The Fab Lab House

The Fab Lab House

Catalonia, Spain – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) Built area:     75 m2 (810 sq. ft.) Year built:     2010 Photography:    Adrià Goula Designed and built as an entry in the 2010 Solar Decathlon Europe, this home definitely deserves a guernsey in our sustainable homes collection.  The objective of the competition is […]

Pavilion Perfection

Daisen, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture – Keisuke Kawaguchi + K2-Design Date of Completion: October 2011 Photography: Koji Fujii (Nacasa&Partners Inc) Designed as a forest retreat, the paramount concern was to retain the sites’ cherry and pine trees and to minimise the impact on the environment. The result is a home of many pavilions weaving its way […]

Beached yet anchored!

Western Port Vic Australia – BKK Architects Year built:     2009 Built area:     349m2+   (3,770 sf) Photography:     Peter Bennetts Sitting on a coastal plain with strong exposure to both wind and sun, this home was awarded as the 2011 AIA Residential winner in the over 200m2 category. Deliberately designed to appear […]

Rockhouse

Rockhouse. a healing home...

British Columbia, Canada – Sandrin Leung Design Build Built area: 111.5 m2 (1,194 sq. ft.) Year built: 2009 – 2010 Photography: Ana Cristina Sandrin “The Rockhouse is a courtyard home organized around a large rock bluff in a gesture of embrace. From the first visit to the site we felt the very strong spiritual/natural presence of this rock. We […]

Living in a Bubble

France  –  BubbleTree Have you ever accused someone of living in a bubble? Well French design and manufacturing company Bubble Tree have made this a reality. There are two basic types of bubbles to choose from – the BubbleRoom which has a translucent bottom half for “privacy” or the CristalBubble for the more adventurous. Both […]

Underground Living in Switzerland

Underground Living in Switzerland

Villa Vals – Christian Muller Architects and SeARCH Architecture Built:   2005 – 2009 Area:   225m2  (2,430 sq. ft.) Most of us would think twice before even considering an underground home.  Yet such homes offer some unique advantages, both ecologically and for the security conscious. These notes are from co-designer, SeARCH: SeARCH and CMA collaborated […]

Waking up in church!

If you find yourself praying for a bigger home, perhaps converting a church is your solution. They’re always lofty so even a small church offers the opportunity of a significant mezzanine level and possibly, an attic above! With the decline in church attendances in recent decades, increasing numbers of churches are becoming vacant. Here are […]

Stacking Green

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam – Vo Trong Nghia Built:  2011 Area:  250m2 (2,700 sq ft) Vo Trong Nghia is unquestionably one of the world’s great architects.  After studying architecture in Vietnam, he was chosen for a prime scholarship in Japan where he worked for some years with that country’s leading architects on major commercial, industrial […]

A Treehouse for the Mind, Body and Spirit

Magic Treehouse in the City

Atlanta Georgia – Peter Bahouth Photography: Jane Field-Lewis Tucked away in the middle of an Atlanta backyard, is this three-room treehouse strung together with wooden bridges.  Owner Peter Bahouth and builder Nick Hobbs created this eclectic space from an assortment of salvaged and recycled materials. Peter is an environmentalist whose love of nature and memories of […]

Shipwrecked!

Shipwrecked - a homage to maritime history

Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand – Crosson, Clarke, Carnachan Architects Year: 2007 Photography: Patrick Reynolds Sitting a short distance from Auckland, facing west onto Bass Straight, the entrance to Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand has an unenviable record as the graveyard of ships and people. Many of these shipwrecks remain visible. This home overlooks the harbour entrance […]