Architecture: 4 spectacular houses that push the boundaries

Architecture: 4 spectacular houses that push the boundaries - When confronted with a design dossier and an undeveloped site, architects often turn to the banks of this site for inspiration and significant architectural solutions. These limits, both real and imaginary, are exciting places in which to build. The border often results in building form, materials and even the way it is structured.

The following projects explore these limits in some respects, thought-provoking and controversial. Some will say that they are dangerous or take unnecessary risks. But the very nature of the architecture is that it forces us to see the world differently. The design process requires that architects filter out many different ideas and constraints - safety laws, professional standards of construction, local building codes and environmental regulations. Architects must also satisfy the needs, desires and budget of their clients, and of course, the synthesis must be aesthetic. When these designs are excellent in their ability to give priority to people's safety while managing to highlight the drama and danger present in these exposed sites. Here's a look at how a home can challenge the natural environment and to occupy the border between architectural convention and natural beauty.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

The Cliff
approach this seasonal cottage on the coast of Nova Scotia voluntarily reveals little. The silver gray cedar cladding marries the granite reliefs, gray sea and sky muted. The simple cube and viewing deck are deferential to the sight and site without ornament or a remarkable form. They feel at home among the austere cedar fishing huts altered the region. It is only at the entrance which was a sense of how far above the ground the house is on the ocean side. One half of the house is positioned on a steep descent, giving rise to its name, The Cliff House. The internal low-lever and main living area open to an unobstructed view of the horizon, topography sloping and the sea.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

home temperaments experience of the place. He becomes the border. It is a kind of lens to understand the site, framing views, referring to the horizon and defying gravity while still managing to see the site. This deference has its incredibly lightweight steel frame, worn on ad hoc concrete footings and supporting the cedar box containing the vaulted living space .

openings in the walls are made specifically form the inner experience of the border as well. The living room windows capture a full 180 degree panorama, while the upper mezzanine offers more, axial views across the cliff face parallel to the coast.

The structural requirements are met with the same frankness that the whole composition was born with. The steel frame deems necessary but impermanent, such as a tripod or light turn. Its beauty lies in its usefulness. One has the feeling that it could be folded, stored and moved at any time, but this place was chosen for its unique position in the landscape.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

The inner structure shows a similar no-nonsense practice. basic steel structural frames are designed to withstand the horizontal and vertical loads shape and design firm. The non-insulated shell is wearing a corduroy boarding pass provided on the diagonal bracing studs against shearing and racking.

Looking into the living room of the mezzanine, a sense only good ground below - not the sea, as expected. This is a rich and varied experience in interior only 960 total square feet

Gratuitous, perhaps, but the design -. That security wife, structural expression and experience - is admirable. T he sum total is a building that relies on its state boundary and celebrated by comparing its characteristics. Perch the house on the edge of the cliff has created a depth of experience and a greater appreciation for the elements that make the building environment. As this was achieved within the constraints of the myriad code, it is all the more admirable.


Visit a California home with spectacular views

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Quantum Windows & Doors

the Inlet
This weekend retreat sits at the intersection of a meadow and the edge the forest, stunning views of Puget Sound in Washington . The architecture leverages its position precise limit in the landscape to reveal the interrelationships that one moves through the house.

The arrival is informal, and establishes the sense of discovery that is present throughout the project. The variety of experiences to have in a small space is really exciting. The more compressed door darkest before seen here recalls the forest

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Quantum doors and windows

inside, the view expands and the boundary between the forest and the water dissolves completely. The living space has been made even more dramatic with bay, which put the room moving towards the view.

MW | Architecture + design work

It is the main living room which was a sense of the entire environment. The floating roof plan helps draw the eye outward toward the forest.

Playing with the amount of solid walls and glass walls, the architects developed a tenuous sense of shelter. You feel protected but still exposed in these spaces

MW |. Works Architecture + Design

speaking of paper, one is never far from a spectacular view of the environment, even in the most private of spaces.

marriage of security and aesthetics is intentional and designed. The railings are visually minimal

MW |. Works Architecture + Design

retirement amplifies the boundary condition using architectural elements such as the large roof to crop the site perspective. Move up through the roof of the plan and the observation deck shifts the skyline and completely removes any sense of the house below. You end up with only the canopy of trees overlooking the sound. These simple gestures are powerful enough in a small house.

Andersson-Wise Architects

Lake
This is a project that is as much about the experience as it is about architecture. Near mile, the approach is a journey that crosses many borders.

Andersson-Wise Architects

passing over a wooded ravine on this cable suspension bridge, t he path continues down the hill to a small space to collect and boathouse on the edge of a lake.

