areas is protected by a glass railing as is the stairway. Also on this floor, but with a private entry are the laundry/service areas and maids quarters.
To unify the build, the architect specified very few finishing materials. The Tauari wood floors appear in all rooms, even the kitchen and the concrete walls are plastered internally. The exception being the bathroom with marble flooring and tiled walls.

Arthur Casas graduated from the FAU/Mackenzie in 1983. His practice covers architecture, interior design and furniture. One of his most famous works being the Hotel Emiliano (São Paulo) and the remodelling of the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires. Well awarded he has offices in São Paulo and New York.

Via:arcoweb

Marchetti Bonetti - Chale in Floripa

Marchetti Bonetti
Chale in Floripa

This little cabana on the beach is quite different to the houses I normally post. It's a old twist on the supposedly new prefab movement and gives you an idea about what Brazil is up to in this arena. The owners wanted a little place of their own down the hill from their parents larger summer house.

Attending a local show, Casa Cor, a home decorating show that happened to have a couple of pine kitset chales cabanas on display, they chatted to the architect about opening the place up a little to bring in the views of their location. This was the result - a two unit, one bedroom house. The bathroom was constructed of bricks and rendered, whilst two floor pads were laid out for the bedroom and living, dining, kitchen area. The later being raised on poles to provide a spot for the hammock underneath to relax in after a dip in the tepid summer waters of southern Brazil. The notes on this house are from a great magazine I used to buy on every trip to Brazil. Arquitetura e Construcao, which features their latest modern residential designs. Notes below.

My translation:

A Successful Rebuild.

A good idea can be repeated and work a second time, and that's what happened with this chalé, transported direct from the sample stands to a Catarinense beach. In 2003, husband and wife were in Casa Cor Santa Catarina and ifell in love with the stands environment, inspired by the bungalows of French Polynesia. They had discovered that the authors of the project, the pair Giovani Bonetti and Adriana Marchetti Bonetti, had conceived the cabanas as a coffee lounge the ydecided there and then to turn this coffe lounge into their own private beach retreat. "It lacked the interested party", says Giovani. What followed was a transposition that modified the original very little. The new land - an almost deserted beach in the outskirts of Florianópolis - was not as flat as the show home display area, but an incline. "We prepared a flagstone of concrete supported in pilars to level out this unevenness while the exposition still happened", the architects explain. On this base came the masonry blocks to support the two washbasin and bathroom areas along with the chalés two wooden original rooms. The carpenters of the first assembly (guided by the company that supplied the pínes and developed the constructive system) assemble the house on its new site in just 45 days. The result, remembers to the projected environment for Casa Cor, whose inspiration was the family of Schürmann navigators - now the boat is anchored in a real scene of beauty.

Via:Arquitetura e Construcao

Steven Ehrlich Architects - 700 Palms Residence

Steven Ehrlich Architects
700 Palms Residence


Here's a house from one of my no so frequented favourites Plot Cad Box.

They feature updated on residential design every now and then, all in Italian. Great for a stare and Babelfish helps a lot for the words that aren't familiar to me in Portuguese or Spanish.

The open planned nature of this house appeals to me as does the use of rusty steel (seems to be a theme this week). Separated into two blocks a guest/garage wing and the main house have a nicely protected courtyard in between. Down the side of the main residence is the lap pool that has those large orange and red retractable shades hanging above. Vaguely reminds me of Christo and Jean Claude’s The Gates.

The bottom level has huge picture doors that open right up to let the breeze flow through. Like yesterday's post there's that dark concrete flooring featuring again. I think this time the: rug, warm wood bookshelf, the use of oranges and wood on the staircase, all lift the temperature visually. It's still pretty industrial, but that's what it's about.

The layout works wonders.
Lesson 1: A solid north facing wall that doesn't get sun doesn't need to have huge windows in it.
From there, the kitchen takes a north east position, perfect for catching sun through the eastern windows as you wait at the sink for the kettle to boil. The dining room also gets morning sun, but falls into shade during noon, peak sun, and would get setting sun through the trees at the end of the living room.
Right of the kitchen dining area are the living and library, through which you head upstairs to a mezzanine floor with what seems to be a bedroom and study at either end of a corridor running the length of the front of the house. They each have windows into the main living area, which is double height, and also out to the sun.
Passing across the glass floor you head up again to the master bedroom, and study with commanding views, perhaps out to the nearby Pacific Ocean and check out that huge walk in wardrobe!!!!

My Favourite Points:
- The solid rear wall with a fireplace in it (with a wetback, that whole wall could be warmed into a giant radiator in winter).
- The huge windows, only Arthur Casas' house in Santana de Parnaíba has a larger opening. I'll try to post this soon, along with some Isay Weinfeld.
- Lap pools rock.
- The innovative use of industrial materials that is still warm and inviting to live in.


Enjoy.

Notes on the project from Steven's site:

700 Palms Residence, Venice, CA, USA

The 700 Palms Residence, completed in 2003, addresses the freedoms and constraints of residential design in Venice. By maximizing volume, light and privacy on a narrow lot with sensitivity to scale and context, the design presents raw, honest materials appropriate to the grittiness of the Venice environment. The house dissolves the barriers between indoors and out, creating flexible spaces that take advantage of the benign climate.The house expresses a counterpoint between a sense of harmony and tranquility with flowing, dynamic spaces. Flexibility and transformation are fully realized through the use of a wood-and-steel frame structure, enclosed and shielded for privacy by a roll-down scrim hung on a skeletal steel frame.As sustainability was a major concern, the design integrates concrete flooring to absorb the sun’s warmth in the winter, operable windows and large sliding doors to facilitate natural ventilation and low-maintenance recycled materials.

Via:Plot Cad Box, Steven Ehrlich Architects