Treehotel has revealed its eighth experimental retreat called Biosphere, which is suspended between two trees and wrapped in a façade of 350 birdhouses.
Designed by BIG in collaboration with Swedish ornithologist Ulf Öhman, the boutique hotel room is designed to immerse guests in nature and to help facilitate the conservation of the local bird population. The 34-square-metre glazed cube is surrounded by a metal grid that supports the timber-made birdhouses of various sizes, and creates its spherical form.
Creating a sustainable extension for the family home of client and builder Souter Built, Alexander Symes Architects motivates sustainable living through every detail. Featured as part of The Sustainability Series, Pepper Tree Passive House is a personal project crafted between cousins and sees the extension explore a passion for passive house and sustainable living.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction 00:41 – Unanderra Country 01:12 – The Builder and The Owner 01:42 – Building Around The Pepper Tree 02:17 – A Walkthrough Pepper Tree Passive House 02:56 – A Two Fold Concept and Brief 03:22 – Exploring The Concept of A Passive House 03:43 – Using Resources In Respectful Ways 04:00 – Wood Is Good 04:31 -Using Minimal Intervention on The Existing Home 04:59 – The Challenges Faced 05:20 – The Positives of Being The Building & The Client 06:00 – Moments To Celebrate
Following a twofold brief, Alexander Symes Architect created an office space, guest house and entertainment area with recycled and renewable materials that echo the ethos of likeminded sustainable buildings. Extending the family home over a slopping landscape and around a tree protection zone, both architect and builder worked cohesively with each other to reflect the positive aspects of sustainable design. What transpired from this effort was an office space, living area, kitchen and guest living space that wrap around the home’s namesake, the pepper tree.
Covered by the canopy of the pepper tree, the garden was transformed, seeing hand-poured pavers lead guests up towards the passive house. Evidence of the passive house concept is also seen at the home’s entrance; wood and convict bricks are used similarly throughout the interior design, seeing sustainable living enhanced through natural thermal heating and cooling. Due to its north-facing position, the convict bricks add a thermal structure throughout, soaking up the natural heat of the sun, whilst the shade of the canopy does the same in the warmer months.
From planning to building to completion, Pepper Tree Passive House passionately showcases the skillset required for sustainable living, alongside Souter Built’s philosophy for sustainable building. Through the architecture and design choices, guests and clients alike can see firsthand how using recycled materials, instead of depleting natural resources, can leave a better footprint for the future of sustainable buildings.
As the soothing colours of its interior spill into the garden space, Turramurra Threads feels deliberately nestled into its outdoor complement. Crafted by Benn + Penna, the calming family house is filled with a sense of peace resulting from its understated design.
Video timeline:00:00 – An Introduction to the Calming Family House 00:30 – Location of the Home 00:43 – The Clients of the Project 01:23 – The Original House 01:51 – The Architects Brief 02:05 – Connecting the House to the Garden 02:25 – Using a Neutral Palette and Natural Materials 03:14 – The Importance of Light in the House 03:45 – The Large Skylight 04:07 – The Arch in the Living Room 04:24 – The New Extension of the Home
Surrounded by charming heritage builds on the northern outskirts of Sydney, Turramurra Threads reimagines an existing Victorian construction. The design brief called for the historic front windows and delicate ceiling detail of the calming family house to be retained whilst an extension be added to the rear, celebrating established architecture in unison with modern amenity.
Featuring the original façade, the calming family house captures a simple spatial plan, directing residents from the old structure into the new. A secondary living space and master bedroom sits perpendicular to the entrance corridor, which leads onto three bedrooms and a study. Beyond, the extension forms a primary living pavilion, opening at its far end to reveal the garden. Rays of sunlight penetrate the calming family house from three points of entry, indicating a studious approach to natural lighting and building materials.
The beams enter from a small pocket garden that serves as a transparent border between the historic and additional architecture and a large skylight positioned on the southern slope of the roof. Enhancing the functionality of a heritage home, Benn + Penna creates an open interior design that engages the garden space. Turramurra Threads is built to embrace the natural surrounds, using its subtle properties to establish a calming family house.
October Project of the Month | Scarborough Béton Brut | Young Architects.
Raw concrete, extensive glazing, and timber accents dominate the design of this home nestled in the hills above Christchurch’s seaside suburb of Sumner. Perched on the edge of a dormant volcano on a 30 degree slope, the form hasn’t been compromised. The structure emerges from the landscape in cubed sections.
In the beginning, there was energy. Everything since then, has been an exercise in transforming energy from one state into another – food becomes labour, gas becomes electricity, fossil fuels become architecture.
In this month’s keynote essay, Barnabas Calder writes: ‘In the millennia before fossil fuels, the circular economy was the only economically viable way to operate’. Recognising that architecture is formed from the fuel we extract to create and sustain it could be a transformative way of thinking about our built environment.
This issue seeks to make visible the often obscured links between buildings and the energy sources they are built from, and around.
Evoking grandiosity through carefully considered sharp points and rounded edges, the concrete super house by Joe Adsett Architects offers unrivalled views of Toowoomba’s sweeping landscape. Creating a piece of architecture that was befitting of the location and striking natural landscape,
Video timeline: 00:00 – A Welcome to Cliffhanger House 00:36 – The Location of the Super House 00:46 – Building On The Edge of A Landslide Zone 01:36 – Arriving At The Site 02:00 – The Vitrocsa Glazing Suite 02:40 – A Seamless Flow From Kitchen to Outdoors 03:00 – An Extension of The Main Living Area 03:14 – The Material Palette 03:52 – Emulating The Architecture Through Furniture 04:17 – Designing Weather Flexible Houses 04:41 – The Challenging Aspect of The Cantilever
Vitrocsa collaborated with Joe Adsett Architects to produce the concrete super house that fully embraced its location. Balancing at the very top of the site, the concrete super house offers views from East of Brisbane toward Picnic Point and Table Top Mountain. Whilst the home’s location is situated over a ridge, Joe Adsett Architects endeavoured to create more space by cantilevering away from the slope.
