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“Kha-nam refers to the typology of small resting shelters found during the agricultural season in Thailand,” the firm explains. “They’re built using basic construction methods, with local and easily sourced materials.”

As in most vernacular architecture around the world, form follows function in Thai agricultural buildings. They often feature stilts to protect the interiors from floodwaters and large, steeply sloping roofs to provide shelter from the sun and shed rain efficiently. The long, continuous roof of the original pigsty features a traditional overlapped design wherein a secondary roof panel hovers above a vented opening in the lower roof panel. This gives the spaces directly below the vents natural light and air flow.

YangNar Studio arranged the living room, kitchen, and bedroom beneath the vents to take advantage of these features, while the north side of the building hosts a terrace corridor between a workshop and a plant nursery. The family that commissioned this unique adaptive reuse project wanted to create a self-sufficient estate where they could raise plants and train dogs, so the garden has a large area for both purposes.

When choosing materials for the home, the architects retained much of the concrete, steel, and wood from the original pigsty for inclusion in the design, rearranging it for new purposes. Beneath the old roof, the living spaces are elevated, gazing at each other through large windows across a shared outdoor space.

“The materials of this house [have a] way of arranging old into new use with respect to a trace of time,” say the architects. “We can see a lot of buildings’ traces of old material clearly, but architects keep that with an understanding of language to keep this blend in the transition of living. Some parts of the house such as the kitchen’s wall used authentic wooden craftsmanship like ‘Fha-Lai,’ a flexible sliding wall from the northern part of Thailand, to consider an alternative way of ventilation. This authentic construction method is hard to find nowadays.”

“This might look like a simple wooden house found [commonly] in this region, but for us, this house is an architecture that was not made for the aesthetic of living only but was designed from an understanding of the practitioner’s view in forming construction methods to blend old and new things to get a special architectural experience for the owner,” say the architects.

The result feels airy and full of character; particular to this area of the world and its customs and traditions. The texture of the old corrugated roof contrasts beautifully with the new glass and refinished wood, and the covered swimming pool terrace is a tropical dream. You’d certainly never call this recycled home a pigsty now, would you?

The post YangNar Studio Converted a Pigsty into a Beautiful Tropical Home in Thailand first appeared on Dornob.

For decades, this area has no longer served its purpose as a port system, since the waters are too shallow for modern ships. It grew derelict over time and felt disconnected from the community. Today, it’s becoming a lively destination full of interesting architecture that combines older existing buildings with new construction. Project Harbour Club is one of those buildings, boasting three massive salvaged wine silos converted into rooftop homes as its defining feature.

Dutch firm LEVS architecten turned the original low-lying 1901 dock terminal facility and wine warehouse into a nightclub and restaurant that connects to a new six-story L-shaped residential building, which hugs it on two sides. The project offers 81 starter homes, three luxury townhouses, and five live/work homes, as well as the event spaces. Placing a booming club adjacent to housing might seem like poor planning, but the architects integrated a ton of soundproofing as well as buffer spaces in between, reducing vibrations and sound.

The architects explain that “the Harbour Club’s new event space is located on the lower three floors on the Cruquiusweg. Using the box-in-a-box principle, the space has been completely disconnected from the other functions in the building in order to prevent noise nuisance. The box with its own foundation consists of a steel frame with precast concrete. Above it, houses with a through lounge float, supported by four 16-meter-long beams. A second, glass skin also forms a buffer zone and serves as a foyer.”

During renovations to remove an adjacent 1990s industrial hall, the architects uncovered the original brick facade of the building, which lends a sense of age and texture to the restaurant along with the wine warehouse’s old wooden beams. The preserved porthole-style windows enhance the building’s connection to its shipping industry history. Planted with mossy sedum, the roof of this structure is now a shared outdoor space for residents of the building.

Naturally, those huge industrial wine silos are the star of the show. They once stored wine destined for the Dutch market, and they had to be decontaminated and lifted over a line of trees to be installed. “They have been preserved as icons of the island’s history and have been given a new function as elevated luxury town houses,” the architects add. “The three-story dwellings stand on a communal roof terrace in a green landscape. They are rotated slightly to provide the best possible view from the new panoramic window.”

The residents of these luxury units might have the best views of all, but the “starter homes” definitely aren’t bad, either. Some are studios set above the event hall, and others cantilever 16 feet over the old warehouse on the restaurant side. Their half-covered balconies offer privacy while overlooking the harbor and green roof.

“Harbour Club is a multi-level challenge: technically, programmatically, and architecturally,” the architects say. “The combined necessities of affordable densification, restoration of monuments, [and] climate mitigation and adaptation need to be addressed simultaneously. Harbour Club is a contemporary answer, characterized by unconventional solutions.”

