Exclusive Home Design: October 2011

Wooden House - Environment-Friendly House Design named Active House

This is an environment-friendly house named Active House built to demonstrate the possibility of building an energy efficient house in Russia. This house was designed and built to reach the balance of energy saving, environment care by reducing CO2 emissions, as well as healthy indoor climate by the providing of sufficient fresh air and daylight into the house. Then the house was built with right combination of materials, architectural design, as well as the engineering.

To reduce the CO2 emissions, the house was built with sun as the prime energy source. The energy consumption inside the house is just about 110 KWh/m2 per year; eight times less than the average of energy consumptions of houses in Russia as well as four times less than recent building regulations. Green environment is surrounded the house; giving huge source of natural fresh air into the house. Situated in Zapadnaya Dolina, outskirts of Moscow, there are many other active houses on the area are being constructed to be new residential community. www.grandhousedesign.com

First Impressions

I was meeting with a client recently about a new home they are building and I was discussing my philosophy of the importance in creating an environment that nurtures and supports the needs and lifestyles of the occupants. There is so much more than meets the eye when designing a home. I am reminded by what I was taught by my feng shui instructor and mentor Grandmaster Professor Thomas Lin Yun: ‘when you enter a space it takes your body and psyche tens seconds to adjust to the space – either in a negative or a positive way.’ Our homes are living and dynamic vessels that either optimally support us, or support us in a diminished capacity. Is your home all it can be?

Photo: Patricia Gray Inc; Artwork: Martha Sturdy, Tom Burrows; Photography: Roger Brooks

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm in Vancouver. Here we write about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

A Perfect White Geranium

To my delight and surprise this morning I found this last perfect white geranium in my garden as the nights are turning cold and crisp and we are rapidly approaching winter. It is hardy and pure.

Unique Wooden House - Guscott Kemp Residence

The Guscott Kemp Residence was designed by the owner; Scott M. Kemp architect as his family house. Located in a riverside area, Ladner, British Columbia, Canada the residence is well designed to be a small but functional house; fully wood framed glass and made in green design. The 2,200sqf wood house got LEED Platinum rating from Canadian Green Building Council.

The wood house consists of three stories that all get the beautiful views of the river and much sunshine. The ground floor consists of the main entrance, living and dining rooms, kitchen, garage, and workshop. On the first floor of the wood house consists of a master bedroom with a large deck, bedrooms, sunroom, winter room that can also be functioned as a home office, and another deck. The entire room of the wood house’s first level looks out to the awesome view of river and farmland.

The wood house is zero carbon one because it was designed with geothermal loop system for all heating. The house also has no fireplace so that there is no gas using. The house heating is naturally gotten from the timber wood house design and the south façade that catch 90% glazing shades as well as the metal roof. The green wood house also has rainwater harvesting system. www.grandhousedesign.com

Simple House - Small Riverside House

It is small house built on a unique riverside site in a very small size forming an acute angle. Various regulations are used to make such small house so that becomes a unique one. Owned by a married couple with a little daughter, the small house has been quite nice and comfortable getting river views and facing the promenade.

Even though it is just a small house in a very limited site, the architects have designed it well to be a quite nice dwelling. The west side is there a dining room and kitchen with high ceiling. Contrarily, low ceiling is designed in the living room with glass windows on both sides; giving the feeling of floating for the small house.

The small house is also designed with spare room in the deepest narrowed down area as well as a loft with two skylights where the owner of the small house can look down at the river and also the sky up there. The loft also becomes a fantastic space for the little girl to play with her toys.

Dutch - Bilthoven Villas Design

Cita Architects have designed of development of eight villas, which are located in a wooded area in the Dutch village of Bilthoven.

HOMEFRONT

In pursuit of happy endings……..

I have been published this month in HOMEFRONT magazine Pages 16 – 20. Thank-you to Homefront’s Editor-in-Chief, Caroline Tapp-McDougall and writer, Lindsay Jackson.

Photos courtesy Natasha Duff of Meade Design Group

Luxury Healthy House - Mountain View House in Avila

Mountain View House in Avila by A-cero Architects. A dwelling of generous proportions developed over a single storey to facilitate the indoor-outdoor connection and to make the most of the environment in which it stands. Surrounded by meadows, tree groves, chestnut, pine and oak trees and wildlife represented by stags, wild boar and roe deer, the edifice establishes a recognised link with the traditional architecture and vernacular customs. Stone, tile, wood have been used in its construction.

The sense of the architecture is to formalise the space and layout of the rooms besides representing a clear tribute to rural villages. The consequence is an open, U-shaped dwelling with a large central courtyard that shares out the uses. The principal wing houses the living rooms, dining room, TV room and children’s and playrooms. In the east wing is the kitchen, laundry room and cellar and in the west wing the master bedroom. Semi-independent pavilions house the installations, riding facilities, stables and the guardians’ dwelling. Two immense awnings frame the landscape.

Through an apt play of symmetries visual perspectives are created. A painstaking study of the light allows it to come in through courtyards, grooves, windows, skylights and façade openings. The courtyards help us to minimise the conditions of the extreme climate, provide colour, freshness and hold the ponds that reflect the serenity and musicality of the water.

Luxury Healthy House - Small but Nice Beach House

It a good looking beach house designed by CplusC Architects. Located in Curl Curl Beach, New South Wales, Australia, the beach house gets stunning design with structure and aesthetic look because it is made of timber. This beach house belongs to a small but nice one with two bedrooms, bathroom and laundry, kitchen, opened dining room, deck and living space. The simple beach house was built with efficient cost, materials, and also time.

Actually, the site where the beach house is built is quite compact but the architects have made it maximally. Nice atmosphere can be felt inside the beach house for the design with natural ventilation, vegetation that gives cool breezes in summer, two fish ponds, shading timber screening in the living area, and also large awnings.

The private and public spaces of the beach house are separated with corridors as the link. Rainwater is well collected with the butterfly roof and stored in tank system on the subfloor. Aesthetic look is also gotten on the exterior of the beach house; made of western red cedar that also makes it durable. The vertical shiplap boards clad is finished in black whilst the windows and doors are finished in clear oiled color. Besides, the beach house interior is designed with much natural light come in; the exposed LVL beams look artistic when illuminated by the light.

Unique House - Natural Home Design with Style Spanish Architecture

Company MYCC Spain origin has created a beautiful holiday home by providing the original natural environment. This house is a very remote location at the northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula where there are sea views and an abundance of eucalyptus trees. Inspired by nature, this prefabricated home features a forest design created from perforations on the surface of the exterior. Design house is suitable for those of you who may be tired of spending your vacation time in town and wanted to get some fresh air and beautiful scenery.