By projecting part of the concrete super house out from the built space, the ability to create a more functional living space with privacy from surrounding neighbours arose. Arriving at the concrete super house, the gaze is immediately ensnared by the curving concrete wall that cantilevers away from the base of the home. With the garage underneath the house offering one way of entrance, it is the curved pathway leading to the deliberately oversized glass pivot door that is the striking entrance of the home.
Working with Vitrocsa to create the glazing for the home, the frame of the windows was done with a slender aluminium product comprised of reinforced stainless steel. Made in Australia and designed to Swiss specifications, the framing offers unbroken views of the surrounding landscape whilst also bringing a seamless indoor-outdoor flow into the home. With restrained materials used across the exterior architecture, the interior design choices also reflect the primary theme of the concrete super house.
Softened with veneered timber products and large porcelain tiles, curves and sharp points are repeated through the joinery elements. Furthermore, the furnishings also introduce soft textures and colours that bring a humanising element to the concrete super house.
We gave interior designers Noz Nozawa, Darren Jett, and Joy Moyler a photo of the same loft – then asked each of them to create a design for it in their particular style, however they pleased. Three artists, one canvas, each bringing something different to space. See which designer comes closest to creating your dream studio apartment.
In touch with a vast rural landscape, Wallaroo Residence rises from atop one of Canberra’s many slopes. Crafted by DNA Architects, the modern farmhouse gently weaves natural elements into its modern expression, emerging as a place of retreat.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to theModern Farmhouse 00:35 – Hitting The Brief 01:10 – A Walkthrough of the House 01:47 – The Key Architectural Features 02:23 – Navigating The Weather Elements 02:44 – Separation Between The Family and The Entertaining Areas 02:55 – The Contemporary Kitchen 03:41 – A Focus On Sustainability 04:24 – The Modern Farmhouse Aesthetic 04:52 – The Architects Favourite Part of The Home
Settled on the edge of Canberra, Wallaroo Residence follows a design brief readily assigned to DNA Architects. The luxury home presents as a modern farmhouse, a concept first proposed by its traditional pitched roof and then explored within an interior of considered materials maturely applied. Aggrandising the entrance of the modern farmhouse, a floating porte-cochère leads on to an impressive set of glass doors. Internally, a timber-clad kitchen sits to the east of the arrival space, beyond which lies the family living room.
From there, the residence separates into the laundry room and master suite which offers unobstructed southern views. Along the back wall of the kitchen, Fisher & Paykel DishDrawers are effortlessly integrated into both the wall itself and the adorning joinery. On the kitchen island, a Full Surface Fisher & Paykel Induction Hob satisfies the desire for sustainable living and enables multiple pans to be warmed at once.
In the laundry room, large capacity Fisher & Paykel Washer Dryers inject a sense of efficiency into the modern farmhouse. Embracing its unique perspective, Wallaroo Residence testifies to the ongoing appeal of a city escape. With inhered functionality and a contemporary aesthetic, the modern farmhouse represents a distinguished interpretation of rural luxury.
Sketchbook №13 is part of a large sketchbook series in architecture illustrations created between 2013 and 2022, in this sketchbook the illustrations were created between 2019 and 2022. Materials used in this sketchbook are mixed medias of oil paint, acrylics, charcoal, watercolor, gouache, pen, ink, and colored pencils.
The aim of architecture illustrations is directed at creating inspiration and conceptual ideas that are used for creative concept decisions in projects and mood boards.
I hope this sketchbook gives you inspiration for creating your own version of architectural illustration sketchbooks and come up with beautiful architecture designs and concepts in your upcoming projects. A thorough documentation is set to collect and archive all the sketches that were created during this series and body of work.
In an area where expansive views can quickly overwhelm, Dovecote by Atelier Andy Carson is settled comfortably within the landscape. Comprised of The Headland and The Range, the award winning Airbnb pulls the surrounds into balance with its materiality and interior design.
Video timeline: 00:00 – The Local Project’s Print Publication 00:21 – Introduction to Dovecote 01:00 – Andy Carson – The Architect 01:29 – A Detailed Brief 02:17 – Finding Longevity in The Material Selection 02:54 – The Inspiration for The Headland 03:34 – A Walkthrough The Headland 04:13 – The Original Use for The Courtyard 04:32 – Approaching The Views 05:03 – The Inspiration for The Range 05:52 – Celebrating The Western View 06:20 – Immersion In The Landscape 07:04 – The Architects Favourite Aspects 07:31 – Subscribe to The Local Project’s Print Publication
Positioned alone in the South Coast town of Gerringong, Dovecote is butted by lush rolling hills that slope down towards the shoreline. A house tour of the award winning Airbnb reveals that it embodies a detailed design brief which stipulated a contemporary main house – The Headland – visually countered by a simpler construction, The Range. A built reaction to place,
Dovecote is designed to thrive in a harsh coastal climate. The material palette is tailored to robust functionality – metal cladding maintains its structural integrity under salty ocean spray and allows the award winning Airbnb to visually recede into the shadows of the hills. In The Range, copper louvres to the western side enable residents to control access to natural light and views of the farmland.
Decks are placed to the north and south so that on any given day, visitors to the award winning Airbnb can use the architecture of The Range as a windbreak or utilise passive solar power. Through the concealment, introduction and reintroduction of striking vistas, Dovecote preserves the special qualities of its site. Atelier Andy Carson expertly controls the influence of the natural surrounds, ensuring that the award winning Airbnb is as liveable as it is showstopping.
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