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Posts Tagged ‘Architects’

Massimo Mariani Architects have completed a contemporary renovation of an existing residential building in the town of Empoli, Italy.

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House in Empoli by Massimo Mariani

The Stefanos house is located in Navicelli road, between the historical center of Empoli and the Arno river. The project concerned the renovation of a residential building which was built in the earliest of 1960s. The plan was to empty entirely the interiors so we could reorganize the interior floors height; in the same time we designed the new faade on the main front without any increase of volume.

The building is developed on three floors above the ground; from a monofamiliar house it turned into a bifamiliar house, with a few offices on the ground floor. Each new house measures 200/220 square meters about, both the two have the entrance door along the main road as the garage and a service room. The first floor holds the living room, the dining room and the kitchen, each one offers many different views. There is a terrace along the road which is shielded by an aluminium wall with laser pierced flowers; on the other side the kitchen and the dining room overlook on the interior patio with the hydromassage. In summer it can be closed on the top by the motorised curtain-blind so it turns into another room. A teak staircase connects the living room with the night zone on the upper floor which is opened on the river on a side and the citys roofs on the other. A small green house amuses the home entrance.

Visit the Massimo Mariani website – here.

Photography by Alessandro Ciampi

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Robert Mills Architects have designed the Verdant Avenue house in Melbourne, Australia.

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The Verdant Avenue House by Robert Mills Architects

The Verdant Ave project reflects RMA’s unfaltering commitment to marrying purity of form with function, and the belief that a precise balance of architecture, interior design and landscape will always create a truly great home. A crisp cubic structure allows the propertys 80 year old pin oak to be celebrated as the focal point for the main living, dining and bedroom areas. A crisp palette of white walls with American oak joinery and slate floors creates a clean, calm space from which to view the venerable tree changing with the passing seasons.

The project philosophy from the outset was to create a luxurious contemporary family home. It needed to accommodate the clients love of entertaining, their extensive artwork collection and a desire to connect to the natural environment outside.

The interior and exterior living and entertaining spaces sit side by side on the ground level, separated by floor to ceiling glass walls and sliding doors. These doors open to a 25 metre lap pool, which runs the length of the building and provides natural evaporative cooling to the living areas.

RMA’s dedication to meticulous detailing in all interior materials is evident throughout the home; at all times the luxury of the space was a priority. This detailing has created an elegant simplicity for the home it does not require ostentatious dressing to be beautiful, comfortable or practical. The monochromatic palette and 3.5 metre ceilings provide a gallery for large and small art pieces alike to play a key role, while the fluid form of the centrally positioned spiral staircase, linking the ground floor to the first and second levels, provides a striking sculptural element that contrasts with the cubic character of the interior.

Energy-efficient features include a smart lighting system and motorized oversize exterior window louvres, which provide natural light and ventilation.

From the outset a considerable amount of time and energy was spent working closely with the clients through the briefing phase. It is a strict RMA dictate that the client is kept constantly updated and informed on all aspects of the design and construction phase, which inevitably leads to minimal changes and variations, and therefore a quicker, smoother, more cost-effective build.

Visit the Robert Mills Architects website – here.

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McLean Quinlan Architects have designed a villa in the Andalucia region of Spain.

Full description after the photos….

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Villa in Andalucia by McLean Quinlan Architects

The design strategy for this new build villa was to create a building that would exploit the spectacular landscape, while creating an exemplary building for the 21st century.

The site occupies a panoramic south west facing sweep of embankment, with impressive views to the Mediterranean, Rock of Gibraltar and Serrana de Ronda.

The building has seven bedroom suites for the family and their guests in three linked pavilions separated by pools of water, gardens and stone terraces.

Landscaping was key to the concept for this dramatic site and the combination of visual, solar and centrifugal influences inherent in the landscape created a natural orientation for the building as a series of parallel surfaces on a NE/SW axis. These layers defined both shade and space from which to enjoy the Andalucian sunlight, providing tantalising glimpses of the view beyond and shaping tranquil spaces for the inhabitants.

The effect of shadow and water in an Islamic garden was both a practical and metaphoric influence on the design of the whole building helping to temper the immediate microclimate while quietly referencing the historical context.