Andersson-Wise Architects

arriving at the lake, one is filled with the low boathouse, hovering over the water. His brightwork and finely crafted details reminiscent boat building. The approach differs from the viewer to the water, not the architecture. There is a contrast between the opening and strength, as in the previous project. Note the small window at the south end.

Andersson-Wise Architects

to within this window has a small lantern with a custom metal base. Details like this express attitude about the craft of making a special place. I can imagine the light in the window the evening drawing a -. A sort of lighthouse on the lake connecting the human frontier drawn between the inside and outside

Andersson-Wise architects

the structure is light (architects refer to it as a water skater), delicately perched on the water surface. The architects used a steel frame to its structural rigidity and delicate presence, recalling the simple port structures. The panels projected on the north and east sides of the living space on the upper level of pivot to create an impromptu diving platform. When they are removed, the already airy structure seems to disappear into the tree line.

Andersson- Wise Architects

This is a place where one can relax, swim and discover the waterfront; he treads the boundaries between formal and informal, designed and utility.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

Sunset
This house is perched on ruthless and field presentation on the rocky coast of Nova Scotia, on an outcrop of granite where the owners had gathered to watch the sunset before the house was designed.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

here, the boundary condition in the form of the house, much like the glacial coastline was sculpted by ice. The form of battered roof rises to the view while pouring water. The shape of the clipped building is the result of continuous freeze-thaw cycle of the local climate, which overhangs will invite ice buildup. And, of course, there's the surf of the (very) near the Atlantic Ocean, forming the concrete fins that form the basis running perpendicular to the coast.

Resilience is a key concept in the marine environment, where it is easier to invite wave action under the structure to design a wall to resist. Visually, the fins remind me of boat slips and the house of the hull of a ship.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

arriving home, we meet a view of the western sea, which borders the border between the building and the environment. There is a contrast not so subtle between the scale of the house and the sea.

Here we begin to get an idea of ​​the range of materials inspired by his own weathered blue-gray of the site. The cladding humble corrugated metal chosen for its durability, evokes images of planking used for boat hulls. Cedar, a common local building material, is naturally rot resistant . When exposed to the sun and salt air, it quickly turns into money. The concrete anchor and construction mimics granite nearby.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

inside the life of linear space, the north and west facades are fully exposed to the Atlantic ocean, while the eastern edge feels rooted, strong and safe. This solid wall marks its own internal boundary between the "servant" spaces - storage cabinets, bathrooms - and "served", or life, spaces. Adherence to the principle of strict control makes the interior of the small footprint of the interior parts functionally effective

The interior material palette ignored the border between land and sea as well. polished concrete feels both rooted and, like water. The colors are neutral wall colors of the environment: the changing hue of the setting sun or the dark gray of a storm, for example

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MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

the entire northwest corner of the house has been significantly narrowed the gap the formation of an outside porch positioned to capture the sunset. The spaces that are neither inside nor completely outside create a wide variety of experiences. The low ceiling of the outdoor veranda (due to the internal space above) opposes the largest ceiling of room Interior . This lower ceiling pushes the eye outward, making the dramatic outdoor room feel even more exposed.

MacKay Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

the interior of the lantern as warmly lit clearly describes the sequence of inside areas: the living spaces are glazed, while the sleeping areas have views of the carefully controlled specific landscape features. The exterior appears as expertly controlled the interior, with openings syncopated obeying the order of the structural grid. Everything has a place.

The architects cleverly equipped the house with large sliding panels to cover the glass walls when storms approach. Elastic design allows the building to adapt to changing weather conditions.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

the edge condition also gave birth to a structural system designed to withstand high wind loads on the sides of the house. Bracing is simple and direct. An inclined brace keeps racking steel frame in the wind, while the corners gussets transfer loads on the columns and finally down into the foundation, which is anchored in granite.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited

the house itself is a microcosm of the boundary condition of the site of the opening and shelter, where land is equivalent to safety, a refuge from the sea. It presents an understanding of forces that shaped this environment and recognizes them in the design.

There is a tenuous relationship, however. I think that's why I enjoy it so much - for his audacity. Is your website a home here? Maybe, maybe not.

Do I wonder if it is safe? Absolutely not. The fact that it was built is proof that met the complex challenges facing the architects. Meeting the needs of a customer and wants, aesthetic and budgetary concerns, as well as professional design standards, zoning and environmental laws and safety regulations - it is not easy.

For me, this house is a clear example of architectural possibilities designed to inhabit the boundary condition and a reminder of why I became an architect.


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Architecture: 4 spectacular houses that push the boundaries Architecture: 4 spectacular houses that push the boundaries

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