Cedar cladding

Located on the hilltop of the Tawharanui Peninsula, New Zealand, the Takatu House nestles into bush and overlooks Christian bay.  Sitting lightly on its site and clad in dark cedar and burnt red steel, the house is simultaneously contextual and stands proud amongst the bush covered hills. The construction is basic and robust, utilising standard profiled steel cladding and weatherboards over a timber framed structure. The sub floor framing and piles were left visible, enhancing the utilitarian character of the building and allowing for straight forward construction with minimal groundwork. The linear plan incorporates a main living area in the centre, a covered outdoor living space at one end and two bedrooms at the other. The house... More

This is a house designed for a couple in Tokyo. Since the site was surroundedby streets on its three sides, we thought about incorporating the remaining streetthat continues from the city into the house. The street twist around the house,transforming into an outdoors stairway, a greenhouse-like terrace, a gardenleading to the tea ceremony room, and continuing eventually to the rooftop. By wrapping the house with the street, we created a home that can be directlyentered from the outside through seven different entryways.   When a house has many entrance, it also becomes a house with many faces. For example, guests are invited to enter from a bright entrance close to the streetside, whereas if the residents were to come home alone, the... More

Designed for a couple with a grown family, Tansu House is named for its transformative quality that makes it perfect for entertaining and receiving guests.   Located on the shores of Fauntleroy Cove in West Seattle, the house is carefully positioned at the highest point of the site to maximize ocean views and natural light. A simple elegance unites the interior and exterior elements of the two-story home whose understated palette features custom hardware and steel accents by architect Tom Kundig. The main floor, which includes kitchen and dining areas, is essentially one open living space with floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors that open onto two outdoor spaces, a garden patio in front and a rear deck that faces the wat... More

Tillingham Winery is situated in Peasmarsh off a winding lane, amidst fields and copses with panoramic views across the Tillingham Valley toward the Cinque Port town of Rye. Our client's vision is to produce fine organic artisan wines. The brief required a creative approach to reuse the existing buildings, draw in the stunning surrounding landscape, and reference the rich heritage of the site.   This ambitious project incorporates 70 acres of farmland and various farm buildings including a traditional Oast dating back to the 19th century. The farm buildings have been restored to facilitate organic wine production, wine tasting rooms, visitor accommodation, teaching spaces and artisan workshop spaces. Mixed vine varieties will be plan... More

MixologyCopper Spirit Distillery: Residential and industrial coming together through a sustainable approach. Summer 2019   Vancouver-based architecture workshop RSAAW recently completed Copper Spirit Distillery, a purpose-built mixed-use sustainable building. Copper Spirit Distillery integrates an artisanal gin, vodka, and rye distillery with a tasting room and much needed residential rental units for islanders. This groundbreaking project is the first of its kind to combine industrial and residential use of this nature in Canada.   Located on Bowen Island, a municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver, the 8,815 square foot building integrates residential and industrial programs challenging both provincial code and... More

The Tinbeerwah Residence is a semi-rural retreat located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland for an international Client. The design of the residence continues KIRK’s commitment to simplicity of form and planning. There is a great emphasis on material qualities, with a shared commitment between the Client and Architect to produce a residence that will age and improve over time.   Siting of the residence has been carefully considered to respond to environmental conditions, and to control the transition from the designed landscape of the residence to the natural bushland beyond. The materiality of the dwelling is defined by an exterior and interior skin. The external zinc clad skin acts as a robust barrier to the elements wrapping a... More

Locating the living spaces on the upper level is the key strategic move that gives the home expansive views over NCC green space and the Ottawa River. Honed concrete-block walls and grey-stained cedar siding pass from exterior to interior, successfully blurring the lines between what’s in and out. The main level contains the office, a guest room, the mudroom and an entertainment room. A sleek open-riser stair rises up through a large double-height space to the main living-spaces. In the double-height space, floor-to-ceiling windows create dramatic views from the second-level living space out to the ground-floor deck below. Linear pendant lights emphasize the vast volume space at the core of the plan. A minimally-detailed steel and gla... More

