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“When the designs for our newest additions to our Silicon Valley campus evolved into a large canopy structure, we knew we’d have to think beyond traditional rectangular solar panels to create something that balanced form and function,” said Google’s District & Renewable Energy Lead Asim Tahir on the company blog. “…The dragonscale solar roof that will adorn these buildings is the result of years of product development, collaboration with a handful of partners, and examining prototypes from manufacturers all over Europe.”

Google eventually partnered with Swiss company SunStyle, who offered a highly textured glass shingle that could be overlapped to fit the shape of the circus tent-like roofs on the Bay View and Charleston East campuses. The dragonscale’s prismatic surface traps light more efficiently than a traditional flat panel, increasing the energy production. The solar cells are implanted in the flexible polyvinyl acetate (PVAc layer) and then topped with six millimeters of hardened solar glass and backed with fire resistant Tedlar. The edges are also sealed to prevent moisture from seeping in, thereby eliminating the need for aluminum framing.

And the canopy-style roof allows for better efficiency, as well. A flat roof hits its energy-generating peak at the same time each day, but as photons strike the curved dragonscales throughout the day, power can be created almost as long as the sun shines. At full capacity, the two campuses will produce seven megawatts of renewable power, which should cover about 40 percent of the workplace energy needs.

While that is an admirable achievement, it’s still a far cry from being completely carbon-independent. Last year, Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer of Google and parent company Alphabet Inc., announced his 10-year “moonshot” deadline to have every office and data center run on energy from clean sources 24 hours a day. “I wish we were at this moment a decade earlier. I’m worried and very anxious we’re losing time,” said Pichai. “It’s a bit stressful because we don’t fully have all the answers to get there.”

The company has been making progress, though. In 2020, 67 percent of the 15.1 million megawatt-hours required at Google’s data centers were made with renewable sources on an hourly basis, an improvement of 6 percent from year before. Some of the firm’s facilities, like those in Oklahoma and Oregon, already operate on 90 percent clean fuel.

In addition to the dragonscale solar shingles as one piece of the solution, the tech giant’s research and development lab has been exploring the viability and aesthetic of adding photovoltaics on their building’s facades and windows.

“Investing in sustainable energy innovations will not only get us closer to our goal to be carbon free by 2030, but it will also help our partners and others get there,” said Tahir. “We hope that sharing our approach to blending design, aesthetics, and manufacturing will inspire more projects like it.”

The post Google Covers New Buildings in “Dragonscale” Solar Roof Panels first appeared on Dornob.

The studio has been based in Rio since 2012, and they create projects all over the world — all with distinctive shapes, angles, features, and effusive touches of natural beauty scattered throughout. Past examples include the Residential Lagoon Corner in South Carolina, and the gorgeous Atlantico Building in Brazil, whose natural materials mirror its tropical, lush surroundings while complementing and enhancing “the vibrations of the [surrounding] boardwalk and beach.”

And this 2018 creation in a long line of stunning wonders is no exception. Located in Rio, the “Asa House” sits atop a hill as if it’s meant to take flight, with its unique, swooping roof curving like a bird’s wing (‘asa’ means ‘wing’ in Portuguese).

The house’s feeling of impending flight is further accentuated by its exterior design. The lower level is partially submerged, sunken below the main level that offers perfect panoramas of the lush surrounding area. With this design, Bernardes Arquitetura once again has created a signature classic worthy of the firm’s impressive resumé. The team quite accurately describes the project as “[creating] a ‘harmoniously contrasting’ relationship between landscape and architecture…”

The impressive exterior of Asa House seamlessly leads visitors to a dynamic glass-enclosed foyer on the home’s sunken lower level, where they are greeted by a large open space dominated by an angled wooden stairway. The effect is dramatic, as the staircase’s shape perfectly mirrors the open space in the ceiling above, letting in light and creating the illusion of even more space.

The main areas of the home “[resemble] a pavilion as seen from the garden,” according to Bernardes Arquitetura. That is, because of the home’s lozenge-like exterior shape, singular curved roof, and sunken appearance from afar, it appears almost as if it’s rising out of the surrounding landscape without dominating or overwhelming it.

