Toro Canyon House | Bestor Architecture

Toro Canyon House located in Santa Barbara Country, Usa.

It was designed by Bestor Architecture.

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

© John Ellis, Laure Joliet

Plan

Description by Bestor Architecture:

The owners wanted to build a getaway house outside of Los Angeles where they could entertain and find a balance between the modern design they desired and a more direct relationship to nature. After a two year search in the Southern California region they discovered pristine acreage near Montecito at the top of a mountain and adjacent to national park land. The site strategy is one of slow revelation and discovery of the house and- ultimately- the view. The road, which had to be built for access, brings the visitor to a point below the house- where a formal stair leads up to the entry sequence. The front door frames and reveals views of the Santa Barbara coastline through the courtyard. A 40’ wide horizontal ‘panavison’-esque opening gives the house a pavilion-like atmosphere. The dwelling is organized around three courtyards; the primary one at the heart of the house also serves as the front entrance and outdoor living room. The courtyards have a dual purpose: they bring in ample natural light and ventilation but also provide protection from the strong winds that can race across the mountain. The rough and very thick boardform concrete walls, custom color-mixed to match the dark red and brown tones of the earth at the site, form a rugged shell that is punctuated by large openings and reveals of the Alaskan cedar wood siding. The inner shell’s warm wood and windows into the protected courtyards create a warm and tactile interior respite from the hardy environment.

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Design Office             : Bestor Architecture  
Interior Designer      : The Archers
Landscape Architect: Isabelle Greene & Associates
Lighting Designer    : Dan Weinreber, Kaplan, Gehring, McCarroll Architectural Lighting
Contractor                  : Below Magid Construction
Location                      : Santa Barbara County, CA, USA
Project Year                : 2012
Photographs              : Laure Joliet

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Casa Chontay | Marina Vella Arquitectos

Casa Chontay located in Antioquia District, Peru.

It was designed by Marina Vella Arquitectos in 2014.

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

© Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

 

Design Office    : Marina Vella Arquitectos
Location             : Antioquia District, Peru
Area                    : 135.0 m2
Project Year      : 2014
Interior Design: Macarena Belaunde
Photographs     : Gonzalo Cáceres Dancuart

 

Kathikia | Ioannis Exarchou

Design Office: Ioannis Exarchou

Location: Kea Island, Greece

Photographs: Sylvia Diamantopoulos

Residence in Mykonos | Deborah French Designs

Design Office: Deborah French Designs

Location: Mykonos, Greece

Photographs: Paul Ryan

Residence In Syros, Greece | Block722

Description by Block722:

Situated in the island of Syros, this summer house hosts a family of four and their guests. In contrast to the neighbouring Syros I residence, the steep and intense topography dominated the design process.

 A massive staircase leads to a gradual descent from the top towards the house, intensifying the experience of the cycladic landscape. The entrance is surrounded by the higher volumes of the main areas of the house, ending the descent path, then opening immediately to an ample view of the Aegean.

 Programmaticaly, the house is clearly divided into the clean and square volume of the common areas (living room, kitchen) and the partially buried rectangular volume of the bedrooms. The guesthouse is also buried inside the slope, defined by a stone wall that is typical of the local archihtecture. The main volume is characterized by a free floor plan, allowing the continuous view of the outside and offering a cosy living space near the fireplace. The outdoor common spaces include two open “courtyards” shielded from the sun and the central part of the court, open to sunbathing and the children’s plays.

Design Office: Block722

Location: Syros, Grrece

Photographs: Erieta Attali, Ioanna Roufopoulou

La Carrera Farmhouse | Arnau Estudi d’Arquitectura

SONY DSC

Description by Arnau Estudi d’Arquitectura:

La Carrera is a farmhouse dating from the seventeenthcentury. It consists of a different buildings collection with the house and thecottage as the most representative.

The task of solving the project required the creationof a new home at the farm house barn for the young generation of the Carrera’sfamily, but our intervention also sought to dignify around the farm and its access.

For the creation of a new home in the farm barn, our proposal has been to keep all those elements and spaces belonging to the original construction of the old house. In this way, the main space used as a living room and kitchen– has been recovered demolishing all the existing not structural divisions.

The two apertures practiced on both ends of the main space belong to a traditional style of façade used in that area, where the barn acts as a huge gap between the roof and the closed volume of the house.