The post Three Converted Wine Silos Add Living Space to a Waterfront Rooftop in Amsterdam first appeared on Dornob.

That’s what Italian architect Stefano Larotonda of Last Studio decided to do for a home in Rovagnate, northern Italy. The existing structure was a typical two-story Italian country home set into the base of a slope, but the clients wanted a new entrance, additional green space, and a brighter, more usable basement. The only way to grant their wishes was to literally carve out the basement, creating a new sunken courtyard around it.

“That means a new kind of space in the basement and subsequent creation of an outdoor space that is configured as an open-air room,” says Larotonda. “This new environment allows for the lighting of the underground area, which becomes a large hall described by a series of wooden inner partitions that define different spatial configurations.”

Working in collaboration with Andrea Tregnago, Larotonda essentially created a giant trench around the home to expose the basement walls. This new outdoor space is a full story below the grade of the yard around it, its edges defined by new walls made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Vertical wooden staves were used as the formwork, imprinting the concrete with their patterns and knots for a more organic appearance. The exposed basement walls were then replaced with the same materials, punctured by circular windows and an oversized sliding glass door.

A large round cutout in the garden wall now acts as the home’s new entrance, beckoning visitors into the light-filled courtyard where Larotonda has installed stepping stones, volcanic rock, and grasses designed to offer proper drainage when it rains. From the driveway looking in, you see an interesting arrangement of diagonal walls sloping toward the lawn above. From the lawn, these walls stick up several feet above grade, looking almost like the prow of a ship.

Inside, the newly renovated basement is suddenly flooded with daylight. The concrete floors were darkened and polished for a slate-like effect, and the interior walls are made of three layers of solid fir stained with green impregnating paints for a sheer, washed look. Together, these colors are meant to evoke the tones of the surrounding mountain landscape. The circular motif is also drawn inside, repeated with cutouts in the wood walls and the shape of the bathroom mirror.

It may not have been the most obvious solution, but excavating the basement level was a clever way to give the clients exactly what they wanted, create a new outdoor space that’s truly private, and make the most of the existing structure instead of wastefully tearing it down and starting anew.

The post Last Studio Turns Unused Basement into Tranquil Underground Patio first appeared on Dornob.

Set back from a cliff overlooking the water, the old barn structure consisted of two parts: a taller volume with gabled ends, and a wide addition off one side with a sloping shed-style roofline. No doors, windows, or actual roofs remained – just holes where they used to be. Aiming to keep as much of the concrete structure in place as possible to preserve its aged and weathered character, the architects decided to insert a lightweight two-story timber structure into the original volume, mimicking its shape.

Preserving the crumbling concrete required some creativity. The old barn was made of thick and stable mass concrete, but most of its walls lacked foundations, and some were very fragile. They decided to retain only the perimeter walls, leaving them in a ruined state peppered with lichen and patchwork patterns of local pebbles. They also stabilized the existing structure and lined the barn floor with a reinforced concrete raft to ensure the home wouldn’t continue to deteriorate after the renovations were complete.

New openings were created sparingly to avoid compromising the structural integrity of the old concrete shell. One was added to let more light into the kitchen, and another adds a separate entrance to the art studio so the homeowners can move large artworks in and out. Both the new openings and the original ones were diamond-cut to a smooth surface that contrasts with the roughness of the outer facade. On the ground floor, Studio Bua placed a kitchen and dining space adjacent to the studio, giving them all a floor of polished concrete.

The client, an artist, had previous experience staining plywood and wanted to experiment with adding light washes of color to the birch walls. She and the architects collaborated on a palette inspired by the colors of the meadow as they shift from green in spring to yellow in winter and purple in late summer. On the second floor, the white stained pine boards and plywood surfaces are left in their natural color to complement the darkness of the concrete and stone. A plywood staircase leads from the ground floor dining room to a mezzanine sitting room overlooking a double-height space, with both rooms taking advantage of the massive amount of daylight emanating from a fully-glazed end facade.

Outside, the walled garden might just be the coolest part of this old-meets-modern renovation. Protected from both strong winds and hungry wildlife, the garden preserves the framed views of the original windows and doors, now open to the air, and uses the remains of the original interior walls as row dividers.

The architects also chose a number of materials that are uniquely Icelandic in character. They explain that “the cladding of the new volume is corrugated Aluzinc – a reflective material that takes the color of the sky and meadow around the house, changing with the seasons and weather embodying the lightness of the inserted volume. This allowed us to extend to a second story without overpowering the concrete barn. From our experience working in harsh climates, this rather industrial material is one of the few cladding options that can withstand the extremes of weather.”

