Giulietti/Schouten Architects - Nut Tree Lane House

Giulietti/Schouten Architects

Nut Tree Lane House

Retiring in ECO-style - Giulietti/Schouten Architects far exceeded their client's requests for the perfect retirement home, listing off sustainable and "eco" practices as standard.

Overview
"Warm, modern and open to all seasons" was the request of the client/writer for her new single-family home in rural Yamhill County, Oregon.
The client, recently retired, chose a 2.5 acre sloping site bordered by Douglas fir trees with an existing 2400 square foot home. The site laps up views to views to Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson.
She wished to retain and improve the existing access road as well as retain the general footprint of the existing house while protecting three very large walnut trees. The original house was deconstructed and completely donated to Habitat for Humanity, the start of the project’s eco credentials.
For the new design, the owner requested the new home to be maintenance-free with clear separations between entertaining, office/study and sleeping with an extra guest suite for extended stays by her mother. Admittedly it’s not a 1 bedroom bungalow on the beach, but this house is paced with cost, maintenance and energy saving tech’.

Materials for the house are low maintenance galvanized metal siding, aluminium windows, exposed concrete wall and veneer wood panels for siding. Simple passive and sustainable features include rainwater harvesting, roof-mounted solar hot water heating, in-floor radiant heating, cork floors, natural day-lighting and Icynene sprayed-on insulation.



Layout
The new 3000 square foot home, with a 527 square foot attached garage, is inspired by the Bay Area hillside ranch homes the client grew to appreciate from her years in California. The two-bedroom, three-bath home is divided N/S and E/W at the entry: the north half providing privacy for the Master Bedroom suite, home office and hidden private garage and drive; the southern half combining the living, dining and kitchen area separated by a guest suite to the west.

Plans



Architects: Giulietti/Schouten Architects
Project’s Formal Name: Nut Tree Lane House
Location: McMinnville, Oregon
Total Square Footage:3,000 SF Living, 527 SF Garage
Cost: $361.50 per square foot Construction cost per square foot (excluding land)
Completed: Spring 2006
Google: Satellite

via: Giulietti/Schouten Architects The Contemporist & Portland Architecture

Pugh + Scarpa Architects - Redelco Residence

Pugh + Scarpa Architects

Redelco Residence

Re-planned rebuild - A seven year Hiatus meant a rethink to an original Pugh + Scarpa project, that lead to a loft like wonder in Studio City, overlooking the San Fernando Valley, CA.

Overview
Initially commissioned in 1994, the residence was put on hold by the owner, shortly after demolition and the foundations were set. Seven years on, a visit from the owner to their offices the project leapt back into action for Pugh + Scarpa. But with 7 years of council legislation changes and architectural progress, they pushed hard for a redesign.

Thinking it through and mulling over the existing plans, the client agreed, yet within limits.



Their task was set
Take a remodel/addition to a 1970’s ranch style house, fit it into the new council regulations, keep within the original foundations (to save time ripping up existing work and avoid new applications to the council) and create something befitting to modern architectural philosophy. Their main challenge was how to alter the design that reflected an outdated philosophical approach to architecture. How could the house be redesigned reflecting the architect and client's maturity on a ten-year-old footprint?

The answer
Remove almost all of the previously proposed interior walls and transform the house into a pavilion-like structure, thus letting the outside in. This allowed the client to take better advantage of a limited and restricted building area while capturing extraordinary panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Hills.



Layout
The house was conceived as two units, a larger living sleeping unit, and a separate studio/office area, forming a canopy of sorts to the all important outside extension of the living area. Linking the living area to the outdoors are two huge walls of glass. Custom 22ft (almost 7m) high panels slide back to create a singular open space. Private rooms are treated almost as lofts, capturing volume and views while maintaining privacy.



Street side, the house presents a sophisticated and restrained façade. Panels of perforated copper discreetly provide privacy for the occupants, as well as creating a strong vertical texture that minimizes the building’s bulk. Only a few details hint subtly at the unique character of the residence.
Once inside however, the sheer drama of the space becomes immediately evident. Fully open towards the panoramic views, the living area has little need for artwork, as the valley below entertains. Enhancing the connection to the outdoors are limestone floors which extend from inside to outside and into the lap pool that runs the entire length of the house, creating a horizon line at the edge of the view. To compensate for this openness, the living room furniture is sunken beside an open fireplace, giving the room warmth and intimacy. This intimacy is enhanced through the use of copper and cherry.
To the east of this open space is the tree-house studio. Connected to the house by a bridge, the space provides an isolated retreat for fork or contemplation. Below, it provides shelter and shade for the patio outdoor area during the summer months.
To the west, the house takes on a more intimate nature. The kitchen and breakfast area sit ahead of the two car garage, with the master bedroom and en suite above. The bedroom, connected to the open plan bathroom can be opened to the living room below, and features a sunken tub to take in the full extent of the upstairs views to the valley.



