Architectural firm Abin Design Studio (ADS) drew on this tradition for a beautiful new modern building in the town of Bansberia, West Bengal. “Gallery House” features an organic asymmetrical shape, a facade of rectangular bricks laid in dynamic patterns, and a cantilevered terrace that projects out over the front steps. The client originally purchased this plot of land across the street from his house as a parking lot for his vehicles, subsequently hiring the architects to build a garage with staff quarters above it.

Upon being asked, ADS had just completed the client’s home, “Wall House,” itself a contemporary residence clad in weathered steel occupying nearly 7,000 square feet. Built out to the edges of the plot, the home embraces the ongoing trend of inscrutable street-facing facades concealing luxurious courtyards, lawns, and pools. Not wanting to take up too much of the public lands, the architects managed to convince the client to use the lot across the street in a way that gave back to his fellow citizens instead of expanding his private complex.

The client initially agreed to build a garage on the ground level with a multipurpose public activity space overhead, featuring a design that would symbolically welcome community members by stretching out toward the street. As the project progressed, he decided he wanted to forgo the garage altogether in favor of opening more of the building up to the public. The ground floor then became a community hall, while the upper floor doubles as a dormitory for his resident staff by night and a multipurpose room for community yoga sessions and classes by day.

“The client enjoys a sense of pride and joy of ownership seeing the space put to good use,” say the architects, who add that “as a decision to introduce another architectural expression to the community, the building took cues from Bengal’s terracotta temples. Exposed brick masonry walls inlaid with ceramic blocks define the building character as a contemporary expression of the inspiration. Collaborating with a ceramic artist, rejected ceramic blocks produced for industrial use were collected. Terracotta bricks were procured from a riverside brick field located nearby. These two were combined, using locally prevalent finesse of building masonry.”

Regarding the structure’s name, the ADS team explains: “Every year, this locality holds a festive procession along the narrow, winding neighborhood lanes as a part of a cultural celebration. Reciprocating this, the building steps down towards the street form a gallery for the onlookers to sit, who gather at the street-side during this event. Through judicious planning and play of voids in volume, the integral space of the building was shared with the neighborhood people as a humane gesture of giving back to the local community, without disrupting the privacy and security of inner functions.”

The post Bricks Go Bold with Organic Shapes and Patterns Based on Bengal Temples first appeared on Dornob.

Thankfully, that never translated to tearing the historic structures down. Built in 1956, these brick buildings reflect the particular rural aesthetic sensibilities of Huchen Township, and leaving them intact imbues the project with both a unique character and a sense of connection to the past.

To create the new Miya/LostVilla Hotel, the architects only had to make a few minor adjustments to the structures. The stone and brick of the granaries had been painted white many times over, so they started by scraping off all the layers to reveal the original textural surfaces underneath. They also enlarged those clerestory windows in both height and width, allowing in more natural light and enabling even more impressive views of the adjacent Tiantai and Siming Mountains.

Two of the buildings already had dramatic timber trusses hidden behind false ceilings, though the architects have since had them removed. Within the guest rooms themselves, the architects actually lowered the ceilings with the intention of giving them a more comforting human scale, with a result they describe as “boxes nesting inside a room.” New interior walls were added to the former grain storage buildings to create a total of 21 guest suites, each with its own bathroom, sun room, and access to an outdoor deck surrounded by a low, zig-zagging wall.

A seventh building on the site (added in the 1970s) was demolished during the conversion. In its place, ARES built an abstracted modern volume to house a lobby and several meeting spaces, with one facade directly facing the main entry of the hotel. “We would like the hotel guests to view the mountain scenery in the distance upon entering,” they explain.

The east facade of the new building folds at an angle to “echo the existing site condition.” By bending this wall and setting it back, they created a space for guests to lounge outdoors. A stairway leads up to a viewing deck and tea room on the second floor, where large glass panels on the north and south facades maximize views. Though its style diverges from that of the other buildings, this new volume still avoids attracting too much attention.

“Our design approach is to engage a dialogue between the old and new buildings on site, as well as a dialogue between architecture, mountain scenery, and people,” the firm explains. “The architectur[al] form of the new building is modern and abstract. The contemporary architecture language is yet to be respectful to the existing buildings around as well as to nature. Architecture, people, and nature are in harmony.”

The post In China’s Mountains, a Rural Granary is Transformed into a Modern Resort first appeared on Dornob.

A clear line runs horizontally around this structure delineating old and new, a heavy base level and light addition raising the original roof base line.

Designed by BAST and set in Toulouse, France, the added section creates an expansive high-ceilinged interior and lets in additional illumination via a generous skylight above.

The original building below is left largely as it was, its limestone walls bolstered as needed with new sections of concrete and its original angled roof removed.

And while the newer portion of the structure is clearly more modern, it still somehow manages to relate to to its function-over-form surroundings, remaining part of the neighborhood while still articulating the distinction between historical and new construction.

The post House Rehab: Vintage Masonry Base Gets Minimal Metal Top first appeared on Dornob.

It is perhaps easy to make a house fit a landscape when there is a compelling landscape to respond to – but what of a beachfront property that makes it hard to respond to nature or keep a low profile?