“The corrugation is also a reference to a local building tradition. From the early 20th century corrugated steel has been used diffusely in Iceland in rural and urban settings for all typologies. Most dwellings and farm buildings in the area are partly or completely clad in this material.”

The post Dilapidated Barn Ruins Transformed into a Remote Artist’s Studio in Iceland first appeared on Dornob.

Believe it or not, this inventive project is actually on the docket. Recently announced as the latest undertaking by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), it’s so much more than an amusement park. By converting an existing oil rig into an over 100,000-square-meter tourist destination, the complex will be the first of its kind: entirely offshore, accessible only via sea or air, and featuring everything from hotels to entertainment and world-class attractions —all designed to add to Saudi Arabia’s allure as a top worldwide tourist destination.

Dubbed “The Rig,” the project will not only provide a boon to the local economy, it will also work stringently “to ensure the sustainable preservation of the environment in the project’s vicinity…[by following] leading global standards and best practices,” according to an official statement. These sustainably measures come as the country seeks to expand its efforts to focus on broader environmental protections.

Despite drawing millions of visitors every year to visit the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia seeks to reposition itself as more of an entertainment — rather than religious — destination; “a global hotspot [able] to compete with the likes of nearby Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Oman,” according to a recent article from CNN.

Part of a larger PIF strategy to increase innovative projects and drive development in Saudi Arabia’s tourism and entertainment sectors, the offshore amusement complex is just the latest in a series of projects meant to promote the country as a worldwide tourist destination (one that’s especially popular with visitors from nearby Arabian Gulf cities).

Earlier this year, as part of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Project, two hotels were scheduled to be built on the Ummahat Al Shaykh Island. Commissioned by the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) and designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, the villas will be luxe to the extreme. Built on both land and over water, they will also continue the country’s focus on sustainable development.

Also this year, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed the country’s plans for a second national airline, part of a larger $147 billion investment into increasing transportation throughout the Middle Eastern nation.

Though there is no release date as of yet for “The Rig,” Saudi Arabia hopes to eventually welcome approximately 100 million new tourists as a result of its “global repositioning” as a top tourist attraction, and the announcement of the offshore amusement park complex in the Arabian Gulf is just the tip of the iceberg, as the country continues to exhibit its desire to “drive innovation…[by creating] promising development opportunities to achieve economic diversification.” If this involves the world’s first tourist destination built entirely on offshore oil platforms — all while promoting sustainability and development— then surely the world will soon see a tourist destination that rivals that of even the most lavish neighboring hotspots.

The post Saudi Arabia Plans Luxe Amusement Park on Offshore Oil Rig first appeared on Dornob.

The library is perhaps the best example of this creative design strategy. Now known as “Library in Ruins,” the space, located in Sunyao Old Village, features a new concrete form that was shaped inside the pre-existing walls, effectively reproducing the construction of the other, older buildings in the area. It also perfectly echoes many of the most distinctive features of the other buildings in the designers’ “Miniature” series.

Originally, the firm was commissioned to design one large building to house all of the municipality’s cultural amenities (like a library, cultural center, etc). However, because Xiuwu County is spread out between various far-flung villages, it’s difficult for residents to travel to a single, isolated location. The solution? Create multiple buildings with separate functions and distribute them throughout various, easily accessible locations – so people in all villages can utilize and enjoy them.

Thus the Miniature series was born. The library is just the newest of the bunch, but it’s certainly no less impressive than its forebears. Located in a previously abandoned village, it was constructed using the literal bare bones of a decaying house, cleverly incorporating the firm’s signature concrete forms into the existing structure to create something new and so much more than the sum of its parts.

As Atelier Xi explains, they created the library with “a new method to allow a new structure to grow from the old ruins.” This design strategy resulted in a space that offers the perfect blend of classic and contemporary: a new space allowed to breathe its own life while echoing many of the old building’s original distinctive features.

The firm wanted to “[allow] the new building to become a spatial device where people enter the ruins, jump over the old houses, and gaze into the village, the fields, and the mountains in the distance.” And with this amazing new library, they’ve certainly succeeded. The outside of the library perfectly complements the surrounding landscape, fluidly echoing the surrounding trees and rocky, curved terrain that are visible from its interior. This is yet another distinctive feature of buildings in the firm’s Miniature series and can be seen in the Peach Hut community pavilion, a nearby building whose structure perfectly mimics the shapes of the surrounding peach trees.

