Now, over a century later, many carriage houses have been converted into homes, and they often have significant historic value. In Dublin, on a 200-year-old estate called Bolton Hall, both the main house and carriage house are protected structures. So when Ferreira Architects was commissioned to helm a renovation, they had to adhere to strict rules about what could be updated, and about what must be restored.

To preserve all of the carriage house’s original details while bringing in some modern flair, the architects worked alongside interior design firm Kingston Lafferty Design from the very beginning, involving them in fundamental decisions that would influence the overall look and feel. The renovation also involved reimagining the interior architecture and incorporating a new contemporary addition and exterior terraces.

The firm also developed the home’s interior design, landscape design, and much of the furniture design, bringing together a cohesive palette of colors and materials that you might not expect to find in a rural setting.

“The new design combines and juxtaposes the old and new buildings as one interesting and exciting multi-level, unique space,” they explain. “The existing coach house is brimming with character, charm, and original detail, so we opted to maximize this with the design. We deliberately created interesting spaces, nooks, and crannies, contrasting the old building with a juxtaposing minimal and streamlined extension design.”

“We wanted to provide the user with the optimum exciting experience, with multiple routes and ways to use the space. We employed mild steel portals to link the different areas and a floating timber stair[case] to act as a strong feature connecting the stone walls. To maximize the beautiful exterior spaces, we designed two exterior terraces, with one linking the indoor to outdoor via a fully tiled cantilevered table and bi-folding window detail.”

The vaulted brick ceilings and stonework of the original carriage house are clearly the dominating element, setting the tone and providing a whole lot of character. To balance its ruggedness, Kingston Lafferty brought in clean-lined, minimalist elements like smooth, pale wood floors, sharply defined doorways, and translucent panels, all of which have been married to the stone by way of textured concrete.

What makes this renovation stand out, however, is the elegant, feminine sensibility of the custom furnishings and fixtures, like a striking pink couch accented by red hanging lamps. A lot of designers would have leaned into the industrial nature of the building’s history, giving it a bit more of a masculine energy, but instead of an overabundance of concrete and metal pipes, we find polished marble, patterned tile, and gleaming brass.

The juxtaposition of these elements is thrillingly effective and enhanced by the fluidity of the spatial layout, making it seem like there’s always something interesting to discover around the next corner.

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Services Généraux is a multidisciplinary full service creative bureau founded by an art director and product designer. They consider themselves “Image Makers,” spending their time creating virtual spaces, objects, and images. More concretely, “their constant experimental and creative research practice is reflected in a breadth of: creative direction, architecture, space and object design, graphic design, image making, and video projects.”

Services Généraux has also worked with some giant companies before, including Adidas, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and Nike. The aforementioned founders of the studio, Antoine and Valentin, are steeped in mystery, as they do not publish any photographs of themselves or even their last names. “Maison” is their first-ever completely conceptual project.

The “home” is set in the idyllic French countryside. Photos show a backdrop of lush green grass, shrubbery, and trees. The illusion is further intensified by a sunset reflecting off the windows of the imaginary home. “Maison” was inspired by the real-life ruins of a farmhouse, once bustling with life but now a shadow of its former self. Its dilapidated walls provided the studio with a starting point for the design, and their influence can even be spotted in the images of the conceptual home’s exterior walls. The rest of the exterior is made from blocks of concrete that are neutral-toned and varying in color and appearance. Overall, this creates a very natural look — one reminiscent of the very countryside it is set in.

The interior of the home continues the natural motif and is supremely understated. The walls are all beige or off-white, lacking any significant texture. They were purposely left bare to remind viewers that function is always more important than fashion. The bathroom, for example, is beautiful in its simplicity and has nothing outside of the essentials. In the photorealistic images of it, we see a large stone standalone tub. Right above it, there is a wooden window open to the outside world. There’s also a sink of the same natural beige stone, a chair, and a wooden block to rest your towel on. Other than that, all we have is a stool, a bucket, and a cloth for washing up at night.

We’re also given a sneak peak of something we can only assume is a living room, because not much else is going on in it otherwise. Here, there are only three chairs, a fireplace, and some wood to get the fire going. The bedroom mirrors this simplicity, showcasing a bed, a few books, and another fireplace. While there may not be much going in “Maison” entertainment-wise, you still get the feeling that your basic needs and comforts would be met in a home like this. This particular home, while only imaginary, also brings you back to a simpler time.

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Monochromatic black houses are certainly a bold choice, but they’re growing increasingly popular, and a new set of rural cottages in the Hudson Valley present an argument to continue the trend.

Thomas Phifer and Partners, an architecture firm based in Manhattan, completed “Hudson Valley House II” in 2018. Set in an idyllic clearing full of native grasses and surrounded by conifers and deciduous honey locust trees, this “house” is really a series of small black buildings arranged around a central communal garden. Perhaps you’ll look at the photos of these stark pointy structures half-obscured by trees and liken them to the foreboding huts of scary old witches, or perhaps you’ll be intrigued, drawn in by the interplay of the textural shingles and the lush green branches.