The interior too was designed and laid out to take full advantage of the home’s verdant surroundings. Some of its most impressive features include large, front-facing glass doors cleverly concealed within the walls until ready to use; an owner’s suite contained within a separate volume of the house, replete with its own unique forest views; and thin, granite slats that cover the windows, offering privacy without detracting from the world outside.

The granite is perfectly complemented by the native Brazilian wood that forms the main volume of the house, all topped with the smooth, winged wonder that is the dynamic curved roof. Visible from inside the living spaces, as well as from the outside, the curvature doubles as “environmental protection to living and dining areas,” according to the designers.

Surrounded by lush gardens filled with native flora artfully designed by Isabel Duprat, herself a well-known Brazilian landscape architect, Asa House is just the latest example of the creative prowess and artful imagination of Brazilian architectural firm Bernardes Arquitetura, who has once again created a “harmonious contrast” between landscape and architecture that sparks the imagination.

The post Asa House: A Winged Roof Gives This Rio de Janeiro Home the Feeling of Flight first appeared on Dornob.

A family looking for a luxurious contemporary beach house did just that, but the building site was incredibly narrow. They turned to Brazilian firm Mareines Arquitetura to find a creative solution that would satisfy all their desires, and then some. What the firm produced is truly spectacular: a sculptural residence they call “Wave House.”

Set on a “granite monolith” between the busy neighborhoods of São Conrado and Barra da Tijuca, the home is built to the very edges of the plot, getting what might be a little uncomfortably close for the neighbors on either side. The architects focused the bulk of their attention on the back end of the house, which faces the water. And as you can see, a big part of their vision includes one of the most unusual roof designs we’ve ever seen.

There are virtually no straight lines to be found on this roof. It’s as if the architects took an ordinary roof, sliced it up into long ribbons, and re-assembled it in a slightly messy way, with some pieces twisting slightly to the side, curling on the ends, or billowing up like fabric sails. The textile-like quality is intentional, as Mareines Arquitetura wanted the home to feel a bit like a ship.

The firm adds that “there are no traces of land to either sides of the house. Just the sky, the sea, and waves splashing against the rocks beneath. An undulating roof evokes the marine movement and creates operable glass openings that will control the admittance of light and air through automation. Different wind directions, sun angles, and temperatures will determine necessary adjustments to guarantee thermal comfort in a passive way.”

“The inspiration: it is like the house was a ship seeking for the horizon line. And these waves were the inspiration to the undulating design for the roof that protects the house from Rio’s inclement sun. The plot where we should design the house has [the] exceptional quality of facing the ocean in the middle of Rio de Janeiro. More precisely 180 feet above sea level, over a steep granite monolith that faces south. This orientation only provides views towards the sea.”

Inside, four stepped levels interact with each other through open spaces that stretch the full height of the home, glass safety railings, and floating staircases, all the better to see out through zig-zagging panels of glass that open to the yard in nice weather. The unconventional shape of the roof defines the interiors as well, acting like an oversized sculptural element overhead.

The access floor contains the kitchen, service areas, dining and living rooms, with guest bedrooms, a TV room, and employees’ bedrooms located just above. The open-plan living space spills out into a grassy terrace adjacent to a curved infinity pool that visually blends into the bay. On the lowest level, beneath the pool, are three private suites facing the ocean, as well as a library, kids’ room, and family room.

The post Wave House: The Sculptural Brazilian Beach House with a Billowing Wooden Roof first appeared on Dornob.

Planted rooftops can also help lessen heat exposure, reducing the need for air conditioning outside. But one of the biggest benefits of a usable rooftop is its ability to expand access to the outdoors. Many existing houses could be modified to support retrofits, but building new ones specifically with this feature in mind allows for even more creative possibilities.

With “The Red Roof,” a house in the Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai, TAA Design shows how to take full advantage of a small plot of land without sacrificing access to nature or the ability to grow food. The total area of the property is just 80 square meters (861 square feet), which could have easily led to an unsatisfying compromise between indoor and outdoor space in a more conventional house/yard arrangement. Set on the main road of a rural village that has seen rapid urbanization in recent years, the house was designed to meet the needs of a married couple in their 50s who wanted access to garden space and room to dry rice paddy after harvesting.

