Timber frame

Located on a bluff overlooking the San Francisco Bay, Haiku House is the centerpiece of a unique property in Tiburon, CA consisting of four structures including a main house, guesthouse, beach house and garage dispersed among native and exotic plant gardens that extend from Paradise Dr. down to the Bay.   The main house was a kit house based on a Minka, a traditional Japanese farmhouse and sold by Haiku Houses. Haiku Houses were constructed using a round log timber frame supporting a large hipped tile roof and typically elevated above the ground. This particular home had a Douglas Fir structural frame, combed spruce ceilings and redwood paneling throughout the interior.   The steep concrete driveway and small auto court w... More

When developing its new head office, international trekking and adventure travel company ASI Reisen sought to have its new space reflect the company’s working culture and commitment to offering sustainable trekking experiences for travelers around the world. Situated in Natters, just south of Innsbruck, Austria, this new timber building with an open office concept offers several solutions that will enable the long-term low environmental footprint of the office space. Inspired by a symbiosis between nature and humanity, the design concept was developed together with ASI Reisen’s employees and the design team from Snøhetta.   Surrounded by a lush exterior, the four-story timber structure combines timber frame constru... More

This jazzy Modernist Penthouse (Modo Pento) interior was a treat to design and a sensory delight from the outset. Situated on the top level of a three storey, marsupial coloured brown brick, walk-up in St Kilda, the client reveled in a smorgasbord of mid-century hors d’oeuvres imagery for inspiration. Prawn cocktails, ornately rolled cold cuts, jellies and moose tarts coupled with Tupperware a-plenty provided an endless supply of textures, colours and shapes to choose from. Martina Gemmola Mostly oriented to the North, this home in the sky had been renovated in the early 2000s, with major works throughout and the addition of a second living space and roof terrace on the existing concrete roof deck. WOWOWA stripped out the prior... More

Designed by a unique set of collaborators, including New York’s Lang Architecture and Texas’ Lake Flato, Splinter Creek aims to be a model of environmentally sensitive and sustainable living. Encouraging residents to build lightly on the land, the property features spacious lakeside homesites nestled into the hills of north Mississippi that blend seamlessly into nearly 650 acres of rolling pine forest, lakes and wetlands. Residents are given the option to build a custom-crafted home with additional high-end offerings available from regional artisans or select the Splinter Creek concept home.  Inspired by farm buildings, the development’s model design features an informal, simple timber frame, clad in wooden siding, n... More

The site’s topography, orientation, exposure to the elements and neighbours, define the building’s form. The building responds through systems of blocking and filtering: walls of sliding glass, screens, and large scale automated clerestories The resultant form and spatial dynamics are reminiscent of a full sail, a Spinnaker. Christopher Frederick Jones The primary form of the house is accessed via a bridge from the pedestrian entry and carport. The bridge provides a framed view to Hervey Bay, and plays with the concept of leaving terra firma and boarding a vessel. The entire upper level is one large open plan, column free living, dining, kitchen and entertaining area. Large timber framed sliding doors open to expansive dec... More

Patalab Architecture was appointed to create a garden room as part of the wider refurbishment of an Edwardian house in Wimbledon, South-West London. The project is for a couple who are retiring and therefore wanting to spend more time on their garden, potting and tending plants and enjoying an inside-outside space as part of their home. The new garden room was thus a focal part of the overall project.   We opted for a pavilion-like timber structure for the room that is distinct and also in keeping with the tradition of light buildings within gardens. The pavilion is composed of 36 cedar fins that will age beautifully into a silver colour. The series of fins have been designed to be denser when closer to the existing house and gradual... More

The clear-cut building volume of the Regional Innovation Centre for Energy Technology (RIZ) at the street corner Badstraße / Südring marks the entrance to the new campus. Towards Badstraße, the building appears as a largely closed structure, whilst in the west, a large open façade faces the future North Campus. A generous, angled recess on the west façade guides pedestrians approaching from the old campus through the underpass to the main entrance.   The building comprises a multi-storey research wing with offices and a directly adjacent test. The office workplaces are located in a clearly structured room cluster that faces west, overlooking the campus and the nearby Kinzig. Located between the technica... More