The interior also follows the same mirroring of the local landscape’s distinctive features. As Atelier Xi says, “The facade and internal spaces unfold in a topographic approach.” A new entrance created by transforming the old; an original wall that guides visitors to a new gravel garden with views of nearby cave dwellings; curving concrete surfaces within that create both drama and functional, usable space; and small cut-outs that reveal the surrounding landscape all combine to create the perfect new addition to the firm’s ongoing work.

The post Rising from the Ruins, This Rural Chinese Library by Atelier Xi Cleverly Combines the Old and New first appeared on Dornob.

Located in the north of Beijing, The Playscape – Children’s Community Center is a 29,000-square-foot facility that aims to inspire kids to move their bodies and interact with each other like previous generations did when more Chinese people lived in intimate neighborhoods rather than huge impersonal cities. Developed by a health care provider specializing in children’s development, the center is designed with five traits in mind: Hide and Seek (group interaction), Adventure Playground (risk), Nook and Cranny (body proportion), Maze (discovery), and Fantasy (imagination).

These spaces encourage kids to play pretend with each other, decide what level of risk they feel comfortable experiencing, understand how their bodies fit within various spaces, be brave and adventurous, and make their own decisions within an abstract landscape with few signs or instructions. The undulating play surface interacts with a system of climbable tubes, stairs, hidden indoor spaces, trampolines, slides, and more. Built around existing trees as well as the old buildings, it completely changes how visitors experience the complex, creating new connections between upper level indoor spaces and the outdoors.

The project uses three main architectural devices – “pipe,” “roof,” and “mound” – to engage kids in creative play. The pipes are seen as armatures arranged as a series of connecting bridges and staircases, as well as slides, safety balustrades, and lighting. The walkable roofs reward kids who exert themselves in climbing to the top with new vantage points, while the mounds hide additional covered play spaces beneath the topography of the space. The architects say much of the design is based on the notion that many play spaces dictate exactly where kids should go and how they should use each element, while the Playscape inspires a lot more freedom and imagination.

“We believe the missing element in a child’s development in a modern Chinese city is chiefly a functioning neighborhood,” explain the architects. “We hoped to create the experience of street play and prioritize the reductions of gizmos and screen time. Drawing inspiration from popular culture of the past and abstracting important identities for our new neighborhood’s character.”

“The Playscape is a tool to promote learning while allowing narrative creation for children to dream and develop senses relating to equilibrium (balance) and proprioception (awareness). Balance is taken for granted until it is challenged. It is our hope that activity-based emotional responses to this built environment and the perceptions harnessed can augment the client’s tools in helping strengthen coordination within the child’s development.”

Judging from photos of the project, The Playscape looks so fun, adults might even be tempted to go explore it themselves, kids or no kids. It’s certainly an imaginative way to reactivate an industrial site that was no longer useful in its previous form.

The post 50-Year-Old Industrial Warehouse Transformed Into an Organic Playscape for Kids first appeared on Dornob.

Since then, the city has flourished, and today, it draws nearly half a million travelers every year. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sassi have become comfortable residences, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and spas. One of the newest businesses beckoning tourists inside is the Aquatio Cave Luxury Hotel & Spa by architecture firm Simone Micheli, which occupies 5,000 square feet within an area called Sasso Caveoso.

As the Smithsonian notes, the locals here still “cheerfully refer to themselves” as troglodytes, a word that literally means “cave dwellers.” But the caves don’t exactly look prehistoric anymore. Once lacking even the most basic hygienic standards, they’re now beautifully lit, packed with contemporary artwork, designer furniture, flat-screen televisions, and all the other modern amenities you’d expect from high-end hotels anywhere in the world. That’s certainly true at the Aquatio, where smooth new limestone bricks merge seamlessly into the raw cave walls, now cleaned of lichen and brightened up to their original pale color.

The architects took inspiration from the powerful force that shaped the caves in the first place: a single drop of water. Honored near the main entrance with a drop-shaped bronze sculpture by Kengiro Azuma, the water drop “summarizes in its simplicity the meaning of life through the metaphor of the water cycle,” says Micheli.

The lower entrance leads into a reception area, restaurant, breakfast room, meeting room, and wellness center in two large open spaces that were once part of a neighborhood. The arches, tunnels, ceilings, and walls are illuminated from below to create a soft glow that Micheli calls “scenographic effects.” Even the old wells and cisterns around which the ancient occupants gathered have been restored so the guests of the hotel and spa can enjoy them.

