COUNTRY ESTATE BY ROGER FERRIS + PARTNERS

Philip Johnson designed the 1953 Wiley Residence as a glass pavilion cantilevered above a stone podium. The house, in the same town as Johnson's iconic glass house, also included a pool adjacent to an existing barn on the site.

Roger Ferris + Partners renovated the house and barn for a new client, adding a pool house and garage and creating a synthesis of old and new amongst the tall trees.

“Our client was familiar with a unique golf club we designed in Southampton, a contemporary building that serves both as clubhouse and private gallery. An art collector himself, he recognized our ability to design spaces that display art and approached us for this project.

The project required expertise with multifaceted programmatic and contextual challenges and we were selected due to our diverse portfolio and understanding of restoration as well as contemporary architecture.

The client emphasized his desire to respect the architectural integrity of the landmark Philip Johnson Wiley Residence and to carefully integrate the new structures. Any new additions to the site should compliment and underscore the original house.

We renovated the deteriorated barn, inserted a new pool house into the composition, restored the pool, added a submerged garage and carefully renovated the 1953 Johnson house.

All new exterior and restoration materials were carefully reviewed and selected on site with consideration of the existing residence.

All work was initially very carefully designed and was executed substantially as conceived. The completed project very much matches the design.

We see an increase in adaptive reuse and restoration projects in recent years and are currently working on a variety of projects with similar issues: restoration/conversion of existing structures while adding new structures to the composition.

Combining the old with contemporary architecture is not only aesthetically challenging but technically complex; with each new complex project our diversity and depth of experience increases, leading to greater flexibility to respond more thoughtfully to changing circumstances and client needs.” The architects say.

The design aligns the submerged pool house with an existing retaining wall: pool, pool house, barn, and residence form a new nucleus for the site.

Acting as gatehouse, a new garage marks the entrance to the estate. The height of the new pool house and the garage follows the height set by the barn foundation walls and the base of the Wiley residence.

Location: New Canaan, USA

Architects: Roger Ferris + Partners

Design Team: Roger Ferris, Robert Marx, Myron Mirgorodsky, Tiziano Fabrizio

Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti, The DiSalvo Ericson Group

Area: 7,000 sq ft

Year: 2010

Photographs: Paùl Rivera

RIDGE ROAD RESIDENCE BY STUDIOFOUR

“A simple brief and programming requirements, teamed with a dramatic site characterised by a steep slope and a single tea tree, enabled the design to become an exploration into enclosing the basic rituals of domestic life within restrained building forms…the form of the building becomes driven by the clients desire to separate the public and private zones of the residence.

In stark contrast to the surrounding houses, which attempt to cancel out the sloping topography by creating a podium level at which the outdoor areas sit exposed high above ground level, our design for this house adopts a gentler strategy, with the building form spilling down the slope to terminate in a series of terraced decks.

These low lying decks aim to provide privacy from the golf course below, whilst the surrounding native landscape will shelter the outdoor areas from the harsh prevailing winds.

Varying levels of interaction and connection with the landscape, both real and perceived, drive all aspects of the design, from the channelled views of the horizon upon entry, through to the double height picture window that captures the full proportion of the tea tree, and the direct and intimate connection provided by the low level decks.” Description of StudioFour.

Ubicazione

 

Location: The Ridge Road Fingal, Australia

Architects: StudioFour

Project Year: 2012

Photographs: Shannon McGrath

ARTIST RESIDENCE AND STUDIO BY CALIPER

Set in historic Greenwich Village, the residence is composed of two low buildings, originally one was a metal shop and the other a garage.

Roy Lichtenstein

In the late 1980s artist Roy Lichtenstein moved into a two-story warehouse that was converted to a residence and studio by 1100 Architect. Lichtenstein died in 1997, and the building, located across the street from Westbeth Artists Housing, is now occupied by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation,

Dorothy Lichtenstein

The mission of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation is to research, document, protect and share Roy Lichtenstein’s art and creative legacy. The Foundation has been actively involved in 20 Lichtenstein solo exhibitions, via loans, documentation and assistance with institutions throughout the United States and in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Moscow, Japan and Puerto Rico.

In 2007 the Foundation hired Caliper Studio for restoration and renovation work.

The buildings had between them eight roof surfaces totaling 6,000 square feet of  aging roof.  The two larger surfaces were transformed into a quiet landscape of wall to wall sedum plants within which are set two of Roy Lichtenstein’s sculptures—Brushstrokes and Endless Drip.

This newly formed urban sculpture garden is framed by the tall rugged neighboring buildings of Manhattan’s west side. The kitchen and penthouse were rebuilt with dark reflective brick, connecting them is a black locust wood deck curving and stepping above the landscape.

This warm wood surface forms a path, a viewing platform and a resting area to enjoy the new garden.  The sedum planting continues onto two new concrete shell skylights whose curved form gently diffuses light into the studio below.

Preservation of the artist’s studio was a primary design objective of the project. Careful technical detailing of the building’s envelope along with new climate controls help ensure the longevity of the studio.

The quality of the space and its character have been maintained through original artifacts including the artist’s built-in wall easel system and paint splattered floor.

The most overt outcome of the process happens on the 6,000-sf (557-sm) roof, where "a quiet landscape of wall to wall sedum plants" now exists. The L-shaped roof is crowded in by buildings on three sides, but it does reach toward Washington Street on the west, in the direction of Westbeth (photo at right).