The architects immediately knew that maintaining this kind of traditional lifestyle would be hard in a community where big, modern houses were increasingly infringing upon the remaining green space. They decided to go with a stepped roof design full of built-in planters to make gardening tasks as easy as possible on the aging couple. The house itself stretches to the full boundaries of the property, maximizing space inside as well as creating room for numerous courtyards outside, complete with a bicycle repair space, traditional outdoor wood stove, paddy drying yards, a rice warehouse, chicken yards, and more.

The TAA team adds: “In the search of a new appropriate typology for the context, we [were] convinced that adapting the new architecture based on the traditional cultural lifestyle of the couple [was] the most important task. Vegetable gardens and multi-purpose playgrounds become the soul of houses in this village. We proposed small courtyards in the front, middle, and back of the house to connect indoor spaces with nature. Instead of having a large yard like other houses in the village, we create[d] many courtyards with different heights suitable for the height of the house structure. On the mezzanine floor, there is a small yard connected to the yard in the middle of the house.”

“The rooftop garden is adjacent to the courtyard of the mezzanine floor, creating a playground and vegetable garden that connects from the roof to the ground floor. The products from the garden go directly to everyday meals, fresh and always available. The couple has happy hours together growing their own food, and a lot of times, sharing their products with the neighbor[ing] families. The architecture has [unexpectedly] been generating community social interactions as its by-product. The rooftop garden also has the role of insulating the house. The internal temperature is significantly reduced compared to [that of houses employing] corrugated steel [rooftops].”

The post Stepped Rooftop Creates Space for Urban Farming in Vietnam first appeared on Dornob.

Who says you can’t bottle (and distribute) genius? Developed in Brazil to address under-illuminated slums, this simple design idea for a DIY solar lamp has been adopted by MIT students and expanded to other developing areas where many low-income homes lack access to either daylight or electricity.

The physics of the concept are straightforward: the bottles are placed in roofs – half outside, half inside – and their lower portions refract light like 60-Watt light bulb but without the need for a power source. A few drops of bleach serve to keep the water clear, clean and germ-free for years to come.

In total, one of these do-it-yourself lights takes maybe an hour to install, cutting an appropriate hole, inserting a bleached-water-filled bottle, and resealing around the resulting gap. Even where clean water is rare, a little can generally be spared for a half-decade of lighting.

We take for granted our electric lights, windows and skylights to access the sun’s glow, but for those living in close-together shacks with corrugated-metal roofs, a stray ray is welcome, and something that can spread light to the darkest interior corners can be a dream come true.

Want to make your own? Check out these instructions from Matter of Trust:

“A solar bottle light bulb, an innovation introduced in the Philippines by Illac Diaz of MyShelter Foundation, as a cheap alternative to other light sources. It was an ingenious invention by an engineer in Brazil. It is called “bottle bulb” because it is made of an empty 1.5 liter soda bottle and in it is a liquid bleach and purified water that can be used as an alternative electric powered light bulb. However, it is only useful during daytime but its luminance was tested and shown to produce as much light as a 50W incandescent bulb.

How to make your own Solar Bottle Light Bulb?

The materials are the following: 1.5 liter soda bottle, 1’x1’ roof sheet material, purified water, camera film dispenser, chlorine and a rubber sealant.”

Get the rest of the tutorial here.

The post Solar Bottle Lamps: Water + Bleach = Light first appeared on Dornob.

Situated in the Sierra National Forest of California, miles above sea level, this gorgeous rustic modern vacation rental property boasts Yosemite as well as swimming holes, hiking trails,  rolling landscapes, waterfalls and boulders all around – an eclectic mix seen in the architecture of this structure as well.

At high elevations, shedding snow and deflecting moisture is a crucial roll of residential rooftops, hence the steeply-angled aluminum that shapes this triangular a-frame cabin. A matching communications tower plus outbuilding sits alongside the primary dwelling space. However, equal attention is paid to the rural surroundings, reflected in the use of rough, rusticated and weathered timber siding and deck-topping slats.