“’Creating emotions is the concept that animated the entire design process,” says Micheli. “The wellness center is the space where this motto is best expressed, in fact it is a suggestive place and occupies the deepest heart of the structure, recovering hypogeal rooms dating back to the ninth century. The restaurant room is a flexible, intercommunicating space with the breakfast room and the meeting area. Its capacity varies according to the occasions, making itself available to contingent events and needs.”

“The rooms mainly present in the upper part of the structure…enjoy breathtaking views of the Caveoso cliff and the ancient city, [while others are] hidden inside the womb of the earth, with only a door to indicate their presence as the ancient shelters of the men of the Neolithic settlements on the Murgia.”

The post Ancient Cave Dwellings in Italy Transformed Into a Luxury Hotel and Spa first appeared on Dornob.

Well think again. When Adam Collier-Woods, a U.K. based carpenter, discovered that one of these behemoths was en route to the scrap yard, he decided to put his skill and creativity into repurposing it as a destination for vacationers looking to have a unique, relaxing retro experience.

While on a drive through the countryside, Collier-Woods saw a decaying bus in a field and was immediately inspired to transform his own double-decker bus into, to paraphrase Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “something completely different.” After purchasing one on Ebay for £4,500, he spent over half a year renovating the enormous bus, documenting the entire process on a local television station.

Built in 1982, Collier-Woods’ bus ended its career after clocking nearly 700,000 miles on the odometer. Hoping to evoke an air of nostalgia for those who may have taken a similar bus to school when they were children, he placed a strong emphasis on keeping as much of the original structure and features as intact as he could, including the steering wheel, driver’s seat, and select other seats. Throughout his renovations, Collier-Woods also sought to keep the interior design retro, taking great care to procure matching furnishings and paint to create the perfect bright, nostalgic vibe. That included keeping the bus’s original bright green exterior. Finding the project “one massive recycling exercise,” Collier-Woods was able to put his skills as a carpenter to good use devising what is now known as the “Big Green Bus.”

Now located on a campsite in East Sussex, the bus is available to rent and can sleep up to six people. Nestled in an idyllic forest setting, holiday makers should prepare to max and relax (and unplug, as there’s no Wi-Fi) around the bus’s picnic area, heated outdoor shower, and outdoor hot tub. Inside, features such as a full kitchen (including stove), a log burning stove for warmth and coziness, comfy beds and seating areas, and the funkiest electric lime green decor make the former transport vehicle both comfortable and stylish.

If you feel like venturing out and exploring the surrounding area, there are plenty of things to do in East Sussex. And if you want to just kick back in the bus and dig those funky vibes the whole trip, you’ll have almost as much to do. A lounge area toward the front of the bus contains board games, and there are also plenty of books laying around in case you want to pretend you’re cruising through the forest while lounging on one of the Big Green Bus’s original seats.

With amazing views, luxe accommodations, kitschy design, and a bit of nostalgia, the Big Green Bus is sure to delight guests who want a cozy cottage experience in a unique, retro setting. Learn more about it here by taking an online tour of the bus and its beautiful surroundings.

The post The Big Green Bus: See How a Carpenter Transformed This Double Decker Into a Hip Retro Vacation Spot first appeared on Dornob.

Though climate change objectives are getting more serious government attention these days, innovative ideas are still needed to help reach carbon-emission reducing targets within the next 10 to 30 years. HPZS took on the challenge by transforming a client’s 1890’s Ravenswood neighborhood property into an energy-neutral build for the future.

Called the Yannell PHUIS+ House, the renovation meets all the strict requirements for the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS 2018+) certifications. In contrast to many of the energy upgrades being included in construction today, the passive home concept is all about building materials into the design that save energy without any extra effort. This means that most of the changes are made within walls and structures rather than with more visible systems like solar, smart thermostats, and Powerwalls.

For the Yannell PHUIS+ House, HPZS gutted the century-old residence down to its studs and sheathing boards. Some may wonder if simply demolishing and building fresh would have been a better idea (especially considering the project’s cool $1.4 million price tag), but in many areas, and especially with historic domiciles, there are less fees and red tape involved for renovation applications than for new structures. Plus, it preserves at least some of the original material.

The HPZS team added 500 square feet to the two-story-plus-basement abode, for a finished product of 3,884 square feet, five bedrooms, and three bathrooms. They started by super-insulating the walls with R-48 graphite-infused expanded polystyrene exterior insulation, which adds internal reflectivity and reduces radiant transmission. The internal walls were similarly foamed in with closed-cell polyurethane insulation, while the roof got 36 inches of R-100 blown-in glass mineral wool.

Additionally, HPZS used triple-pane argon-filled insulated windows, saving even more energy and providing abundant natural light inside. To provide clean, fresh air regularly, the firm installed an Energy Recovery Ventilator that harvests heat energy from the outgoing air to heat the incoming oxygen.