Design Office: Arnau Estudi d’Arquitectura

Location: Mas La Carrera, Spain

Photographs: Xevi Bayona Camó

Private House | Christopher Ward Studio

 

Design Office: Christopher Ward Studio

Location: Reggio Emilia, Italy

 

Country House | Zanon Architetti Associati

Design Office: Zanon Architetti Associati

Location: Roncade, Italy

Photographs: Giuseppe Dall’ Arche, Mariano Zanon

House in Kea, Greece | Marina Stassinopoulos – Konstantios Daskalakis

Description:

The characteristic features of the site and the island’s traditional building practices, though without a historicist attitude, are the recognizable project elements: the maintenance of the existing flora, the restructuring of the site’s terracing and the organization of the house with volumes which are either independent or ‘arise’ as intermediate gaps. The building is placed on a terrace. The entrance to the house is found in the void between the volume of the house and the terrace behind it. A longitudinal course, parallel with the gradient of the slope connects the distinct building volumes and three courtyards, each having different characteristics: a covered courtyard (in the heart of the building), a shaded one by the oak trees (close to the living room) and one exposed to the sun (at the end of the corridor). Perpendicular to the longitudinal course one enters the main areas of the building (the living room and the two bedrooms), which open up towards the sea. The circulation and the service spaces (entrance, corridors and bathrooms) are expressed as voids that connect the differing volumes of the primary spaces. The configuration of the flat roof corresponds to the plan of the house, as it depicts the individual volumes and the relationship between them. It is also the main facade of the building since it is exposed in its entirety as one approaches. The roof is formed so as to provide cross ventilation to the main living and sleeping areas and is also set up as a system of collectors that receive and direct the rainwater to the cistern which is the quiet protagonist of the building. The house is constructed with the usual practices of the local builders. Without a decorative intent most surfaces (floors, external walls, internal wet areas) are formed by cement.

Design Office: Marina Stassinopoulos – Konstantios Daskalakis

Location: Kea Island, Cyclades, Greece

Photographs: Yiorgis Yerolympos

Casa di Pietra | Arturo Montanelli

 

Design Office: Arturo Montanelli

Location: Italy

Αrborg Ηouse | PK Arkitektar

Design Office: PK Arkitektar

Location: Arborg, Iceland

Photographs: Rafael Pinho

PK House | Studio Arthur Casas

Design Office: Studio Arthur Casas

Location: Guarujá, Brazil

Photographs: Leonardo Finotti

House M | Architekten Wannenmacher + Möller

Description by Architekten Wannenmacher + Möller GMBH:

The Möllmann residence is located in a long-standing residential area, mainly comprising detached houses, outside Bielefeld. It was not possible to realise the requested flat roofed house because of the land use stipulations that required a symmetrical roof with an angle of 30 – 38°. Therefore the decision was made to use the traditional regional architecture as a point of orientation for the exterior of the house. The barns that are popular for agricultural use in this rural region were chosen as a particular reference for the formal design of the house. In line with the simple, unpretentious architecture of the barns the residence was designed as a lengthened, rectangular structure with a double-pitched roof without overhang. The masonry facades on three sides in quarry stone also refer to the traditional architecture in rural regions.

Although the house includes formal references to regional traditions the character of its interior is still consistently modern. This is made particularly clear in the open layouts that allow the rooms to flow into one another. The complete glazing of the side of the building shell that faces the garden, which allows the inside to melt into the outside through its lack of materials, is also a typical characteristic of a modern space concept. Numerous built in storage elements, benches and storage rooms provide sufficient storage inside the house. The books are also gathered in one place in a specially fitted library on the ground floor of the house. This meant that all the utility areas in the building could be kept free of objects for everyday use. The walls remain clear and can thus develop their spatial effects without disturbances.

Reduction to only a few materials and colours – Italian sandstone for the floor, white plaster for walls and ceilings, oiled oak for the benches and glass and grey aluminium for the windows – gives the rooms a soothing calmness. With the support of a minimum of furnishings the architecture develops an ascetic austerity that makes the house a place of contemplative peace and allows the residents to escape from the hectic and noise of everyday life.

Design Office: Architekten Wannenmacher + Möller GMBH

Location: Germany

 

House in Ranzo | Wespi de Meuron

Design Office: Wespi de Meuron

Location: Ranzo, Switzerland

Photographs: Hannes Henz

House in Spain | JUMA Architects

Description by JUMA Architects:

Belgian clients commissioned JUMA architects to design a holiday home in Spain. The site is characterized by a dense growth of pine trees and a slope overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

JUMA, who consider it a privilege to build in this unique context, have naturally opted to preserve as many trees as possible in order to make maximum use of the natural available shade.

In the design, a stairway is placed along the driveway that descends right to the entrance. In this way, JUMA makes full use of the slope of the terrain, bringing the first floor up to the level of the street. The bedrooms, all of which feature large window sections, are located on the first floor. To prevent overheating, these windows are equipped with blinds made up of fine vertical wooden slats.

The L-shaped floor plan is entirely oriented to the side that offers the most spectacular views. The main volume of the L-shape houses the kitchen, while the other volume contains the seating area. In this way, both spaces embrace the terraces and provide privacy from the neighbours. The terraces follow the natural slope of the terrain; as playful surfaces they ultimately lead to the green-blue infinity pool.