Standard modules are used throughout the prefabricated cabin to aid in the prefabrication process – 4 by 8 feet becomes the organizing principle when it comes to anything (plywood panels, metal siding, etc…) that can be cut and shaped to this simplified scale.

This kind of quaint abode is unlikely to win any awards, but not all good designs aim for such accolades – nor should they. Here it seems sufficient that the place serves its purpose, feels unique and responds to the needs of both renters and owners alike – namely by providing a fun experience and durable property. 

“Far Meadow is heaven for all of us who seek the call of the wild, and the remote places that shift our senses back to the natural essentials.”

“Brought to life by Boutique Homes founders and design connoisseurs, Heinz Legler and Veronique Lievre as ‘a simple retreat for chic nomads’, it’s so much more than that. It’s classic design where you’d least expect it. It’s escape without compromise or crowds. It’s adventure and carefree fun with friends (including the furry four-legged kind who are always welcome in our world).”

“Set within beautiful, unspoiled meadows high in the Sierra Nevadas, ringed by majestic forests, this cabin rental in Yosemite is both timeless and modern. A place of unplugged peace, where you can leave the world behind, embrace simplicity and marvel at nature’s amazing display.”

The post Modern A-Frame Log Cabin in California first appeared on Dornob.

The architecture of older stadiums would often mirror the shape of the field, whereas contemporary ballparks allow for greater deviation from that norm. That creates extra nooks in the field where hit balls can get lost for an extra second or more, often giving runners enough time to get a whole extra base. The architecture of the new Diablos Rojos Stadium in Mexico City may mirror the field like the stadiums of old, but it still presents a refreshing departure from the standard ballpark template. The stadium was (mostly) completed in March of 2019, just in time for the start of La Liga Mexicana de Béisbol season in April.

The most obvious departure here is the design of the roof, which covers 11,500 seats and stretches outward over the exterior plaza almost to the street. Designed by the Chicago-based FGP Atelier, the roof is employed predictably to protect the fans from the sun and the rain, and also to cover the plaza. But the material of the roof, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), sets Diablos Rojos Stadium apart by only diffusing sunlight during the day rather than blocking it completely.

Anyone who’s ever been to a baseball stadium and sat under a solid roof has experienced sitting shade, which is even darker at night. By using a translucent material for the roof, the Mexico City stadium is able to cover seats without giving the fans the feeling of having a roof casting a shadow over them when the sun starts to set. On top of that, the roof also acts as a large light at night, reflecting the stadium lighting downward rather than all around.

For some people, the fun part about going to a sporting event is not the game itself, but the atmosphere. For instance, just outside of a baseball stadium prior to the first pitch is an exciting moment of activity. As lines begin to form at concession stands, families play in-stadium games for team-themed prizes, while other fans wait for their friends. The sound is that of a carnival, with the constant digital pings of tickets being scanned at the gate punctuated by hawkers peddling programs and snacks. This activity happens at all high-level sporting events, but at Diablos Rojos Stadium, it’s extra special. The presence of the roof over the plaza brings the festivities that animate the pregame moments into the stadium itself. This removes the tension that fans usually have when they attend sporting matches, as most want to take in the ambiance outside the stadium but also want to get inside the building to be ready for the start of the match. At Diablos Rojos, fans can enter the stadium without feeling like they’re missing out on the pregame party outside, because the party has already been brought inside for them.

The concessions, restrooms, shops, and other amenities are kept inside six volcanic rock pyramids, which themselves are a nod to the Pre-Columbian temples of Mesoamerica. Between the pyramids and the home plate part of the stadium is a wide pedestrian pathway that runs under the roof. Older baseball stadiums often used architectural styles of the late 19^th or early 20^th centuries. Even contemporary stadiums try to create a faux imitation of those styles. It’s extremely rare that the architecture of a stadium reference ancient architecture, but FGP and their stadium collaborators Taller ADG knew they wanted to give fans a deep connection to Mexico’s rich history.

What is most laudable about the Diablos Rojos Stadium is the way it uses architecture to enhance the enjoyment of the overall baseball experience. It doesn’t just focus on the enjoyment of the spectacle inside the diamond, but also on the fun that occurs outside it during pre and post-game moments.