Whimsical touches and unexpected finishes give the house a warmth that belies its theatrical austerity. The apparent openness is perhaps even more remarkable when one realises that the home is in fact relatively compact – the impression of space is a product of impeccable proportions, rather than sprawling square footage. By placing objects and materials “outside the frame,” a new frame of reference deepens our sense of perception. Art does not reproduce what we see; rather it makes us see.

Plans




Architects: PUGH + SCARPA ARCHITECTS
Project’s Formal Name: Redelco Residence
Location of Project: Studio City, California
Total Square Footage: 4,700 sq. ft.
Completed: 2005
Personnel in Firm to be credited: Lawrence Scarpa, AIA - Principal- in-Charge. Angela Brooks, AIA, Jackson Butler, Silke Clemens, Vanessa Hardy, Ching Luk, Project Architect, Gwynne Pugh, AIA, Lawrence Scarpa, Katrin Terstegen - Project Design Team.
Engineering: Gordon Polon – Structural, Helfman Halloossim - MEP
General Contractor: RJC Construction – John Cordic
Photography: Marvin Rand

via: Pugh + Scarpa Architects

Melling:Morse Architects Ltd - Split Box

Melling:Morse Architects Ltd

Split Box

(Un-)divided attention - Melling:Morse have created seaside loft style living, which sits as lightly as possible, near remote Kennedy bay, New Zealand.

Overview
The Split Box residence in Tuateawa Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand adapts the traditional bach materials, wood and corrugated iron into a spectacular two storey loft. The forward glazing and open planned layout, wouldn't look out of place in a down town Wellington penthouse. Yet here, the expanses allow undivided attention to the beach and are used to passively heat the concrete slab, which releases it's warmth in the evening. To compensate in mid summer, slat windows at the bottom and top of the glass expanses produce a cooling airflow.

Renewable and low impact materials are used and the holiday home is a perfect combination of form and function. Above it's architectural and aesthetic functions, the split divides the house into cosy, functional parcels of: living and dining downstairs; and sleeping and bathing above. It also aids in a vital task of collecting rainwater in the remote setting.
Predominantly used by a couple, with occasional visitors camping nearby, the open plan nature of the house allows maximum sunrise views, from every room.
Simple, uncluttered and functional design are the signature - beauty, the result.



Here is Gerald Melling's take on the design of the Split Box.

Program
The Coromandel is a sub-tropical peninsular on the north-west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, an idyllic and remote region offering welcome holiday refuge from the urban stress of Auckland city. The Split Box is a permanently constructed commitment to a site hitherto inhabited only by two caravans and a storage shed. Its location is quintessential Kiwi Paradise - a hilltop on the edge of a coastline.
A desire to actively acknowledge the sea is combined with the need to harvest a water supply - the building is thus clinically cleaved down its middle, a negotiable crack in a rock.



Layout
Aligned alongside an enormous Pohutakawa tree, the five-metre high box is made up of two halves, each with a retreated mezzanine. To one side of the ‘split’ a dining area/kitchen is overlooked by the bedroom; to the other, a sitting room /‘snug’ supports an open bathroom.
The ‘split’ defines the circulation route from land to sea. At ground level, it bisects the concrete slab with a timber ribbon stretched across the grass towards the lip of the cliff; at mezzanine level, it bridges the upper void of the box to a deck reaching for the sunrise; and at roof level, it cascades its rainwater down a chute to a tank tucked into a bank below the road.
The 90 sq.m. box is fully glazed on three of its sides - north, east and south - and at the two ends of its western face, which is otherwise clad in vertical, black corrugated Onduline.




Timber is Macrocarpa (an environmentally friendly species which does not require toxic treatment) rough-sawn externally and left to naturally weather, dressed and oiled internally.
The original caravans remain - as, of course, they should - as guestrooms.

Plans
Many thanks to Gerald and Allan for these fantastic freehand sketches!



Architects: Melling:Morse Architects Ltd
Completed: 2006
Materials: Macrocarpa, Glass and Onduline
Google maps: Satellite

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More about Melling:Morse
A practice that embraces wooden construction and creates masterpieces in timber, Melling:Morse are more recently known for impressive "infill" structures such as their Wedge house and Cliffhanger residence.

The Wedge


Cliffhanger


Gerald's own residence, the Skybox, is a three storey studio that takes the live-work-play notion to the extreme. It sits beautifully, like a well aged barnacle, on a building in down town Wellington.

The Skybox

via: Melling:Morse Architects Ltd

Kanner Architects - Malibu 4 Residence

Kanner Architects

Malibu 4 Residence

Rebuilding in homage to the views - Rather than making a bold architectural statement, Kanner architects designed "Malibu 4" to maximise the plots westerly views via a warm and embracing home. A modernistic remodel that befits its surrounds, whilst still impressing.

Program
Malibu 4 is a comprehensive remodel of a home built in the mid-1990’s after a fire destroyed the site’s original structure. The minimal yet warm aesthetic is inspired by Luis Barragan, the Mexican master of space and light, known for sculptural courtyard designs. Other sources of inspiration are Greek island architecture and the simple, cubist work of Irving Gill, who specialised in internal courtyards.