While solar power is not an essential part of passive construction, this home does include a 2.8 KW photovoltaic roof-mounted system that produces 25 percent of the house’s annual energy demand.

All of these design decisions resulted in an extremely air-tight edifice with a test score of 0.0596 cubic feet per minute per 50 square feet (an older home built using traditional construction techniques can test up to 120 cf/m). That ultra-low score earned the house three bonus certifications: Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) status from the Department of Energy, EPA Energy Star, and an EPA Indoor airPlus label.

The renovated passive house is currently slated to be resold on the speculative housing market for profit.

“For our team, this project was successful because of our tenacity in the face of a difficult design and building science problem: how can you transform existing buildings today to meet 2050 goals,” explain the Chicago-based designers. “But it also represents, to a greater extent, significant policy issues that we’re going to have to deal with if we want to decarbonize: zoning codes must change to allow for exterior insulation to be added within setbacks, major renovations and new construction should not be allowed new natural gas connections, homes should be blower door tested successfully in order to achieve occupancy permits. This project demonstrates that change is essential to the policy administration of the built environment. It’s just one more call to action.”

The post Chicago Gets Its First Renovated Passive House first appeared on Dornob.

“Monka Apartments” offers a beautiful example of this process in the medieval town center of Torún, Poland, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A centuries-old Gothic granary with beautiful bones offered an interesting possibility for conversion to housing, but its layout presented a few challenges. Originally designed with industrial usage in mind, the building features numerous large round-topped windows through which sacks of grain were once moved in and out of each level, but the ceilings are low, and the internal rooms lack access to natural light altogether.

Architect Pawel Tatara teamed up with the firm Znamy Sie to design nine new apartments on the second, third, and fourth levels of the building, with the ground floor being occupied by Monka Restaurant. The two knew they wanted to preserve as much of the historical structure as possible, with minimal modern interventions being made, but the client wanted the residences to have a bright, airy, and decidedly more contemporary feel.

Many developers would have simply inserted single-level apartments into each floor, but the results would have been dark and dreary, especially toward the center of the building. This team chose to remove some of the floors and ceilings to create multi-level lofted apartments instead. The result is a mix of apartment sizes and styles, with some smaller units mostly occupying a single floor, a few with lofted bedrooms, and a few more spacious ones stretching all the way up into the building’s gabled top floor.

Because most of the original structure was left intact, each unit is entirely unique, enjoying its own individual character. To both enhance this uniqueness and unify the apartments while ensuring that daylight streams all the way into the building, the architects added a colorful steel volume to the interior of each one. These “cubes” contain the bathrooms and divide the space between the living areas and bedrooms. Both the color of the cube and its geometric motif, inspired by the stained glass windows of the Cathedral of St. Janów, are unique to each unit.

“Due to the unusual history of the city, the architectural detail has become the inspiration for the project,” says Znamy Sie. “Nine apartments were designed on three floors. On the second and third floor, there are two-story apartments with mezzanines. On the fourth floor there is a one-level, but with locally high ceilings illuminated by roof windows. As a result, higher and better-lit living spaces were obtained. The project refers to the unusual character and climate of the city of Torún. Each of the apartments is completely different, which is largely due to the irregularity of the old building but above all from the individual detail.”

“Certainly stained glass windows will create a unique atmosphere in the interior, becoming a non-obvious element that changes in the direction of the sun’s rays. In the apartments, the historic features of the building have been confronted with modern materials and elements of interior design.”

The post Heritage Granary in Poland Transformed Into Modern Apartments first appeared on Dornob.

A gorgeous fusion of old and new, this dwelling incorporates historic stone walls already on the building site, tapping into the leftover structural walls and foundation of a bygone barn.

In this gorgeous adaptive reuse project by McGarry-Moon Architects (images by Adam Currie) in Northern Ireland, the historic structural stone of a crumbling ruined barn segues into contemporary metal and wood siding, creating a lovely juxtaposition of past and present materials, balancing weathered history and streamlined modernity.

As compelling as the finished product of this historic renovation is, the process photographs really help tell the story of preservation and architectural adaptation involved in this sensitive intervention. Existing walls had to be tested, stabilized, sliced, capped and protected before introducing the new steel frame (and in turn finer-grid wooden frame) for the additional sections of house. Each intersection required careful planning and execution. The result of the barn remodel is clearly worthwhile, however, proving that we shouldn’t demolish old structures just because they’re no longer usable in their current condition.

