A-cero Architects designed this house overlooking the Miera River near Santander, Spain. The main design features of this project are the simple volumetric composition, the large glass panes, the projecting shapes that break the uniformity of the straight lines, its ample interior spaces and predominant materials: glass, wood and concrete..This house is located on a 2.204m2 plot presenting a strong slope, with a difference of height of 17m in a 55m long terrain. The site is delimited by the access road on the South, neighbouring plots on the North and East sides and a stepped walkway in the West.

The main idea behind the project is to make a house integrated within the surrounding context, oriented towards the views over the Mera river. The terrain’s slope, which could be seen as a problem, becomes a solution by designing a house closed to the North and open to the South (where the best sights are), therefore protected from the cold temperatures and open to the natural light.

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This is the Bellevue Club, a social and fitness club and hotel, located in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle designed by Baylis Architects.

The Bellevue Club project is an expansion and renovation that provided space for fitness amenities, an expanded library, converted sport courts and exterior site enhancements.

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Luxury modern contemporary residential the walmer loft, Dubbeldam Design Architects have converted a space inside a historic home in Toronto, Canada

Interior design by Dubbeldam Design Architects

Overlooking Toronto’s historic Casa Loma Stables, this 1920s duplex was converted from a group of small, dark rooms into a graphic designer’s residential loft. The renovation was designed to retain the charm of the building’s historic exterior, while transforming its interior for contemporary living with clean lines, open space, increased natural light and specifically framed interior and exterior views.

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The House As mountain guides, Scott Schell and Margaret Wheeler are used to the upper reaches of the Cascades. Their site in the foothills above Snoqualmie is not far from work. The house, designed by Johnston Architects PLLC and built by Tall Tree Construction, accommodates both professional and practical demands, but it also fulfills a deep desire to do what is right.

The Schell Wheeler house will soon receive a LEED Silver certification. Blow-down trees from storms provided the logs that were milled into siding, fascias and trim. A ground source heat pump, supplemented by solar water preheating supplies energy to the house. Other strategies are implemented throughout the house, but the overall character of the two buildings complete the goal of sustainability: the complex is extremely livable within its environment. Even on a grey and rainy day this forest retreat is filled with light.

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Italian architect Giorgio Comoglio recently has completed the renovation of the Ex Sellerie, which is located in the area of the ex military arsenal in Turin, Italy. The task of the project is to increase the original building’s floor area and height. The minimal form of perforated steel envelope has been introduced to integrate the existing building into one, and also not to interfere with the surrounding buildings.

Ex Sellerie, image courtesy of Studio Comoglio Architetti

We opted to install a curtain of perforated sheet metal in copper-zinc-titanium alloy attached independently on the facade. This skin was meant to wrap the building like an ambiguous veil that conceals the complexity and architectural disorder determined by the previous structure, transforming the pitched roof into a series of homogeneous volumes superimposed. The building is wrapped in a new shell that filters the view of the city with different transparencies.

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