This alterations and additions to a semi-detached house aim to maximise natural light and aspect into a narrow, 3.6m wide, south facing semi. The front rooms and roof line of the existing building is retained and a new 2 storey extension is constructed at the rear. Living areas are located on the ground level and a kick back stair provides access to 2 new bedrooms and a new bathroom/ensuite accessed via a timber bridge overlooking the void to the kitchen below. Circulation has been minimised so that living and bedrooms spaces can take full advantage of the available 3.6m width.   The roof line has been simply extended up to Council’s allowable building envelope to allow for a 14.5 meter long north facing set of louvre windows s... More

This house is a Victorian large single family dwelling situated in Hackney. The client approached us to work on the project and were involved within the creative industries themselves as founders of Studio XAG. From the very beginning, the project was about refurbishing and extending the house whilst injecting the Clients creative personalities as designers and makers themselves. Adam Scott Photography   The building had fallen into a state of disrepair and was in need of full refurbishment. Works included a loft, rear and side infill extension. A set of living spaces at lower ground floor level were used as additional accommodation for visiting family, it was important for these to be connected to the main house above. The desi... More

The philosophy behind this venture is to bring a unique, sensory and high culinary dining experience to Melbourne. The resultant design presents an intimate, artisanal interior, with crafted and natural materials, lending a comfortable, pared-back and zen-like quality to the space. Inspired by the austerity of Spanish design, the focus was on simplicity and restraint of materials. The hand-finished walls and floor are of smooth cement, whilst the original copper-framed windows and doors were complemented by rusty felt drapes –adding warmth and texture. The luxurious and comfortable Italian-made Bellevue chairs lend a softness to the rectilinear space, whilst facilitating long, relaxed guest sittings. The 16-metre sisal rug and ceili... More

The challenge of this project was to tease functional and delightful spaces out of an unpromising opportunity. The plot was a narrow 2.8m wide break in an existing terrace, bounded by flank walls on both sides, which had lain vacant for a number of years. We bought the site as part of a deal to acquire some garden space at the rear of our house. However rather than extending our own property the high land value forced us to consider dividing the plot and developing this strip with street frontage separately. Although consent for a 3-storey house already existed we made a conscious decision to re-apply for a smaller 2-storey 1-bed scheme, prioritising quality of space over minimising space standards and maximising gross development.  ... More

In the middle of the small village of Garmerwolde, less than 15 kilometres northeast of the city of Groningen, stands a church that dates back to the 13th century, together with a solid free-standing clocktower. On entering the old tower, a visitor will be surprised to see two snow-white spiral staircases, designed by MX13 architects. These stairs are a minimalistic statement in a space that is completely surrounded by ‘kloostermoppen’, medieval bricks, like a meeting of the 21st century and the Middle Ages.Educational projectThe renovated tower is part of an educational project initiated by Museum Catharijneconvent entitled ‘Religious feast! Know what you are celebrating’. In collaboration with its local... More

Game On is an international touring exhibition curated by the Barbican Centre London, which explores the history of computer games. It has now been redesigned after visiting more than 30 countries.   The exhibition is located in a 2,500 m2 water deposit in Madrid’s city centre;one of the most striking and important locations on the city’s culture scene, with impressive architecture that has been crucial to the development of the museology.   The exhibition displays up to 400 vintage original objects and drawings ceded by major collectors, while also allowing people to play 150 videogames on site. Understanding the way the visitor interacts with these two opposing but dependent experiences has been one the main chal... More

● The 100-seat restaurant features a delicate bronze curtain that defines each space.   ● Each of the three kitchen areas feature a proscenium created by the curtain and complemented by timber shelving and ceiling louvres.  ● Engagement between guests and kitchen staff is encouraged by an open kitchen plan facing a continuous seating counter.   Qualia offers a playful dining experience in which guests are made to feel part of the entire practice of cooking. A coherent array of spaces, following the restaurant’s linear form, is accentuated by the careful insertion of delicate material details. By framing and highlighting the different back-of-house areas the creation of dishes is turned into a theatrical event. &... More