Charredwoodfacadesolutions

This project, an extensive remodel and addition to an existing modern residence high above Silicon Valley, was inspired by dominant images and textures from the site: boulders, bark, and leaves. We created a two-story addition clad in traditional Japanese ShouSugi Ban burnt wood siding that anchors home and site. Natural textures also prevail in the cosmetic remodeling of all the living spaces. The new volume adjacent to an expanded kitchen contains a family room and staircase to an upper guest suite. The original home was a joint venture between Min | Day as Design Architect and Burks Toma Architects as Architect of Record and was substantially completed in 1999. In 2005, Min | Day added the swimming pool and related outdoor spaces. Sch... More

A dense forest opens to a dune valley. Sunlight casts shadows of branches and leaves against tree trunks. In the distance, a golfer walks through the empty surreal landscape. This unique environment – trees, light and dunes – influences the design of “Villa Meijendel” in such a way as if it has sculpted the house. This in concrete constructed house is literally built into the dunes. The entrance is on the midlevel, where an office and two bedrooms are situated. The next level opens to a huge living room and kitchen. On ground level are a wellness room and the master bedroom. Encapsulated in the dune is a garage and technical room. The concrete construction of the villa establishes the vigorous character of the house. All materials a... More

The Audio-Reader Sensory Garden, a secret garden nestled into the topography of Mount Oread, is a source of pride for the Audio-Reader Network. “The garden…is filled with flowers, herbs, and accessories to delight the senses. Plants with interesting textures, such as Lamb's Ear, intermingle with fragrant leaves of mint and lavender. The sounds of wind chimes join the chirping of birds visiting the feeders. Plants are in raised beds, making a hands-on experience easy for pedestrians and wheelchair users. A winding brick pathway leads from the house, past the raised beds, to the gazebo.” Alas, their gazebo was falling into disrepair. In its place, the Dirt Works Studio designed the Sensory Pavilion; an open-air pavilion nestled into the exist... More

Atelier and House furnished with large eaves. It looks down on a beautiful bay in Ushimado. The personality of the minimalist owner has been reflected. More

This timber house for 2 generations is located along the historical road Nakasendoin quiet and rich natural surroundings in Nagano prefecture, Japan. The site is elongated from north to south and wide in the east-west direction in the back. The design has responded to this site condition using an L-shaped plan. The L-shaped was the best planalso in terms of maximizing natural light and ventilation and ensuring good communication between the generations. The north and south elevations have a horizontal roof scapewhich has been designed for creating a harmony with the mountains in the distance. The exterior of the house wanted to be the ones that took over the black and white contrast commonly seen in the houses along the old historical... More

Location Commissioned as a mountain hideout, the Charred Cabin settles on a rather unusual location for Santiago inhabitants. Before the automobile era, a winding road linked the capital and the port across the Coastal Range. The area is full of historic places that recall the early years. Derelict Monuments, battle sites, gold mines remain nowadays abandoned. Among the dominant slow-path countryside, an academic couple sharing the site with –peers- aim to profit from the melancholic atmosphere. Minimum dwelling To fit in a budget the activities required to fulfil within the cabin were explicitly simple: a place to eat, sleep and read for two, everything else is to be offset outside. In contrast with the open surrounding, the cabin is... More

Kuro is an experimental residential house in Fukui, Japan designed for an elderly couple. We did not design this house intending ‘the spaces to be strongly separated like a normal room’. Nor did we design it with the intention for ‘the spaces to be connected to everything’. The building is designed to ‘connect the spaces with soft separations’. The method of design for this house is outlined below. ! * A virtual boundary was created by the floor voids. * The distorted perception of distance, form and space was formed by concentric planning. * The soft partition between spaces and for lighting was created using double storage curtains. * Manipulation of perspective and directing of views was created through the composition of solid vo... More

