Framing existing conditions as opportunities, SHED Architecture & Design created a coherent family compound on the shores of Seattle’s Lake Washington in which an old and new structure speak to one another and the surrounding landscape via a design solution informed by restraint, material relationship, and attention to detail.
The main aim of the design and the client’s request was a future-oriented handling of materials and a building that was integrated into the environment.
A generous green roof as a cut-out and folded landscape forms the largest space-forming element of the house. The lightweight timber construction with a ventilated metal facade and large glass elements form the remaining outer skin surfaces. The intersection of the massive terrace plateau with the edge of the terrain forms only a partial adaptation to the topography, which is why the building stands out from the terrain on the north / west side.
The Skokie Valley Synagogue renovation transformed the sanctuary, built in 1963, from a dark and formal space to an ethereal, light-filled and ADA accessible room for communal prayer.
The original room was a long, dark hall with dim lighting and fixed theater-type seating. The renovation converted the large stage into new, modern bathrooms and a coat room.
‘Live in the lap of nature’. Every human mind wishes for it. We, architect at 3dor concepts were shown with a site literally in natures lap, in the foothills of lush western ghats in north Kerala. Site was also close to popular hill station Wayanad. The young client Binil Thomas wanted a single storeyed four bed house. He is a management professional working mostly in big Indian cities demands a peaceful space in the same piece of land where he spent his childhood living with his parents and siblings. His father was a successful farmer and they had already planted different kind of plants already in site.
Located on a linear site within a quiet residential community, the form of the house unfolds to envelope a generous garden court within. The three wings are distinct in function, containing a semi covered party area in front and the private bedroom wing at the back. Bridging these two is the wing containing the living, dining and staircase spaces and forms the heart of the house. Connected to the courtyard through a series of timber sliding doors spanning almost fifty feet, it features a double height volume capped by a large concrete roof which cantilevers three meters over the garden area. Continuous horizontal slits below the roof form a counter point to the heaviness of the concrete and create a delicate connection to the rest of the building while also bringing in a diffused light quality to the spaces below. The large openings are amply shaded and the horizontal slits allow for the hot air within to escape creating airy and cool interior spaces. A simple and restrained material palette of exposed concrete, kota stone and teak wood serve to highlight the quality of light and allow the experience of the courtyard to take center stage.
Can the “Mediterranean” style have a new reading? Can an urban house offer a summer atmosphere without falling into aesthetic topics?
We attended to the wishes of our clients to have a fresh, pleasant and comfortable house with very contemporary organization of rooms, materials and geometries but from our origins.
This project is the very first “rammed earth” implementation in Costa Rica. We completely used clay soil from the excavations for the construction of all perimeter bearing walls.
Near Uvita town, on a plot of 11,000 square meters at a height of 300 m above the sea, I designed two small villas on a hill overgrown with a jungle. Both villas, partly levitating above the steep southern slope, are designed for short-term recreational rentals. The built-up area of each of them is 90 m2.
On a complex multilevel lot overlooking the city of Beverly Hills, this project was designed to take advantage of the beautiful views of the city below, as well as the entire Los Angeles basin. The house is inspired by the rich history of modernism in California, in both its plan and material choices. Open in concept and focused around the pool and garden area, the upper level blends seamlessly with its surroundings. Programmatic requirements for additional space and the city’s restrictions on grading led to a design that wrapped the lower level around a basement courtyard, to draw as much light as possible deep into the floor plan.
The Cave House is a building, in which a modern design rooted in the legend of the Wawel Dragon combines with the idea of ecological and sustainable architecture.
The Symbiotic House designed in BXB studio recognized as the most ecological building of the year 2019 according to PLGBC, is a house in which ecological elements accompanied a contemporary architectural block. Our latest project The Cave House – is a building whose unique and innovative design is a derivative of ecological functional and spatial ideas and the principles of the so-called human-centered biophilic design, i.e. architecture focused on human health and well-being. These two issues – modern design and eco elements become an inseparable, coherent unity here. Moreover, they refer to the local tradition, history of the place, the nature of the surrounding landscape and the principles of sustainable development. The Cave House is a biophilic architecture, which, in addition to basic issues in the field of function, aesthetics, ergonomics and energy efficiency, focuses primarily on effectively providing the user with the necessary factors affecting his harmonious coexistence with the natural environment, psychophysical condition, and overall comfort of life.
Granera, far away enough to lose cell service, close enough to get there and back for lunch. A century-old farmhouse, the ideal place to bring the whole family together in summer, for Christmas, or just on a regular Sunday. These gatherings are the demand, and the farmhouse is the setting that needs to be prepared for them.
The house is located with its back to the street and half underground. You walk down to an esplanade where there is a well; from there, skirting the house, you enter beneath the pergola that runs the length of the entire south façade. This paved, terraced area becomes a green space under the large oak tree that hides the garden. Beyond that, woodlands.