“This unassuming residence is a responsive configuration of skilfully contained views from the interior the manipulation of natural light combined with fluid, informal spaces allowing us to create architecture that has some dramatic moments but does not overly dominate the character of the existing stone barn. The house is surprising which engages people and allows the dwelling a unique character without having to resort to reproducing a replica of the past.”

“The original stone structure, the splendid views of ‘Slemish’ and the desire for comfortable understated interiors were the principles that focused us as architects. The preservation and consolidation of the stone structure was fundamental in achieving an architecture where the old and new complemented each other. Thus the residence was designed by fusing new technologies with older building techniques whilst incorporating sustainability ideals in order to create a rural architecture for the 21st century, rather than simply remodeling or recreating the methods and manners of the past.”

The post Stone Barn Wall Built into New Home first appeared on Dornob.

Today, the castle also known as “La Tossa” has reclaimed its position as the “salta de la donzella,” or the “maiden’s leap,” the highest point in the vicinity. Architect Meritxell Inaraja stabilized the ruins and transformed them into a lookout providing the public with the same views once enjoyed only by royalty and nobles. Given the castle’s historic and cultural value, Inaraja took a delicate approach, preserving the experience of the original medieval architecture while also making it safe to climb.

Before starting on the renovation, Inaraja carried out a historical study that revealed the existence of a slab roof on the structure’s first floor. Based on the layout of similar buildings from the same time period, she determined that the original staircase ran along the now-collapsed western wall. The interior was divided into two floors and a basement, with the entrance on the eastern facade, which is itself about 33 feet tall (10 meters). It’s no wonder this building was used as a fortress, given that the walls are six feet thick.

“The restoration proposal is based on these historical findings and the available information about the tower’s original construction,” Inaraja says. “The project proposes reinforcement of the existing walls and the construction of specific elements referencing historical details, which will allow us to climb to the highest part of the tower, offering a view of the region and the other frontier castles.”

With its original roof missing, the upper levels are now open air, turning the ruins into a sort of pavilion. Instead of enclosing the building, Inaraja maintained this openness, inserting a new floor and a staircase with several viewing platforms that go all the way up to the highest point of the remaining walls. Visitors can gaze out the original arched windows, taking in the landscape from all sides.

Inaraja adds that “the level corresponding to the original roof is reached by the stairs that consist of the west wall and recovers the idea of a possible original staircase located within the thickness of the walls, as is typical of many towers of this time. The sloping shape of the staircase also makes it possible to respect the unfinished appearance and the memory of the ruins. The same idea of uniting function and historical explanation is used in the construction of a small section of slab corresponding to the original level of the main floor of the tower as a balcony-viewpoint from the opening of the north sector, possibly the original access to the tower from the outside.”

With smooth modern materials that match the color and texture of the original irregular stone, Inaraja’s additions complement the original structure without trying to update it or achieve a faux-historical effect that matches. The result pays respect to the Castello’s historical importance and restores it as a functional landmark, drawing tourists from all over to the area.

The post Crumbling Italian Castle Transformed Into a Modern Lookout Tower first appeared on Dornob.

In 1973, Spanish Architect Ricardo Bofill stumbled upon a derelict cement factory located just outside of Barcelona that dated back to the first period of the industrialization of Catalonia. The building stood as a dilapidated reminder of the devastation that WWI brought to Europe, as it sunk into it’s crumbling structure, consumed by a harrowing emptiness and forsaken now to the aging effects of nature. Amid all the destruction and ruin, Bofill came alive with the notion of opportunity.

The Architecture

The building was erected in several stages; a series of additional structures were clearly added to the original. Incredulous in its size, Bofill and his team studied the aesthetics of the structure, noting the post war interior trends that were abundant in its architecture. Surrealism was consistent in the buildings paradoxical stairs that lead to nowhere, and abstract spaces that appeared unnecessarily vast and weirdly proportioned—though these are the same intense features that seemed to bring about a sense of phantasmagorical disproportion, a notion that Bofill found instantly endearing.

Seduced by the ambiguity of the raw and broken structure, Bofill decided to retain and modify it into his finest masterpiece yet. Featuring four kilometers of underground tunnels, machine rooms, giant silos, and a tall smoke stack, this was going to be no simple task.

From Ideation to Production

Under a kaleidoscope of avant-garde ideas, La fábrica was born. Bofill fell in love with the curious atmosphere that exuded the building and became determined to transform the hollow shell into a space worthy of continually elating his creativity, whilst also housing him and his family comfortably.