People walking up and down the street can glance atop the one-story garage to get a glimpse of one of two large-scale Lichtenstein sculptures installed on the roof, in this case "Endless Drip."

"Brushstrokes" sits at a remove from the street, between a rebuilt penthouse office and new concrete shell skylights. A locust-wood deck snakes its way from the office to a rebuilt kitchen; the gray bricks of each volume stand out from the original building, marking these as new constructions.

Further, Caliper Studio -- which is comprised of Caliper Architecture and Caliper Fabrication -- is responsible for much of the fabrication: skylights, canopy, trellis, planter, window frames and grates, railings. Their construction documentation is worth a look, particularly for the forming of the skylights.

Below the roof level, much of the work carried out was in keeping with the original conditions of Lichtenstein's studio and residence. According to the architects, "The quality of the space and its character have been maintained through original artifacts including the artist’s built-in wall easel system and paint splattered floor".

This leaves the roof as the canvas, if you will, for the architects, who chose sedum as their primary medium, even as they crafted other pieces in wood, metal, and concrete. The roof landscape softens the space between the various buildings and gives Lichtenstsein's sculptures a contrasting background, something akin to a sculpture garden in the middle of the city.

General Contractor: Riverside Builders

Structural Engineering: GMS

Landscape and Planting Design: VertNY

 

INFO: www.lichtensteinfoundation.org

         www.caliperstudio.com

           www.archidose.org 

VICTORIA 73 BY SAOTA

The Victoria 73 project is a villa set on a spur of land between Bantry Bay and Clifton, suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa.

Designed by Cape Town based architectural firm SAOTA, the Victoria 73 house is perched on top of a mountain overlooking the ocean.

The design of the home is a perfect example of elegance, luxury and great outdoor living, Each part of Victoria 73 offers stunning ocean views to it’s residents.

The property had an existing house, which completely under-utilized the site’s fantastic characteristics.

The brief called for a dynamic response to capitalise on the site, creating an environment where the young family could enjoy an outdoor lifestyle offered by the site.

This outdoor area is protected from the prevailing winds, and enjoys views of the sea, and more immediate views of large boulders to the South.

The clients were eager to utilise every possible area of the site, yet ensure that they maintained privacy in this dense part of Bantry Bay, where sites are fairly small and owners typically maximise their allowable building envelopes.

SAOTA and Antoni Associates have been working together to create another marvelous design project and their latest design is this magnificent ocean view modern house called Victoria 73 House. 

SAOTA is well known as a committed and well-structured firm of Architects based in Cape Town and Johannesburg with number of very exciting national and international projects while Antoni Associates is the interior design and decor studio that has become known for creating such a great and wonderful interior not only in south Africa but also in world wide just like London,Paris, Moscow, New York, Dubai and Geneva.

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Architects: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects

Interior Design: Antoni Associates

Structural Engineer: Tony Cooksey Structural Engineers

Project Area: 1,099 sqm

SA RESIDENCE BY SHATOTTO ARCHITECTURE

As Lalon (a spiritual folk singer, Sufi and philosopher) says if there is not one thing inside the body then it is not outside the body either. Body is the key word. Just like human body, there is a body of architecture.

This body of architecture has two parts; shell and thinking as soul. Shell and soul are interdependent yet independent. They belong to each other and they belong to themselves. A good soul needs a good shell.

In this project the shell is a pure square made of a single material ‘concrete’ transformed from celestial form grounded. The added squares act as torana to its temple. The site is surrounded by multi storied buildings and apartments as onlookers.

Considering the socio economic condition of Dhaka, a very simple architectural vocabulary has been adopted, with subtle social interventions with form, material and vegetation. The traditional space quality, both from urban and rural typology merged to creating "URAL" architecture.

 

In the current trend of real estate development, this residence has been a challenge particularly placing a water court as swimming pool in the middle of the house, a surely difficult task to ensure privacy. As a result, an introverted design has been adopted.

 The south and the southeast have been designed to bring in cool breeze during the hot humid summer and the warmth of the sun during winter. The center "water court" acts as a natural exhaust, which flows out the hot air and makes the middle court a solace.

A small “dingi” boat waiting by the “ghat”, patch green and light with its silence, the space becomes a natural habitat within a manmade dwelling and the layers of understanding to unfold nothingness.

The traditional courtyard connected to the adjacent pond transformed into one in an urban context and created a quad of water symbolizing nothingness yet containing the power vase of capturing, reflecting and refracting the sky, flying birds, smiling sun, shying moon, composed earth and so on.

When light caresses the wall, or the water touches the land, or the land pats the green, or the green cuddles the breeze or the breeze touches....... Its all about touching and feeling soul. The destiny is ‘nothingness’ where soul and shell cohabit and purify themselves. Let the soul come inside the home and let go off it. And let it be and let it be.............

 

Project: SA Residence

Location: House# 37, Road# 100, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Site Area: 11,970 sft / 1,112.45sqm

Floor Area: 20,667 sft / 1920.75sqm

Client: Salauddin Ahmed

Firm: SHATOTTO - architecture for green living

Principal Architect: Md. Rafiq Azam

Assistant Project Architect: Md Akter Hossen

As Built Drawing: Md Akter Hossen

Structural Engineer: Md. Shamsul Alam

Mechanical Design: Md Sayedul Islam

Electrical Engineer: Md Lutfur Rahman

Construction Date: February 2005