Standing Architecture» Small Work, Country Houses

Easthampton

Alastair — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:16:34 +0000

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The design for this house was motivated by the context and topography of the site and the requirements of the program of living. A view of Three Mile Harbor to the east and the need for privacy to the west presented a contradiction. The surfaces of the driveway and pool, both grey were used to link the easterly view to the westerly seclusion.The driveway rises to level ground where it becomes the pool and access to the house is possible via the stepped ramp. The eight degree north south slope of the land directly opposed the primary idea. The main volume of the house was conceptually dropped onto it. The inclined seam created was presented on the interior by a material change.The metal clad living space was elevated for both view and privacy from the street. These isolated elements were pinned together with two stone chimneys one containing fire places and the other a barbecue. Each idea was assigned a material quality and detailed according to the hierarchy of the set of ideas.

Rain Forest

Alastair — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:15:31 +0000

This project is a roof top addition to an existing concrete, single story house on the edge of the rain forest in Puerto Rico. The year-round temperature is comfortable, but annual rainfall is high and often heavy.The broad stair idea is a single device with a number of uses. At the first floor it provides shelter from the intense sun and heavy rain. The space under this canopy is an outside living area, an extension of the existing living room. It permits sheltered circulation between the two wings of the house. The open riser type of stair structure allows for good ventilation and reflects sun light up onto the underside of the canopy. Rain cascades down the steps to near the bottom where it runs back through the steps and down into a stream which in turn discharges over the edge of the terrace.		Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment
It is a stair up to the second floor deck and becomes the roof of the boy’s bedroom and guest room at the front. The risers are then filled in with glass brick to create an enclosed space. The girl’s room opens up to the surrounding forest.

English Country

Alastair — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:14:14 +0000

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This project is derived from the implementation of a shift idea and a fusion with an industrial landscape. The Lancashire landscape can be characterized by the integration of industrial and ex industrial structures within a pastoral setting. These structures have become romanticized by late 20th century culture. The farm to the north forms the industrial context that this project references.The shifts were translated into spatial objects to handle bidirectional axial relationships: the tunnel and the bridge. The view tunnel accommodates the Reception Spaces. It is placed on axis with the peak of a fell and aligned with the training ground at N 51 W. Both the view and the formal garden can be seen anywhere along its length.

A glass wall and door at the south end of the formal spaces forms an entrance where a ramp makes the connection to the informal part of the house. The bridge contains the living room and the master bedroom suite. The truss structure permits transparent walls to the north for the view, and to the south for sunlight.

The western end of the bridge rests on a conceptual pier that contains the children ’s and guest bedrooms facing south and a double height studio facing north. The roof of the pier is used as the master bedroom terrace . The pier/bridge idea refers to Lancashire’s industrial landscape through engineering language of the 19th century.

Hudson Valley

Alastair — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:13:47 +0000

This project re-uses the frame of a late 19th century FARMHOUSE with a checkered history. The site is in a 15 acre clearing of 125-acre woodland in the Hudson Valley. The farmhouse was well sited against a ROCK LEDGE that BISECTS THE CLEARING into east and west parts. The west side faces the Black Creek River, and falls, a pond and a Dutch barn.The rock ledge was a key component to the organization of the new house. It meant that the house was entered one floor higher on the East Side. The existing garage was raised one floor and entered from the east. Keeping all vehicles out of the view. The character of the view side LANDSCAPE was used to develop the West Side of the house, such as placement of doors and windows and use of materials.

The INTERFACE between the two sides of the site was established in the house by circulation (a glass stair) and structure (a post and beam frame). The first floor was removed to make a double height space. These elements represent the CENTERLINE of the house between the two sides of the site.The VIEW could be characterized as EX-INDUSTRIAL AGRARIAN, an old mill, barn and waterfall. It is seductive and as such a force upon the house. The house and the Barn enclose the space between them. So the elevation facing the barn, the West Side was designed to respond to it. Including grid windows, wood siding and metal roof. The apparently RANDOM WINDOWS are positioned to MAXIMIZE THE VIEW from within each room.

The back of the house responds to the elements of the view. Windows with landscape features and materials with the barn’s architecture. The front is always APPROACHED and usually by car. The architectural language of this side of the house is more urban. The scale of the elements on the elevation are taken from the garage doors The limits of the old structure forced areas to pop out of the east façade. Window OPENINGS were COLLECTED TOGETHER to develop the large scale, URBAN LANGUAGE of the front of the house.

An idea on the second level unifies the 2 sides of the house. The view from the West Side bedrooms is focussed through an ARRAY OF LENSES on one side of the stair and projected onto a diffused glass panel on the other side of the stair. The result is an ARRAY OF UPSIDE DOWN VIEWS on the interior of the East Side bedrooms. Conversely the east light (morning) is focussed on the wall of the west bedrooms.

The conceptual effect of this device is to COLLAPSE THE SPACE between the two sides of the house across the centerline established by the site and the rock ledge.