Board Form Concrete

The Madrona House nestles into a historic Seattle hilltop neighborhood, looking east to Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountain Range beyond. Built for a downsizing couple that owned the historic craftsman house next door, the house was designed to maximize light and connection to the outdoors, with a strong sense of mass and materiality. Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott Kevin Scott The home was designed as a plinth with thick walls and hearth rising out of it, capped by a carved wooden volume. The irregular textures of the concrete change with the time of day and the color of the sky through the seasons, giving a sense of heft and permanence to the... More

A private indoor pool house with gym, sauna, and changing facilities. The minimalist, restrained architectural design of the pool building ties into the more traditional forms of the existing residence using light concrete to mimic the tones of the houses’ schist stone cladding. Thomas Seear-Budd Thomas Seear-Budd Vaughan Brookfield Vaughan Brookfield The light external palette is contrasted with the selection of dark bluestone tiling for the floor and walls and cedar ceilings to create a rich, moody internal palette that brings a residential feeling into what is typically a commercial environment. Winner of NZIA Southern Architecture Award 2023. Vaughan Brookfield Vaughan Brookfield Vaughan Brookfie... More

The clients came to us at a pivotal stage in their lives as soon-to-be empty nesters. The evolving needs of a family became the impetus for how we imagined a house that could embody the state of transition at a conceptual and experiential level. We chose the word liminal to encapsulate ideas that have informed the design process: namely the feeling of inhabiting a transitory place; orchestrating movement through space; and dwelling in the moments between from and to...  Hufton + Crow Caption Caption Hufton + Crow The project site straddles the interstice between a suburban residential neighbourhood and West Vancouver’s natural stony seashore. Positioned on an expanded border between land and sea, the building... More

Formerly a vacant lot, this six unit housing project is set out to be both a pleasurable place to live, and an urban park experience. Sited as a bookend to a public park, the regulatory review process prompted a modern contextual edge to its urban open space.  Anton Grassl Mindful of the urban condition, the new townhouses are setback from the property to align with the adjacent housing context scale, and blend into the foreground of the park’s mature trees. Utilizing masonry earth tones, beveled recess openings, and textured brick patterns; the park facing building emulates its landscape context. Materials include board formed concrete, and two different standard color bricks in both norman and modular sizes that are proje... More

The primary ambition for this project is the creation of centralised living space, reminiscent of the client’s childhood home, with a boundary defined at the site edge, minimising the introduction of any further sense of enclosure.A linked ambition is that of authenticity in dialogue with the site, a notion of building with something found, expressed through the solidity and permanence of concrete platforms and hollows, and a fireplace. Caption Our philosophy was to address client needs while meeting all constraints imposed by a conservation area context. Central to this approach was a decision to limit visibility of the addition from the street, maintaining the prominence of the bungalow facade. Caption... More

This luxury residence was embedded into this steep hillside to overlook Lake Travis from two confluent directions. We were challenged to create views through, and access to, the pool from every room on the main level. In response, we created a glass jewell box that sits on top of a concrete plinth. The main entry area is an open void that bridges the lake to the user upon immediate entry. The lower level is is comprised of four individual private suites that pierce through the concrete shell to accommodate lake views.   More

We were inspired to create our first authentic living space to reflect our client’s desire to live and work in his painting studio. The design emulates his painting style and personal lifestyle by using natural materials, minimalist values, and bridging social context within a live-work environment. The overall form takes on an ethos of monumental simplicity which inherently captures panoramic lake views from the steep mountainside terrain. ​ As part of authentic living, this studio is entirely devoid of added paints or stains. The exterior walls are made of exposed rammed earth construction set atop a giant plinth of exposed concrete. The interior features natural plywood finishes and exposed structural beams. We focused all of our... More

Our next design-build venture with authentic living principles, this custom residence overlooking Ladybird Lake utilizes tricks from local regulatory hurdles to maximize its use and value. The regulations limited the size of the project to a single 550 sf Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), however, by adding a third detached dwelling structure, and creating basements, we are able to create a 1425 sf multi-unit compound.  ​ Underground conditioned spaces allow us to have a detached sound-proof music studio connected to the master suite via private sunken garden patio. The upper level kitchen-living-dining area share an outdoor garden deck with a detached guest unit. The material palette is as natural as possible including board-form concr... More

An entrepreneur and family with a passion for health living requested a large home on their dramatically sloping 2-acre site. They specifically wanted an informal layout that could be woven into the topography of the property. Wanting to enjoy as much of the site as possible, the client requested the inclusion of steps and landscape pathways to allow for access to more distant parts of the steep site.   Situated on a promontory jutting into the canyon below, the hillside retreat boasts multiple vistas of the surrounding canyon and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Since covenants, conditions, and restrictions associated with the property allowed for only a single story above street level, many of the home’s rooms are located on a lowe... More