Eden House: A Sustainable Oasis In The Heart Of London “We believe it is now our moral obligation to build more sustainably to help the environment and create homes for the next generation that are not only beautiful,but also benefit and promote the natural environment.Our aim is to prove that sustainable homes can be stylish and beautifully designed.”   Eden House is Fornacelli Homes’ first sustainable development offering a contemporary living experience with a focus on quality and wellbeing.London-based interior design company, Mood London Design collaborated on this project on the interior architecture, design and project management, which was completed in January 2020.   Located in the buzzing heart of... More

Three houses situated in a row, replaces an old villa. The houses share a driveway, while parking and entrances are solved separately on the ground floor in each volume. The sloping terrain allow three levels, and provide the houses with a private garden with entrance from the first floor, completely separated from the driveway.   The ground floor services the rest of the house with storage and bathrooms. An open L-shaped first floor encircles the south facing garden ensuring light in the kitchen, dining and living area. On the second floor, a part of the volume is subtracted, and a terrasse is created. The subtraction improves the quality of light emitted to the garden, and the overall volume of the project is given a less continuou... More

The first three cabins of a planned community of 40 on Bigwin Island sit nestled among maple, pine and ash trees. The sweeping view they enjoy, down to the golf course and the lake beyond, is courtesy of the island’s deer: the grazing line under the trees, a swath of open air through the greenery, influenced the siting of the buildings and their emphasis on transparency between roof and floor, and earth and sky. The 40 cabins will follow three design templates, each inspired by a different type of landscape found on the island: linear on the lake, courtyard in the woods, and pinwheel on the meadow.   MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects’ design process begins this way: by listening to the land. On Bigwin Island, there was a... More

Positioned in a quiet, conservative street the additions to the existing workers cottage nestle into the suburban setting respecting the scale, form, and materiality of its context and weave between the constraints of a substantial hoop pine, the existing house and a pool sited centrally in the backyard.   Presenting a conservative street elevation, the extended eave overhangs combine with a lower pitching height to reduce the perceived scale of the addition whilst the dark elevation of the addition blends it into the shadows of the pine.   Only the double height glazed entry provides an indicator of the contemporary planning of the addition. The additions focus on the visual awareness and connectedness to the garden and the p... More

The starting point for this project was a number of 'givens' including: small lot (10m frontage) with the long north side boundary significantly overlooked by a two storey house; a structural engineer client who had a family steel fabrication business; owner-builder; the Small Lot Code: and a partial architectural commission.   The brief was generic for a current suburban house - a simple home suitable for a young family, with a living room plus rumpus, ensuite, walk-in-robe, home office, and double garage. In this sense the project became about developing a scheme that could be a prototype for small lot housing with the challenge of getting what for us are 'fundamentals' despite a large briefed floor area - ie. climatically responsi... More

The project involved the demolition of a small 1920’s bungalow with a new contemporary three-bedroom house. The site backs on to Flatropers Wood Nature reserve and is surrounded by woodland to the east but with views across open countryside to the west. The main consideration of the design was to make best use of the site, which is a long narrow triangular wedge.   The existing cottage was very dark and felt very enclosed because of the high, dense boundary hedging. A key move in the proposals was to remove the hedging and in doing so, open up uninterrupted views across the adjoining countryside and wood. This also vastly improves on the natural light getting into the site. The new house has been designed to read as a cluster... More

A contemporary look for a long-established forest parkThe name, Opeongo, derives from the Anishnaabe wordopeauwingauk (sandy narrows); it refers to Canada’s Indigenous people and their deep love for nature. The Opeongo Pavilion is located in Parc du Mont-Orford, a true gem amid lakes, mountains, and forest, an hour drive from Montréal. The park is run by the SÉPAQ (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec), which is responsible for Québec’s extensive park network. In the early 2010s, SÉPAQ went through major changes, favouring contemporary rather than traditional approaches for its new buildings. Several firms were hired, among them the firm of Anne Carrier architecture, which was mandated to design three new service buil... More