The architecture is defined by a play of horizontal lines, formed by various overlapping canopies. In some places, the canopies are provided with perforations, creating compelling variations of natural light. In terms of materials, JUMA’s design features a combination of white, smooth plaster with a rough local stone quarried from the area.

Design Office: JUMA Architects

Location: Spain

Evans House | A4estudio

Design Office: A4estudio

Location: Mendoza, Argentina

 

Paraty House | Marcio Kogan

Description by Marcio Kogan:

Paraty House’s two reinforced concrete boxes, sit atop each other, connected on the mountainside of one of the islands of the colonial city of Paraty and Angra dos Reis (between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), like two modern prisms between the large colossal stones of the Brazilian coast.

The building projects outward from the mountain, almost onto the beach, in an 8m cantilever. The house finds balance in the topography of the land, creating an extensive open doorway and living space in the practically untouched nature. Paraty House features a furniture collection showcasing 20thcentury design, including works by many well-known artists.

The residents arrive by boat. After stepping out onto the sand a metallic bridge positioned over a crystal-lined reflecting pool leads to a set of stairs connecting to the lower volume. This volume contains the living room, kitchen and service area. The continual internal area has a 27m span and huge glass windows to take advantage of the view of the sea.

The same entrance stairs also lead to the upper volume that houses the bedrooms. In the front part of the house, retractile panels of eucalyptus sticks protect the bedrooms from the sun. The areas that face the mountain have small internal patios with zenithal lighting, and use exposed reinforced concrete, which grants a striking texture to the walls.

The entire top of the house is covered with terraces, used as observation decks for the residents, and as a garden for sculptures, medicinal plants and edible herbs.

Design Office: Marcio Kogan

Location: Paraty, Brazil

Photographs: Nelson Kon

Country House | MIDE Architetti

 

Description by MIDE Architetti:

The project site involves an old country house, built in 1887 in the immediate neighborhood of Lucca and a most recent farmhand’s cottage. The buildings are integrated in the countryside of Lucca and maintain its typical characteristics. Specifically, the buildings are located in a hilly landscape, between gentle slopes, where oaks and chestnuts lick the property. In this background, the renovation has been directed to both the maintenance and the enhancement of typical elements of the local architecture, such as exposed brick wall, stone of Matraia and chestnut wood. Pursuing this goal, and in full respect of the typical features, the components and materials used have been revised in a contemporary way, adopting the most appropriate construction techniques, in order to ensure the achievement of the best possible result.

Inside the country house we sought to manually apply, using the traditional spatulas and sponges, natural lime-based plasters that highlight the irregular rocky surface of the walls. The recovery of beams and hollow tiles by sandblasting, is an explicit call to the traditional tuscan architecture, refreshed by the bleaching of the ceilings. The exterior was deliberately kept unchanged in surface and holes[GS1] , in order to maintain its historicity without sacrificing the charm. Therefore, we opted for basic external fixtures made of steel. In the garden the large swimming pool is integrated with the surrounding landscape, respecting the vegetation and the secular olive trees, leaved unaltered. The adjacent cottage has been completely renovated inside, opting for contemporary materials and colors: the concrete floor and the black lavatory contribute to give a new identity to the building. Finally, in the hypogeum you can find a spa area consisting of a large tub and a cedar wood sauna.

 

Design Office: MIDE Architetti

Location: Lucca, Italy

Photographs: Alessandra Bello

Casa Lara | Felipe Hess

Design Office: Felipe Hess

Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Photographs: Ricardo Bassetti

Traditional Stone House | Philippitzis & Associates

Description by Philippitzis & Associates:

Claims of functionalism, geometrical clarity and simplicity advise the final form, while the organisation of spaces predisposes for a way of life “simple and necessary”, that longs for the contact with the natural environment.

The load bearing concrete structure, of which the construction from pillars on a level with the ground and above, took place by building the stonemasonry, like a “kernel”. This presupposes an in detail design and particular supervision on the electromechanical networks in the stage of manufacture.

Demolition stones, “Syki’s” Pelion stones with river shingles weave the web of stonemasonry which are joint-filled with a special plaster (kourasanit) with the addition of 5 mm tessera.

In the main volume of the building that is totally stone, is organised the space of entry with the living room and the kitchen with the space of food in the depth, as well as a guesthouse. Exempted from internal partitions, in the space of the living room dominates a sense of uplifting under the obvious roof with stone triple gripida. The internal wooden staircase manufactured from trainwood placed in the exterior stone wall leads to the open attic, where is found the bedroom with the bath.

In the smaller volume the little house there is a guesthouse and a laboratory, bath and the essential auxiliary spaces. The roofs were manufactured by local and “Agioritiki” chestnut tree with double insulation and covering with Pelion plates.

Design Office: Philippitzis & Associates

Location: Milies, Pelion, Greece