Lasting over a year and a half, the partial destruction began with using dynamite and jack hammers which consequently unveiled new spaces and hidden forms that would later become iconic features in the final product. The cement filled silos were saturated with dust, which made starting off unsurprisingly difficult—though with the help of a team of a Catalan craftsmen, the old cement factory was soon reinvented and transformed into a wealthy looking estate of functional and artistic beauty.

In the upper section of the factory, a large volume of brute cement was churned, as if by magic, into the main living area—a perfectly cubed room laced with arc windows. The “pink” room is a smaller, more intimate living area located on the middle floor, polished with a traditional Moroccan aesthetic and large fireplace dominating the space.

The ground floor hosts the kitchen and dining space, which is the pinnacle room for the family to gather. Majestically sat in the center is a rectangular marble table, balanced upon ironwork legs and encircled by Thonet chairs.

A Modern Palace

45 years later, what was once a titan of apocalyptic ruins, is now a sheer spectacle of architectural awe. La fábrica’s exterior has been woven into an illustrious garden full of vegetation and foliage, while it’s interior boasts an otherworldly modernity in it’s minimalistic styling and embellished living spaces.

“Presently I live and work here better than anywhere else. It is for me the only place where I can concentrate and associate ideas in the most abstract manner. I have the impression of living in a precinct, in a closed universe which protects me from the outside and everyday life. The Cement Factory is a place of work par excellence. Life goes on here in a continuous sequence, with very little difference between work and leisure,” says Bofill.

Though he has declared that his new home is under continuous change and improvement, the result of the masterful transformation proves that, “Function did not create the form; instead, it has been shown that any space can be allocated whatever use the architect chooses.”

The post Architect Transforms Abandoned Cement Factory into a Surreal Home first appeared on Dornob.

Thankfully, there’s a movement in place to protect some of these remarkable residences and preserve their historical value while also making them livable for people who want modern creature comforts. Homeowners, architects, and developers are restoring these neighborhoods known as “hutongs” to transform them for both private and public use. Some remain family homes while others are becoming hotels, tea houses, and community spaces.

Beijing-based architecture firm ARCHSTUDIO has helmed more than one of these transformations with sensitivity and skill, bringing in beautiful modern elements that augment and complement the existing structures. Their latest is called “Qishe Courtyard,” a small siheyuan located within one of Beijing’s old hutong quarters.

Before the renovation, the building was in poor shape, with most of the roofs, walls, doors, and windows damaged or missing. But potential remained in the framework, arched door openings, and other elements, and ARCHSTUDIO wanted to “renovate the old and insert the new.” They repaired and reinforced what they could with the goal of restoring the building to look like a traditional siheyuan, but added a bathroom, kitchen, and garage as well as HVAC lines and new verandas. One of the biggest challenges of living in unrestored siheyuan is the fact that most of them don’t have indoor plumbing, so these simple additions make a big difference.

This siheyuan was originally a cluster of three houses: one on the north and two on the sides. ARCHSTUDIO followed its original layout to create a new tea room, living room, dining room, and kitchen. But their design deviates from the traditional one in two major ways. Firstly, the billowing of both the roof and new glass enclosures creates spaces that are protected by the weather but almost seamlessly connected to the outdoors. Covered indoor pathways have also been created between what would have been strictly outdoor spaces, fluidly leading from one side of the building to another. The architects say this “veranda” ensures ample light and ventilation while bringing in undulating organic shapes.

The architects add: “ARCHSTUDIO embedded a veranda — a basic element of traditional Chinese architectures, into the old siheyuan to link up the seven separated pitched-roof houses. The veranda functions as a circulation route, reshapes the spatial pattern and layers, and provides a playful walking experience as well as fantastic views. The front courtyard is mainly used as a garage. ARCHSTUDIO retained its pitched roof, removed the front and back walls, and shifted the entrance door to the side so as to leave more space for parking. The design team restored and preserved many valuable historical elements such as the gateway and carvings of the arched door opening, and even a dry tree. In addition, the wall between the front and middle courtyards w[as] dismantled and replaced by a transparent veranda.”

“The veranda features a curved plane and presents variations according to different landscapes and spatial functions. It’s closely combined with the curved edges of the pitched roofs, hence forming several arc-shaped transparent spaces, which integrate the houses, landscape, and sky into the same picture. In the front courtyard, part of the veranda’s roof was bended downwards to form a curved wall, behind which are some functional spaces, including the washroom, service room, equipment room, and so on.”

Check out ARCHSTUDIO’s other strikingly beautiful siheyuan restoration, which integrates a curving courtyard floor that pierces into the indoor spaces.

The post Billowing Glass Rooms Enlarge a Traditional Beijing Courtyard House first appeared on Dornob.