Two of the structures are connected, housing a living and dining room in one and a bedroom in the other. The third, which looks like an archetypal gabled house that’s been cut in half, offers the residents a tranquil chapel from which to contemplate the setting, just as singularly dark inside as it is out. But venture into the other structures, and you’ll find pale wood-lined spaces that feel bright, light, and well-ventilated, perfectly complementing their dark facades.

Each of the pavilions is covered in cedar shingles treated with Swedish black tar, a natural surface treatment made of 100-percent pine tar. Not only does this ancient treatment impart the look of black paint, it also acts as a natural preservative, creating a water-repellent vapor barrier that will keep the wood looking beautiful for decades on to come.

Set against the lush greenery of summer, the overall effect of the Hudson Valley cottages is subtle, but one wonders just how much the mood of the complex might change once winter arrives.

The firm’s website reads: “Since founding Thomas Phifer and Partners in 1997, Thomas Phifer has completed an expansion of the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, the United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and numerous houses in the Hudson River Valley of New York State.”

“Since 1997, Thomas Phifer and Partners has received three Design Excellence awards from the General Services Administration and more than 20 honor awards from the American Institute of Architects, as well as numerous national and international citations. His projects have been published and exhibited extensively in the United States and overseas. A monograph on the work of Thomas Phifer and Partners was released in 2010 by Skira Rizzoli.”

All photos courtesy of David Miranowski

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On Scotland’s Isle of Man, a new country home by Foster Lomas expertly blends periods and materials for an effect that’s thoroughly modern yet very much a product of its environment. Set just down the hillside from an existing structure known as Cloud 9, the Sartfell Retreat was designed with utmost sensitivity to the landscape and vernacular architecture in mind. Cloud 9 is itself a local landmark, and its renovation was part of the building project.

“The client, a couple whose background combines biological science, medicine, and education, and who also share a passion for birdwatching, created a brief with a long-term strategy for the restoration, conservation, and management of the seven and a half acres of Nature Reserve on Sartfell Mountain,” explain the architects.

“Foster Lomas’ response to the site goes back to [our] research and experience of drystone construction whilst working in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Building on this vernacular technology, [we] have reinterpreted the local Manx stone structures to create an original building in a unique setting.”

The new home features a cast-in-place concrete core surrounded by thick, naturally insulating hand-constructed drystone walls. The stone — harvested on site while excavating the ground floor and cleaning up collapsed walls on the land — will weather over time and eventually become home to plants and lichens, allowing it to seamlessly blend into the landscape. A ribbon of glass stretches across the building’s facade, set back from the exterior to minimize solar gain while offering the inhabitants the same stunning views of the Irish Sea (and the local birds) they originally craved.

While the use of local stone makes the Sartfell Retreat feel like a natural extension of its landscape, its unique angled silhouette and sleek concrete-clad interiors give it an edge. An open plan creates visual connections between various parts of the interior, including a stunning library that spans three floors within an atrium-like stairwell. The new volume connects to the existing structure through a glazed corridor for a sense of cohesion.

Dedication to the site’s biodiversity and sustainability extends beyond the materials used for construction. The home also features a green roof “designed to carefully emulate the flora of the immediate area and complement the drystone walling,” ground source heating, a natural processing sewage system, and a wind turbine.

The owners plan to rent out Cloud 9 to fellow birdwatching enthusiasts while residing in the new addition themselves. Envisioned as a private nature preserve, the land will also host a visitor center and artist’s studio, both of which will also be designed by Foster Lomas.

The post Stunning Sartfell Retreat Brings Modernism to Rural Scotland first appeared on Dornob.

The Beijing and Vienna-based architecture firm Penda argues for a new paradigm for rural living that would make everyone more self-sufficient at an individual level. With “Yin & Yang House,” a proposal for a small town in Germany, the architects suggest that anyone able to work from home should move back to the countryside and grow their own food to reduce human reliance on industrial agriculture. According to them, that still doesn’t have to mean purchasing many acres of land and becoming a part-rime farmer. Instead, we could build homes that take all of our needs into consideration, providing us with a private living space, a separate but easily accessible workspace, and a garden that could adapt to the changing seasons.

Such is the concept behind the Yin & Yang House. Two opposite but harmonious spaces interconnect with each other within a small footprint, and every available square inch of space is put to good use. These two separate parts angle in towards one another at the center of the home, creating two terraced rooftops with staircases on either side. Because platforms and planters have been built into these rooftops, they also serve as a sizable garden for the residents to utilize. The house thus becomes a landscape in its own right, full of little hills and valleys.

