Overlooking the sea

Living where others go on holidays: In the town Kamperland, located in the Dutch province of Zeeland. In this coastal town, residents and holidaymakers enjoy walks on the beach, romping around in the ocean, and warm evenings with friends. A family of builders chose this idyllic location for its new home. The result is a spectacular residence covering 715 square metres, designed by the architecture firm Paul de Ruiter in Amsterdam. Jeroen Musch From the very beginning it was apparent that the unusual landscape needed to be conserved as much as possible. In addition, the builders used typical regional characteristics as their orientation when designing the home. You can understand the villa's architecture when you consider the province,... More

This home is on a plot of 3,000sqm with a height of 25m, in a Castellón neighborhood that is only 50% constructed. Looking at the plot, we see that it reflectsits seventeenth century history, which is when overpopulation forced the cultivation of all types of terrain, including those that are very steep, through a system of small terraces with walls made of local rock. The later abandonment allowed the growth of trees, mainly pine and carob. Our position towards the plot was that of absolute respect, so the construction method should also respect the land, thus us opting for a prefabricated building system that is deposited on the land practically without touching it, without cutting down trees, and taking advantage of existing terrace/g... More

This house is located in a piece of land in the first row in front of the ocean in the beach club Las Gaviotas, to the south of Lima. The main idea was to create a balcony-house that would have the best view of the ocean from the privileged situation where the house is situated. Being established adjacent to the boardwalk, the proposal was to elevate the entire house in a way that would allow enjoying an elevated view from the beach and the ocean. This elevated terrace was framed in a way that would create the sensation of a great virtual window that would frame the beach landscape in different hours. The terrace integrates with the living room and the dining room through a tempered glass screen that could be completely refuted... More

Answering the request for the conception and design for a Gourmet Restaurant, we developed the project with the idea of a Guesthouse, private equipment as complement of the first. The group intends to relate to the wine production, and to frame this investment in a global brand strategy, instead of an isolated act in the territory. The Guesthouse doesn't have a formal reception; the services create an intimate atmosphere, family like and exclusive. The bedroom is not just the private domain; it includes other spaces of social character, which makes this equipment different from the usual offer of temporary lodging. The bedroom is really a small house. The association established with the wine production justifies the restaurant. It in... More

Point King Residence is located at Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. The site is characterised by its cliff top location and orientation towards the north. The entire house sits almost two metres below ground level, limiting the visual bulk of the building when viewed from other parts of Point King and the Mornington Peninsula. It is a strategy that deals with the scale of the building and links it to the site. The house has been designed as a slatted timber box overlaying a limestone base. Nestled into the rear of a sloping block, the ground floor anchors the house, allowing the second floor to 'float', suggesting lightness. The ironbark timber facade will fade to a grey colour, mimicking the Moonah trees in... More

In inclined ground this apartment builing is arised, with a foundation bound on earth and a white and freely created upper floor. The inherent natural beauty of the waterside and the breathtaking view affect the concept, forced by the demand of the client. The utile properties do not allone determine the appearance of the building. The concept of the building has the purpose to be in a strong relation with teh „Ort“ and its terrain because of the sites particular historical and natural specifications. Because architecture is always a local phenomena. More

This summer house in Ibiza is Ricardo Bofill’s first built project; inspired in local architecture and local materials, this small structure/dwelling reflects the Architect’s first principle: deep roots in your site, working with your land, capturing the “genious-loci. The fascination with the local is juxtaposed with the international “organic style”, expressed with the thick curving walls, punched with small windows. The interior is austere and magically sober. More

Villa Siga Siga is a private villa close to a mountaintop nearby the Greek coastline. The house has a wide view over the landscape. The facades are clad with stones that are found on the premises. Also in the interior some of the walls are clad with this natural stone. The rest of the walls are plastered white. In the main living room there is a vide that leads to the roof terrace. The stair to the vide is made of stainless steel with Oak wood steps. Also the balustrade of the vide is constructed out of stainless steel. To enjoy the wide view of the landscape from the living room, a glass facade is created over the full width and height of this living room. In 2010 started the construction of the swimming pool as an extension to Vill... More

This 2,200 square-foot residence is located on a Chesapeake Bay barrier island near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, an estuarine marshland ecosystem, and an important stop along the Atlantic Flyway. David Jameson Architect designed three structures to accomodate the clients needs of a guest cabin, master cabin, and lodge, utilizing materials and cabin placement to provide cohesion. The Hoopers Island Residence has received numerous design awards including a 2009 AIA National Housing Award. Follow the break for more photographs and drawings of this vernacular inspired vacation home. The project conceptually fuses architectonic form with the natural elements of the site. Positioned between a salt meadow marsh, a pine forest, a... More

The rudiments of this project are based on its physical and cultural surroundings, on its light, its landscape of stone and vegetation and, in the skyline, the sea and the cliffs against it. The house is proposed trying to allow a continuous growth based on the original guidelines. The addition of different cubic volumes is settled like a succession of rooms of changeable size, drawing a crescendo. The architectural group is arranged along the rocky base, the house is defined as a compact whole with an apparent simplicity, and however there is a parallelism with the morphology of the cliff. Externally the terraces and the swimming pool are arranged with a hardly insinuating unevenness. The visual perspective of this external layout is compl... More

. More

The plot is situated on the edge of a steep plateau and occupies the borderline position in the row of houses. This position invited a plentiful of interpretations of open and closed spaces. The combination of two volumes was arranged in such a way so as to allow an uninterrupted sightline between the sea and the house situated behind our plot. The location of the house itself was largely determined by the desire to preserve as many of the existing trees as possible. Another important factor was the necessity to create a harmonious interrelation between the house, the garden and the sea view. These three environments are placed each along its own line and they interact in a variety of ways, depending on the position of the observer (whe... More

The trabocco is an old “fishing machine” typical of the Adriatic coast. These construction consist of a platform set on pilots above the sea. Horizontally is fixed by long poles or antennas, carring a large fishing net stem out from the platform. Along time, however, these light architectural features, lost their primary sense and purpose for which they were originally designed and gradually turned into real rooms above the sea. The project on renovating a “trabocco” recall historical tradition of the structure of the old “trabocchi”, but with a new image and new use. The project follows the principle of extreme simplicity, a uninterrupted lines follows the contours of the structure. In its interior final finishes, through design of a ki... More

The client wanted to a house that would fulfil an old dream: to be in the living-room and watch the sea. The land was high but not enough to get a glimpse of the water down there in the West. Thus, the house kept rising volume after volume until it reached the living-room, opened and looking at the sea. Everything was inverted: A granite platform simulates a Northern house, placed on a stone threshing floor, with only two storeys. The third storey is hidden under the slope to open itself over Oliveira city, the bedrooms and below them the pool. The windows, many and large, are opened to every direction so that the house faces everywhere. Upstairs the framework cuts out the westward landscape inside the living-room almost as a c... More