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A Cabin That Plays With Volumes
Have you Designed the Kitchen of the Year? Only One Month to go!
Every House Should Have A Garden Room

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 07:38 PM PDT

Coined 'The Mushroom', this guest suite designed by ZJJZ Architecture negotiates its relationship with the surrounding forest.

Located in Xin Yu City in the Jiangxi Province of China, The Mushroom takes on a bulbous circular form, with a quirky roofline that makes it stand out.

Given the project's location within a pine forest, the architects considered the influence of nature and how the building and its natural setting could interplay with one another.

The building itself is comprised of two simple volumes, each broken down by their respective functions. The circular form houses the main guest suite, with the room capturing panoramic views out to the forest. The windows are positioned at the perfect viewing height to allow guests to sit and enjoy a curated aspect from all angles.

Above the main bedroom is a loft area, which sits within the high peak of the roofline. The loft serves as a children's area, which is accessible by a set of stairs. The form of the conical roofline creates a sense of expansion, while its white ceiling adds volume and drama.

The more traditional rectangular form at the back of the building comprises the entrance lobby, storage spaces and the bathroom. Wanting to maintain a level of privacy, a slimline horizontal window sits slightly higher to avoid unwanted views from outside, while still giving a glimpse of the nature that lies beyond.

A circular skylight mimics the roof form of the rounded main space, while also introducing light and shadows throughout the day and the seasons.

Taking into account the natural slope while not wanting to disturb the forest floor, The Mushroom sits on a lifted steel frame, minimising its impact on the site. The intention behind this decision being that plants will gradually grow up and around the building, embedding it within the forest.

Materiality was selected with consideration for how it will age and withstand the elements. The cone-shaped roof is clad in pinewood shingles, while the rest of the building is coated in granolithic concrete. The materials will slowly change over time, eventually blending into the natural environment.

ZJJZ
zjjz-atelier.com

Photography by Fangfang Tian and ZJJZ

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Have you Designed the Kitchen of the Year? Only One Month to go!

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 06:06 PM PDT

For the past few months, leading kitchen brand Gaggenau has been on the hunt for the Kitchen of the Year. They've searched the country for kitchens that are built to inspire: spaces that embody innovation, quality and outstanding design in much the same way that Gaggenau itself does.

This search has been marked by entries from a field of the industry's leading architects, designers and kitchen designers. We're seeing kitchens that are in grand houses and small apartments, where luxury is found in generous proportions and innovative space solutions. Each entry, in its own way, contributes to the ongoing evolution of kitchen design, a step forward in the endless journey toward design perfection.

Have you designed a kitchen that stands above the rest?

Entries for Gaggenau's Kitchen of the Year are open for 3 more weeks, so what are you waiting for? Head to the entry portal and submit your kitchen projects forward to a panel of esteemed judges.

More than simply a chance to be crowned Kitchen of the Year for 2021, the winner of Gaggenau's inaugural programme will be awarded a trip to Europe. This exclusive prize includes return airfares for two, 5-star accommodation, transfers, a factory tour at Lipsheim and a culinary experience.

In addition, all regional winners will be awarded with an exclusive gastronomy experience, including return flights for two, accommodation and an intimate dinner in a Gaggenau showroom. All winners and shortlisters of this programme will be celebrated through the Gaggenau network, with projects shared across regional and international touchpoints.

What you need to know

Entries are open to professional kitchen designers, architects, interior designers, builders and developers from across Australia. Kitchens must be part of a multi-residential apartment or residential home in Australia that has been completed between 01/01/2018 to 30/04/2021. Kitchens should feature 3 Gaggenau major domestic appliances and be submitted along with professional photography to be considered.

The Gaggenau Kitchen of the Year will be awarded on a regional basis, acknowledging four outstanding submissions from SA/WA/NT; VIC/TAS; NSW/ACT and QLD respectively. There will also be an additional award – Best of the Best – bestowed to the kitchen that most impresses the judging panel from the shortlist of regional entries.

The 2021 shortlist will be announced 29^th July, 2021, with the winners announced in September.

So get your entries in now, the portal closes 30^th April at 23:59 AEST.

The post Have you Designed the Kitchen of the Year? Only One Month to go! appeared first on Habitusliving.com.

Every House Should Have A Garden Room

Posted: 11 Apr 2021 06:06 PM PDT

"Dark, hard and solemn," is how architect Nic Brunsdon aptly describes first impressions upon entering East Fremantle House, his latest residential alts&ads project, in Perth. The house beyond that, however, is quite the opposite — light, bright and open.

Seeking a contextually sensitive addition to a cherished existing cottage to accommodate contemporary living, the clients' had come to Nic with a relatively liberal brief. In his artful response, the architect's extension takes on an unconventional expression and resolves in a residence that looks and feels wholly refreshed.

All in all, the enhanced programme consists of four core volumes and begins in the middle. Accessed via the side and halfway down the site the chamber-like entry space—Nic's atmospheric intervention of where old meets new—becomes a new right of passage for residents and visitors of East Fremantle House. Encompassed in dark masonry and unadorned, occupying space enough for a study nook and bike storage, the entry link is somber and still, with two paths to choose from — excluding the one in/out.

To the left of entry leads to the existing brick cottage, facing back to the street, which has been restored and lightly amended. Alternatively, a turn to the right opens out to the new addition. Simple and linear, this volume of the building forms an efficient living space conceptualised as one long 'garden room'. Light, bright, and open, it is experientially a direct counter to the experience of the house upon entry. A wooden box with articulated eaves is perched lightly above the masonry ground floor addition to house a bedroom suite.

"The most important part of this house is the space that is not built," says Nic, referring specifically to a large northern void he left alfresco in the extension of East Fremantle House. Inhabited freely by sun, light, sky, fresh air and sound, the open space is traced around the south, east and west edges by Nic's built addition to the site, resulting in a series of rooms that boast an immediate connection to their elemental surrounds and inherently optimised for thermal efficiency.

"This practice's view of sustainability is that it is best done as a first principles thing and not an applied technology," says Nic. "Getting the massing, orientation and subsequent program planning right is the most important thing we can do as designers of lived environments. More so than ever in our current context of shifting work patterns towards the home."

East Fremantle House is open and ready to handle more of life's inevitable change too. Currently, a recent birth has the family residing in the private spaces of the original cottage, while the new bedroom suite above the living extension is a spare, ready and waiting for guests to stay; or for when either the parents or children choose to retreat to the privacy of the rear suite.

Through his addition to East Fremantle House, Nic Brunsdon has designed a house that is as atmospheric as it is dexterous. Imbued with all the high-performance elements of sustainable space planning, the program optimises thermal mass, passive solar, and prevailing breezes. The resulting house is breathable, functional, responsive and experientially unforgettable.

Nic Brunsdon Architect
nicbrunsdon.com

Photography by Dion Robeson