BKK of Melbourne spent a good deal of time going back and forth between interior and exterior considerations, creating a beach retreat blending privacy and views, but also making something that seemed appropriate to its place.

The result feels organic and grown rather than singular and assembled – a series of masonry and metal ramps and offshoots that spring up out of the site like ancient mud architecture or a modern anthill.

While it is expressive on the outside, it is also cozy inside – a series of more personal-scale, fewer-windowed rooms that respond to functional needs, with larger openings rising toward the water.

The post House as Landscape: Beach Retreat Both Blends & Blooms first appeared on Dornob.

The post Change of Congregation: Lovely Little Church Now a Home first appeared on Dornob.

A straight-on view of the street frontage reveals nothing but a quaintly dilapidated, nearly-100-year-old apartment building – making the top-floor addition a dazzling surprise.

Setting up a dialogue with the masonry levels below, the metallic cladding above is streamlined and contemporary by comparison but uses the same color(less) palette to blend into its surroundings.

MPR Design Group in Australia writes this of their luxury penthouse project: 

“The fundamental architectural proposition explored in this project was how do you add to a building which has it’s own history and place within an existing environment which it contributes to form a place in one of Sydney’s iconic beaches. The design response was to plant a lightweight metallic clad addition onto the existing building. This white pristine metallic cladding with it’s irregular jointing patterns make for a strong visual contrast to the rendered solid masonry building below. As a formal gesture, the project is an exercise of delineating between ‘new’ and ‘old’ – respectfully.”

“Generous light filled open living spaces flow onto expansive external entertaining areas with a full view of the beach and the sweep of Bondi Bay. Fire regulations restricted the amount of glazing allowed which meant a clever use of skylights, fire windows, low level glass louvres and full height glazing in central areas, ensuring filtered light throughout. External and internal lines are blurred due to the white metallic cladding with its intricate random patterning flowing into the interior wall and ceiling. Other devices such as an external horizontal blade are employed to form a daybed and create a continuous floating joinery element.”

Moving deeper inside, the traditional geometries of the original structure give way to sharp angles, abstract shapes, modern appliances and new materials.

As the plans reveal, the spaces inside are dynamic, curved and engaged mainly with framing fresh views of the water beyond and town below, all while allowing residents to pull back into the privacy of the lofted dwelling as well. But let’s face it, there’s nothing better than the rooftop terrace with its spectacular views.

The post Ultramodern Penthouse in a Historic Building first appeared on Dornob.

What better way to showcase the beauty of natural stone and traditional masonry than to offset it with something strikingly linear and boldly modern? This run-down farmhouse and barn combination and their fresh concrete additions might look too rustic on the one hand or contemporary on the other, but together they pack a powerful visual punch.

This Swiss architectural studio Clavienrossier (stunning photos by Roger Frei)?managed to maintain some of the exterior stone walls as well as interior cellars and floors, connecting two existing buildings into a singular new residence.

On the lower levels, small punched-opening windows retain a scale consistent with classic dwelling types. On the added top stories, a single large window occupies each major side, providing a broad look at surrounding mountain scenery.

Off-white concrete on the outside gives way to fully-white walls and built-ins on the interior, bright and smooth against the exposed stonework that runs along the edges and bisects certain spaces.

While there is a clear material and scalar distinction made between only and new throughout, a series continuous corner edges and the use of dark-stained wooden floors, doors and window trims serve to connect the disparate elements as part of a larger visual whole.

The only thing missing? Interior accessories and wall decor – it may look beautiful in its recently-renovated condition, but it would be lovely to see what it would be like to live in once properly decorated and accented on the inside.

The post Fresh Cement: New Concrete Links Old Stone Barn & Home first appeared on Dornob.

The post Classic School House Converted into Contemporary Home first appeared on Dornob.

If living in the suburbs could ever be considered edgy, it would have to be in an unusual, unique and uncanny house such as this one. Odd angles abound, mixed materials define variegated spaces and above it all looms an incredible cantilevered bridge supporting gathering, living, cooking and eating spaces designed by Maddison Architects with views out in all directions.

Sleeping, bathing and more private programmatic activities are contained in concrete masonry section that is nearly the conceptual opposite of the bridge portion – buried, thick, heavy and solid. This section contrasts with the wide-open windowed expanses of the upper level, pierced holes at strategic points let in light and allow outside peaks only selectively.

The modern and relatively minimalist interior design – while dynamic, contemporary and compelling in its own right – is ultimately much more unified than the exterior facade. A staircase slices boldly through the center of the structure, connecting the more reserved lower spaces to the spacious second floor. Warm woods and cool whites carry inside the aesthetic themes of dark steel and light masonry surfaces on the outside.

“Coronet Grove Residence is built on one of the most elevated seaside locations in Beaumaris, having 270-degree views of Port Philip Bay.   These desirable features of the site played a major part in the design response. 
The building is split into two components, a south-facing, cantilevered black zinc-clad living area and a two-storey, north-facing masonry sleeping quarter.”

“These two elements are segregated with a circulation zone between them, with highlight glazing over these areas, allowing north sun to penetrate into the living zones. A skeletal steel frame is expressed internally and externally to accentuate openings and emphasise a cohesive response between the architecture and interior, where materials run seamlessly from outside to inside.”

The post Steel Bridge Cantilever Home first appeared on Dornob.