The post A Refreshing Design for Mexico’s Newest Baseball Stadium first appeared on Dornob.

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Over the last two decades, green roofs have grown from a rarity to a hot trend gracing even the largest of architectural projects, bringing the feel of natural environments to surprisingly urban settings. Now, landscape architecture firm Buro Harro imagines a whole new kind of vegetated rooftop installation for Amsterdam’s innovative Groenmarkt apartment building, which is currently under construction. When it’s finished, the building will be topped by a hilly, sand dune-covered landscape surrounding a saltwater swimming pool.

Groenmarkt is an unusual, sustainability-minded urban apartment building packed with a variety of features designed to welcome local wildlife in. Designed by Paul de Ruiter Architects and situated between the Singelgracht and the Marnixstraat on a site that was formerly home to a beloved farmer’s market, the development consists of two standalone buildings set into a park-like environment.

The Paul de Ruiter team initially envisioned a more standard kind of vegetable garden for the rooftop, paying homage to the site’s history, but Buro Harro’s ultimate plan aims to provide a more tranquil refuge for the buildings’ residents, mimicking the experience of going to the beach. After all, Amsterdam can be a windy, chilly place, and these conditions are even more dramatic when experienced high up on a rooftop. The designers explain that coastal imagery felt like a fitting (if not immediately obvious) match for the setting, especially since the roar of traffic could be likened to the sound of crashing waves.

“Now you no longer have to leave Amsterdam to go to the beach,” they say. “People, plants, and animals will really come together in this building in downtown Amsterdam. A building where both people and birds, bees, bats, and butterflies [can] live! At Amsterdam’s Groenmarkt, a truly nature-inclusive construction will arise. Its facades are designed to be simultaneously overgrown and inhabited by animals, and on the roof, [there’s] a dune landscape where you can swim!”

“On top of the Singelgracht-block, a spectacular dune landscape appears, including a natural swimming pool. The greenhouse and wooden deck terrace provide space for residents to work, relax, and have fun. Or grow plants. Neighbors of the Nassaukade, Groenmarkt, and Marnixstraat will have a beautiful new and almost soft view. This will be a meaningful place to meet for young and old folks, sparrows and busy bees. Here, we embrace the city outside as well as inside.”

Space for wildlife isn’t limited to the ground and rooftop levels, either. The designers integrated holes into the bricks on the building’s facades for nesting birds, as well as several planting boxes at various points. On top of that, the sides of the building are completely covered in vertical greenery, while the street-facing facades are designed to give a fresh, modern take on the existing architectural style of the bustling Marnixstraat. To help each of the apartments feel more tranquil, the architects placed the bedrooms on the quieter, shady side of the building.

Observers occasionally question whether recent trends toward highly vegetated architectural concepts are realistic, particularly because of the weight of the soil needed to support all those plants. In this case, it’s hard to say whether the dunes on the roof will require a little extra support, particularly since the renderings depict full-sized trees. But finding ways to engineer urban architecture that are up to the task seems to be well worth it. And how nice would it be to see more wildlife habitats and “natural” places pop up in big cities?

The post Dune Landscape Tops an Urban Apartment Building in Amsterdam first appeared on Dornob.

The post Spiraling Green Roof House in Vietnam first appeared on Dornob.

On a street full of original 1930’s bungalows, most of them largely indistinguishable from one another, a secret lurks. You might be able to spot it towering over the roof of its companion structure, as it’s even taller than the palm trees that surround it. It’s nothing like the building it was constructed to complement, yet it’s somehow the perfect foil, an addition that makes the scene even more “Miami” than it already was. It’s literally devoted to the worship of the sun, its three stories all having been designed with reverence to natural light.

It’s certainly appropriately named. A sculptural concrete staircase stands at its center, spiraling from one level to the next and offering entry to the addition directly from the sliding glass doors of the main bungalow. At the base is an outdoor kitchen, which expands the cooking and dining spaces of the original home. On the second level, visitors find a glassed-in master bedroom whose facade has been covered in climbing vines. A curved wall follows the contours of a round bed. But the crown jewel of the project is unquestionably the solarium at the top, where the concrete staircase curls inward to provide protective cover for a rooftop hot tub.