The one-storey courtyard house was designed to take full advantage of its secluded location on a crest in the Malibu hills, and the breathtaking views that site provides. The white plaster exterior is enhanced by its contrast with the blue sky and nearby ocean, mimicking its Greek island inspirations. Entering the house through the rear courtyard, the white is contrasted further by warm interior features of mahogany floors, doors and cabinets. Once through into the living area, the true merits of the site are seen as the views flow in through open floor to ceiling glazing. In contrast to these open westerly walls, the house has minimal glazing in the other three directions, perhaps aiding in regulating the house's temperature.

The design was peeled back to simple building block and materials, to limit the visual clutter and its impact on the surroundings. Yet the cubic design of house is not only stylistic. Thinking of future fires, the eaves were removed and landscaping set back from the property, allowing the lawn to form a natural fire-break. The pool I guess would have other uses too, in times of crisis.
Steven Kanner has also mentioned in other articles a point that may create envy for fellow architects.
The exterior is formed from Greek island inspirations. But the client was also interested in Japanese design, so Steven hopped on a plane and travelled to Tokyo to research projects there. This prior research allowed reinforcing to be build into the walls during construction to support the minimal cantilevered Mahogany shelving. Other Japanese features include: the dark stains; the horizontal black tiling in the bathroom; and a neat little tap designed for washing the feet, a great feature in a bathroom right beside the pool.



Layout
The home establishes an interesting hierarchy of space through varying ceiling heights. Reflecting their use/time spent in them, the living room, dining room and master bedroom are all a high 14ft or 4m+.
Slotted in between these rooms and of lower height are less used: office, bathrooms and two more bedrooms.
Curiously, their layout forms a undulating wave, a pixelated version of the Pacific ocean beyond. One of my favourite features is the black tiled master bathroom, with sliding glass doors, that allow you to bath almost outside, beside the pool.
The 3,2000-sf building is anchored by a serene interior court that serves as the easterly entry to the house. Calm, compared to the exhilarating views to the west.



Result
A stunning place to take in wonderful views. A true home.

Plan



Architect: Kanner Architects
Completed: 2004
Materials: Plastered concrete with Mahogany
Photos: John Edward Linden

via:Kanner Architects

Leuschke Group Ltd - Holiday Home, Omaha Beach

Leuschke Group Ltd

Holiday Home, Omaha Beach

Weekend Getaway - Capturing the sunrise over Omaha Beach, New Zealand, this modern vernacular Kiwi bach by the Leuschke Group, laps up morning and evening sun on its sunken decks.

Program
The owners requested a three bedroom holiday home to be built on the Omaha Beach front. Colours had to be subdued and materials tactile. In response, the Architects introduced a selection of contrasting materials; chiselled and smooth basalt, clear and etched glass, bandsawn and dressed timbers interplayed with smooth stone surfaces.

A simple palette of materials and colours were interwoven to create this beach house. Upon arrival an intricately crafted timber box acknowledges the point of entry, and opens up to reveal the garage. A glass canopy stretches out over the front door and streams of light from above draw you in. Out through further layers of glass to the back deck, extensive sea views beckon...

Sunken timber decks on the beach side invite sand and sea to become an integral part of the experience of the property.



Layout
The rectangular plot stretches eastward towards the beach, dictating that house is shadowed from the the northern sun by adjoining houses. To maximise light from this direction a ‘Danpalon’ (opaque polycarbonate) screen along the boundary wall shuts out the neighbours and allows the owners to sense nature more acutely, letting in diffused sunlight and the beating of wind and rain.
Note: This is a true hark back to the original settlers shelters in New Zealand, which the quintessential kiwi bach (holiday cabin) mimics. They are built with thin galvanised roofs, easily transported and constructed, that hummed in the wind, amplified the fall of rain and pounding surf (a comforting sound to many).

Set back from the wall is the open plan living area: kitchen, dining and living. Bright and airy, the space opens out to decks at either end of the day. As the westerly sun shines in, glass doors slide back and the divided kitchen bench becomes a singular white unit. Combining the indoor dining table, sink and hobs, with the outdoor table and built in BBQ. This deck, wrapped is also in Danpalon, glows as the sun sets and entertaining continues. A simpler breakfast table features on the eastern deck, for contemplating the surf, as sets roll in.



On the southern wall of the residence are two small bedrooms and a master site which takes in the sights, smells and sounds of the Pacific ocean. Literally en suite, the intimate shower, wash basin and WC extend along the southern wall of the master bedroom. Dividing the two smaller rooms is a more conventional dual access en suite and a third powder room WC.

Separating the open plan living and sleeping wings are the wonderful timber clad garage and a more intimate living room, that can be glazed off from the main area.



The result
Sophisticated use of simple construction materials dark wood and bassalt blocks, creates a high class, low maintenance three bedroom getaway.



Plan



Architect: Leuschke Group Ltd
Completed: 2006
Materials: Basalt and Timber
Google Map: Satellite

via: Leuschke Group Ltd