The harmony of contrasts... The own house as an architect´s confession The old house Two hundred years ago there was built a small and simple colony of houses called „Among Cottages“ aimed for poor workers in old village called Hloubětín in the East neighbourhood of historical Prague City. The village developed and joined the concept of „big Prague“ in 1922. Though the city grew around, the heart of the Cottages remained the same. So a1 could find a site in 2003 with a house still not even connected to the main city infrastructer with original latrine etc. The place has such a unique atmosphere, that one feels beeing in a countryside yet the underground station is 7minutes walk. The main feature of all the houses there is their pure si... More

The client wanted to move the living spaces to a more open and transparent spaces, in order to free some spaces in the old house. A unique volume is set up, arranging kitchen, living and dining room. From the interior, wide views are offered on the garden and on landscape. The extension is connected to the existing house as a structurally light volume, as not to overload the foundations. The project is minimal: the volume is integrated in the surrounding, partially recessed in the topography of the ground as to stands lower than the street level. The dark timber cladding plays with light and shadows so that the extension disappears in the shade of the forest around. More

Located outside the village of Sutton, in Quebec’s eastern townships, the Roy-Lawrence Residence is set in a vast estate very much impregnated with the legacy of a Swiss immigrant family that came to Canada in the 1930’s. To this date, the surroundings of the residence are still defined by bucolic landscapes, iconic Swiss chalets and other buildings of similar nature that were erected along the years, always with a consistent touch of nostalgia.   Naturally, the icon of the Swiss chalet, - somehow representing a lost ideal of country living - became the starting point for the conceptual development of the residence.  Its traditional tripartite composition consisting of a robust stone base, a solid-wood frame and of a... More

Residence 2.0 is energy-neutral and is build according the cradle-to-cradle principles. This CO2 reduction of 100% is realized by bringing the house to a passive house level with an insulation value of Rc=10 using triple glazing, 100% liquid-tight joints(even the cat door is insulated!) and heat exchangers. The insulation materials are organic. The integrated photovoltaic cells in the roof line generate enough electricity to supply both the nominal electricity demand as well as for the heating of the water. If necessary, the temperature can be increased by using a pellet stove with an air heat pump. The design of the house is based on an earlier edition of the home. The upper floors are the same, but the unique parts, like a hanging... More

It takes 40 minutes by ferry from the nearest island with an airport to reach Iriomote-Island, which is a part of Okinawa in the south of Japan. With an area of over 90% covered by subtropical virgin forest, the entire island is designated as a national park. The client had lived on Iriomote-Island for 14 years. Now he wanted to build his own house. While sitting snug against a hill, at the front of the house a luxorious vision opens up overlooking the farmlands that spread around the site. The necessary rooms included the living and dining room, a parent‘s bedroom, kitchen, toilet, a bathroom and a storage room that would be large enough for farming tools. The bedroom has two doors so that a separate children‘s room can be create... More

Location: The site is located in North Espoo; historically and culturally important countryside a hill facing the west. The existings grain of the area is loosely built and the surrounding buildings are mainly industrial their function mainly serving for farming. The sites rockly western hill divides into two: the front hill connects to a fabric like field whilist the back of the site is typical Finnish forest with its bare forest, linche convered rocky ground. Architecture: The simple pitch roof masses was a response from the overall architecture of the area. The outside spaces were formed by division where at the active frontyard the entrance, childrens playground, lunch terrace and the workshop are located. The mainbuilding frames and... More

Stealth Barn is a project that sits next to and complements Ochre Barn, a large threshing barn converted by CTA to a home and studio. This addition was to provide a self-contained unit that could equally act as a guest house, studio or meeting place, depending on time of year and workloads: a retreat, but also a place of inspiration, enjoyment and a place of work and home without compromising the experience of either. Sitting in the exposed expanse of the Cambridgeshire fens, it is a bold, simple form, reminiscent of the barn it accompanies. Placed perpendicular to the existing barn, it stands to create and define a slightly more sheltered and casual garden which melts into the fens. This clear and simple move also hints at the memory of a... More