“To face north, the top edge of the curved wall has been rotated 11.25 degrees in relation to the property lines,” explain the architects. “In the middle of the wall, running along the square master bedroom, the curvature is parallel to the existing house. On the ground floor, the wall turns 11.25 degrees toward the middle of the garden. The rotation axis of this twist lies at the center of a spiral staircase, which wraps around the chimney of a wood-fired pizza oven.”

“On the roof of the building is a solarium, where the wall maps the path of the sun on the summer solstice. At that time, the sun’s rays reflect off of the wall onto the surface of the deck. The wall blocks the wind, creating a sense of calm. Solitude can be found under the open sky in this space, which is free of the incursions of everyday life. Time spent in this contemplative space slowly reveals the house’s interactions with the sun.”

Completed in 2015, the home evokes the feel of Floridian wildlife observation towers while echoing some of the city’s common architectural typologies. Hanging out in that hot tub and looking out over the roofs of neighboring houses seems like a pretty nice way to spend an evening.

Photos by Lukas Wassmann, Todd Eberle, and Casey Kelbaugh

The post Verdant Sun Path House in Miami first appeared on Dornob.

With this in mind, Tesla has been quietly working on new roofing tiles capable of powering an entire house. Equipped with tempered glass profiles, these tiles are both durable and efficient. The company is so confident in their design that the glass on them comes with a lifetime warranty. That seems pretty solid, but it’s also important to note that their weatherization and power production aspects are only guaranteed for 30 years.

Understanding that rooftops take wear and tear during spells of bad weather, Tesla has also worked hard to earn their tiles a class 4 ANSI FM 4473 hail rating. If you don’t spend your afternoons studying this kind of thing, that’s the best hail rating available. Not to be outdone, they also boast the highest wind (Class F ASTM D3161) and fire (Class A UL 790) ratings around.

The solar roofing tiles provide an opportunity for suburban homeowners to power their own homes and perhaps even create excess power to sell back to the grid. Even more exciting, they offer a complete solution for off-grid living without any complex feeding of power lines to remote areas. Even in an urban environment, the energy generated by the tiles can provide uninterrupted power in the case of an outage. This is an especially exciting backup option for hospitals and senior care facilities, as well as in emergency response vehicles. To store all that energy, the system uses Tesla’s own Powerwall battery — several of which can be installed in a single home for even greater storage capacity.

Unfortunately, getting Tesla roofing tiles for your home will require some planning and consultation with installation professionals. Due to regulations, residential homes are not allowed to cover the entirety of their roofs with solar panels, which is the why company goes about creating a customized blueprint based on your location and energy usage needs. Once the number of required tiles has been calculated, the rest of your roof is covered in nearly-identical non-solar tiles to give your home a uniform look from street level.

The process begins with a $1000 deposit from the homeowner, which itself is later applied to the total cost of the roof. A consultant will then come to the house, lay out a design, and present a proposal. Then an agreement is sent and signed. Once work begins, it takes around two weeks for installation to be completed. After that, you’ll receive access to a downloadable app that allows you to monitor the tiles’ solar production and energy consumption in real time.

Because the government now recognizes the value of solar power, there are federal tax credits available to help offset the initial investment of installing a solar roof and Powerwall batteries. If the homeowner can finance the roof through their mortgage lender, they will receive an additional tax deduction on the mortgage interest they pay.

Thus far, only test markets have been given the roof tiles, but Tesla expects to expand availability in 2019. All installation is secured through SolarCity Corporation, a subsidiary of Tesla responsible for locating, training, and monitoring solar roofing contractors. SolarCity currently holds contractor licenses in 25 states and Washington D.C.

The post Coming Soon to a Home Near You: Solar Roof Tiles by Tesla first appeared on Dornob.

The post Tiny Backyard Shed with a Green Roof first appeared on Dornob.

The floating playground seen in aerial renderings is actually a fluid network of platforms and walkways that connects the school’s buildings, turning the roof into a playful refuge that’s bursting with opportunities for fun. MAD has also woven modern structures — including a residential unit from the 1990s — through the old courtyard to transform the spaces between the original buildings. They believe designs like this can help deepen children’s understanding of time and depth.

