Wood stoves

RUCID ('Rural Community in Development') is a privately run College for Organic Agriculture in Mityana, Uganda. Directly funded by The Tudor Trust from the UK, this project created new dormitory space for 72 students as well as two additional classrooms and kitchens, organised into two villages. Existing teaching and accommodation buildings were refurbished as part of the project.   Given the school management’s keen interest in eco solutions the most local of construction technology was used: manually compressed stabilised soil blocks, largely made from earth sourced on site, and roofs and shading screens made of eucalyptus wood found in nearby plantations. All buildings have a decentralised rainwater harvesting system an... More

“Silver House” is tucked into the woodland in a rural town in Princeton, Massachusetts, USA.   In this project, the architect explored an alternative definition o­­f “luxury”.  A luxury attained through an honest response to the site context, not through radical exploitation of flamboyant forms, expensive materials and technologies.   The architect converted the site’s constraints into opportunities by applying a three-step-space-forming-logic (see attached diagram) as follows; Connect two identical barns, one for public zone and the other for private. Rotate one barn to best fit the site. Subtract three triangular prisms from the masses to create ideal elevations and architectur... More

Situated on the south and west facing slopes of Putney Mountain, Vermont this house engages the landscape and reinterprets the simple volumes of Vermont rural architecture. Three clearings in the forest punctuate the long gravel driveway and provide views of meadow, pond and house. In the final clearing, the house is broken into three volumes arrayed around a large rock outcropping with open spaces that frame vistas of the Green Mountains. Each volume has a distinct programmatic function: a shed volume serves as a workshop and storage outbuilding, and two connected volumes form the main living quarters of the house. The house provides a weekend gathering place for three generations of family from around the region.The house is designed for... More

The building of the Old Ceramic Society of Coimbra was part in a vast (now extinct) cluster of ceramic production units from the 18th century in this area of the city, in connection to the University of Coimbra. This building is the only example left with distinctive features, and an important part in industrial archeology and heritage linked to the ceramics of Coimbra. Being the only original factory still operating, hence its exceptional interest in industrial archeology, it was imperative recovering, preserving and recontextualizing its heritage, renovating the building and equipping it with museological conditions to expose its heritage, while keeping it’s unique production.The production area splits over two floors: on the ground floor... More

Espedalen is a valley in inland Norway to the east of Jotumheimen national park. The valley is home to the largest moose migration route in Europe. RAM Arkitektur was initially approached by the local community to suggest five architectural interventions in the region, with the aim of boosting tourism. Momentum quickly built around and early sketch for a moose-viewing tower, with basic overnight accommodation for six people, located on public forestry land, and in the heart of the migration route.The main concept was to create a unique experience for guests to observe the natural beauty of this wilderness region. The 12 metre high tower is located on the edge of a small rocky outcrop, sitting on simple anchor points drill directly into the... More

Active growing children and a central urban house on a steep slope led the owners of this compound to think farther afield when considering a weekend escape. They found an idyllic site an hour and a half from home on which to stretch their legs. The couple rehired architect Malcolm Davis, who designed their primary residence, to help them define their project and build a rural counterpoint to their full-time urban dwelling. The idea was to enclose the structure as little as possible to maintain the sense of a camp, a building completely focused on the outdoors. The client’s original inspiration images included tents pitched on a deck and a possible prefabricated structure. The images and informal flexible program struck a chord with Davis’s... More