“Whenever architects design a building, they take an area away that used to belong to nature,” says Chris Precht, one of Penda’s co-founders. “We try to give this space back to plants on the roof. At the same time we provide a gardening system for the owners with greenhouses in winter and rows of planters for the rest of the year.”

The roof’s shape also allows it to easily capture rainwater, funneling it into storage containers for future use. On top of that, flexible greenhouses can be added to certain sections of the garden to continue growing crops during the winter. Add renewable energy like solar power into the mix, and one could very well go fully off-grid.

Penda explains that growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs changes your relationship to food, making its production a part of your identity. They also believe it enhances your connection to the earth itself.

“When architecture supports the way we grow our food, a house becomes more than ‘just’ a building,” says Precht. “It attracts all your senses. Nature makes the house visually appealing because it changes its look according to the seasons. Natural materials make it haptic. You can hear your house, because different animals like bees or birds become part of daily life. It has its own natural scent, based on the plants growing on the roof. And in a way you are able to eat part of the house. This sensible architecture creates a special bond to the building and it creates a personal relation.”

It’s safe to say that even with edible plants covering your entire rooftop, you wouldn’t be able to produce everything you needed to survive, but a garden space like Yin & Yang House is certainly a good place to start. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2018.

The post Yin & Yang House: An Off-Grid Urban Home with a Walk-Up Green Roof first appeared on Dornob.

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The house’s exterior is striking: two pavilions with deep-pitched roofs are connected by a glazed corridor at ground level, forming an “H-shaped” floor plan. The structures’ different aesthetics hint at their drastically different interiors. One wing contains storage, garage, and greenhouse space, while the other houses the villa’s main living, dining, sleeping, and office areas.

The master bedroom protrudes out of this wing and opens out onto a secluded terrace, situated near the center of the complex and protected from the wind on three sides. This terrace overlooks the house’s outdoor swimming pool and surrounding minimalist garden. From the house, the pool can be easily accessed via a concrete bridge that crosses a scenic reflecting pond. A small grove on the adjacent side street prevents passing cars from looking into the house and guarantees the homeowners a sense of privacy.

Material treatment and juxtaposition are perhaps the house’s two most innovative features. For instance, the villa’s facade consists of two materially-disparate gables on either side of the connecting corridor. The storage wing features an opaque front that has been clad in dark wood and set down a step from the living wing. In stark contrast, the living quarters are encompassed by a fully transparent exterior.

However, a hidden technical room has been cleverly positioned in front of the glass gable, preventing anyone from looking straight through to the back of the house. The home’s kitchen, bathroom, and pantry are all equipped with modern appliances and sleek, glazed furniture. For added privacy, the architects have placed these rooms inside of a large wooden “box” within the larger glass pavilion.

At the back of the house, the villa’s true character is revealed. The living wing looks much the same it does from the front: covered with floor-to-ceiling panes of glass, broken up only by cross beams and a heavy thatched roof. The storage pavilion, on the other hand, appears to have undergone a radical transformation.

Looking at it from the rear, this wing’s exterior is almost completely transparent and seems to edge out from underneath its own thatched roof. This surprising back room provides the house with a stunning focal point and can be used as a studio, atelier, or greenhouse.

By fusing the traditional look of thatched roofs with contemporary elements and transparent walls, Maas Architecten has created a modern marvel that refuses to sacrifice even a single, gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside. The name of the house itself is an overt nod to this architectural concept. The “Modern Countryside Villa” puts a modern spin on the comforts of country life.

The post Greenhouse & Thatched Cottage Country Villa first appeared on Dornob.

With the exception of a few subtle skylights one could pass by this restructured religious building in the English countryside and never realize that it was anything aside from a derelict place of worship.

What may be most amazing about this place is just how well the spaces seem adapted to their new uses, a combination of cozy and traditional fixtures and furniture seeming right at home in what was once considered a holy space.

Like any good home, a church of course comes equipped with all of the essential basics needed by a building – an entryway and halls for welcoming visitors as well as remote and secluded spaces that convert well to bedrooms. The boldest design choice was likely the decision to put the master bed in such a central and open location at the sacred apex of the main volume – stylish or sacrilegious?

From The Telegraph:

“Built in Kyloe, Northumberland, in 1792, it was situated on the site of an earlier church that dated back to the 1100s. In 1983, the St Nicolas Church House was deconsecrated and stood derelict for 20 years. That is until Ian Bottomley and Sally Onions discovered it and fell in love with the building. In 2002, they took on this huge conversion project. Take a look at the fantastic result of their hard work.”

“‘We couldn’t find anything that fitted the bill,’ said Sally. ‘Then this turned up. The church had space, a good-sized garden – although mostly full of gravestones – and it was in a lovely situation. When we realized it also had stunning views over the fields to the sea, that was the icing on the cake.'”

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