Visit the McLean Quinlan Architects website – here.

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SPACE Architects have designed the Final Departure Lounge in the Mexico City airport.

Full description after the photos….

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Final Departure Lounge by SPACE Architects

SPACE was selected from among several architecture firms to design the new final departure lounge for a recognized brand of financial services and credit cards. This project is located at terminal 2 of Mexico City airport.

The challenge was not straight-forward, the customer was looking for a design that brought together many things at the same time. The main challenges were to generate a multi-purpose space that would represent a contemporary and cosmopolitan image that summarize the brand to design a new experience, in a globalized world in which the brands and products are in a headlong race to position themselves in the minds of the customers to use built spaces as a natural extension of the brand, a complicated but vital challenge.

A specialized Branding team was used for this project, who together with the architects generated a hybrid methodology as a result of mixing Branding and architecture.

The project design concepts emerged as a consequence of a search for the definition of the brands “emotional promise”, that is to say that the project was developed around the idea of designing a group of well worked out emotions that would develop as a consequence of a brand experience. To be convincing, the experience would have to be a sensory experience, an experience that would include all senses and that would seek to arouse the emotions.

The importance of emotions:
At the beginning of this century neuromarketing started to be used in England as part of the development of a new science using magnetic resonance to define what motivates consumers in their decision making. Such studies have had many revealing results but one in particular has generated a new way of understanding architecture. The way that the brain codifies the majority of the information that it receives is by translating it into emotions, like this it gives a value to things, good brands are connected emotionally with their users through experiences and the great majority of the experiences take place in built spaces. In order for architecture to be transcendent it will have to be defined as starting with the search for emotions that will enable it to connect with its users.

In the case of the final departure lounge the fundamentally functional aspects were worked on at the same time as working on the emotional definition of the space, the great majority of the persons that use these spaces take advantage of them to work before getting on a plane. The emotional solutions would have to be very functional as well being able to give a solution to all the users different needs and work habits. That is how this space is made up with some private meeting rooms, informal meeting areas with virtual divisions, Wi-Fi and support areas. Together with these working spaces, the final departure lounge also has recreation and entertainment areas, such as the lounges for a game of dominos or cards, a small massage room, and a beauty-hairdressers salon.

In general this space is without any doubt a taster of what many other office building spaces will be like in the not so distant future, spaces that will represent properly the expectations of their brands and that will be sufficiently flexible to practically support any way of working and meeting. The project was developed with a methodology generated by SPACE in which all projects seek to be designed in a sustainable manner.

This space consumes around 50% of the energy that other similar spaces commonly consume, by means of openings in the ceiling that let in natural light, the design maximizes the usage of daylight in the interiors, additionally generating extremely natural and pleasant sensations.

The materials utilized in the project have a high recycled material content, and the majority of them are easily renewable.

Visit the SPACE Architect’s website – here.

Photography by Willem Schalkwijk

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Ehrlich Architects designed the Leonard Residence in Los Angeles, California.

Full description after the photos….

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The Leonard Residence by Ehrlich Architects

This 4,000-square-foot residence is situated on a 45-degree-angle downward sloping canyon site in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Embracing an entry courtyard, the structure is a composition of vast areas in glass supported by steel and concrete, tracing its lineage to the case study houses of LA.

The hillside-bound site presented the most obvious challenge as well as opportunity for design. To achieve the vision objectives, the house is spliced into multiple levels to accommodate and embrace the steep slope yet make the most of all useable space, nearly panoramic views and augment privacy from the closely adjacent homes. Each level fluidly caters to specific living, working and relaxation needs of the residents, allowing for utmost efficiency and comfort.

The entrance level is greeted by a permanently-installed corten steel and glass dining table designed by the Architect. A two-story living room is suspended over the canyon on a structured concrete slab that also serves as the finished floor. From this level, a floating tread stair ascends to the master bedroom/bath suite and a floating reading loft affords classic LA views through the 20-foot high glass walls. Access to a roof terrace above the garage fosters sunbathing and relaxation.

From the main public level, one descends a stair anchored to a cast in place concrete wall to the lower level that houses a home office, guest quarters and storage.

Visit the Ehrlich Architects website – here.

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