“There is a saying in old Beijing when children are naughty: ‘if you go three days without being punished, the roof will cave in,’” says founder Ma Yansong. “My ideal kindergarten is not a theme park or a place of shelter. It should be objective and real but go beyond reality and provide some space for the unknown and imagination.”

Renderings also give us a sneak peek at some of the school’s other fun features, including a domed rooftop area protected from the elements and a tubular blue slide. Openings in the platforms make space for three ancient trees on the site and allow natural light to filter down to the ground.

Beneath the new roof sits enough open-plan space to accommodate 400 children aged two through five, as well as several classrooms, a library, a small theater, and a gymnasium, all of which have been designed with a light and airy touch that encourages “a free and inclusive atmosphere.” The outdoor areas seamlessly interplay with the indoors, allowing the children to feel immersed in the school’s historic structures, grassy play areas, walkways, and slides even when they’re in the middle of in class.

Not only does the kindergarten center’s walkable red roof totally transform the landscape in which it’s set without displacing the courtyard’s preexisting architecture, but it also drastically increases the amount of space where students can scratch their curiosity itches. Children get to explore all the little nooks and crannies on the ground level (including the liminal spaces between buildings old and new) and gaze out at the neighborhood through the treetops, observing their surroundings from an entirely new perspective.

“Unfolding onto the site with a low and gentle posture, the roof transforms the limited space between the various buildings into a colorful playground that functions as the main place for children to engage in outdoor sports and activities,” say the architects. “On the southwest side of the roof, a subtly undulating surface of several small ‘hills’ and ‘plains’ creates a high and low terrain, forming a playful landscape.”

The post MAD’s Courtyard Kindergarten Blends the Historic with the Ultramodern first appeared on Dornob.

While much of the architecture does draw, at least marginally, upon the local vernacular, as well as the historic character of humbler eastern Long Island structures, it often does so in the form of sprawling floor plans, multiple tennis courts, and wide swathes of manicured, topiary-spotted lawns.

But look beyond the flashy mansions, and you’ll find a breezy, laid-back beach town culture full of permanent middle-class residents — and at least one high-end weekend getaway that aims to set a good example for seasonal guests. To achieve such an effect, the couple behind that getaway approached New York City-based interior design and architecture firm Mapos in hopes of finding the antidote to stereotypical wealth-flaunting Hamptons homes.

Owners of a global French beauty brand, the clients wanted a timeless, multi-generational family retreat that paid tribute to its sensitive shoreline building site, incorporated the latest sustainable technology and design strategies, and exuded a streamlined classic beauty. The family wanted to keep as much of the existing greenery intact as possible, including a 70-foot-tall old-growth sycamore tree in the meadow. They even requested a natural palette of raw, unfinished materials to complement the spirit of the location.

The result is Peconic House: a sustainable home for the 21st century, and one free of flashy pretensions. Lying low to the ground, the custom 4,000-square-foot holiday home is tucked into a hill just north of the great sycamore and topped with a green roof that’s covered in native meadow grasses. When approaching from the road, you can barely see the house, gazing out over it to the water beyond. Not only does the roof help the structure blend into the surrounding landscape, but it also minimizes the project’s impact on the watershed.

A 200-foot terrace steppes down to the beach in a series of recreational outdoor spaces, including a glittering 75-foot infinity-edge swimming pool. Corten steel, cedar, concrete, and reclaimed ipe wood mimic the natural tones of the environment, and as they age, they’ll develop a rich patina that will further blend them into their surroundings. The living room offsets east-west views of the Peconic Bay with a 100-foot-long glass wall, which itself is framed by unfinished cedar and reclaimed white oak.

The architects say of the project: “Every design decision supports this blurring of built environment and nature: the green roof promotes biodiversity while its cantilevers provide daylight harvesting in the morning and shade in the afternoon, and articulation of the east elevation creates a prow-like bay window for the master bedroom. The interiors’ abstraction and literalness play off one another, and intimate an overall sustainability strategy that makes this project as sympathetic to the environment, performance-wise, as it is visually.”

The post Grassy Roof Helps This Hampton Bays Getaway Blend Into the Scenery first appeared on Dornob.