Built as an escape from everyday life, this off-grid cabin by Maguire and Devine Architects celebrates the Tasmanian landscape and is a reminder of simple pleasures. This off-grid modern-day log cabin draws inspiration from the client’s past, who was born in Taiwan and grew up experiencing Japanese architecture built during the occupation. Through this, she developed a strong love for minimalist design and envisioned a holiday home where “stuff” would not clutter her time of relaxation. The brief was to “design a building as a piece of furniture,” in which all furniture was to be built in, aside from the low dining table and mattress in the loft bedroom.
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Architect: Maguire + Devine Architects
Location:  Alonnah, Bruny Island
Year: 2017

The architect (Hyoungnam Lim, Eunjoo Roh in studio_GAON) writes: The House of Prajna seems like a vessel heading for the woods, embraced by the forest, with the pentagon shape of building site reminding of that of ship. On the bow of ship shape, a persimmon tree over hundred year old branches its arms toward the large sky with hollowed trunk. Although this house is a result of intentional design, I feel like it is already been completed by thousands of interactions of invisible components. Every time I visit, I feel like appreciating the work of someone else’s.  

The house is located in Gwacheon near Seoul. Gwacheon has been playing a role of government city, and praised for an ideal place for living. Other houses in the district, line along the street a bit apart from each other, and the surrounding woods enclave the town like a blanket. The site feels cozy. 

At first, the owner of the house, a middle aged couple, said in tranquil but clear tone that they have four family members, have a dog and want to have a separate workroom distinctive from the living place. They bought the land ten years ago, and other lots around the site have been already filled out. Lastly, they wanted to preserve the awesome persimmon tree.

Hoedemaker Pfeiffer have designed a new home in the Pacific Northwest that was inspired by a treasured stone and wood home lost to fire decades earlier in the hills of Appalachia.The architects designed a main house and a guest house that take full advantage of the sweeping views of Puget Sound in Washington State, with the main home sited on a small plateau high on top of a steeply-sloping hillside. A pair of thick stone walls in the main home separates the main level into public and private realms and flanks a central stone staircase. Light wood, a sloped ceiling, and plenty of windows, ensure that the interior is bright and welcoming. There’s a built-in window seat for taking in the views, while doors connect the interior with the deck. The deck provides expansive views of Puget Sound. The master bedroom in main house has a similar design to the kitchen, with a window seat, a high sloped ceiling, and access to a deck. Also in the master bedroom is a simple, contemporary room divider that separates the closet from the sleeping area. The master bath occupies the stone bar at the rear of the main house but projects beyond to afford a view to the water from the bath and shower. The guest house features a dining room that was conceived as a three-sided glass object floating in a forest of trees. Below the dining room, there’s an alfresco dining area that’s lit from lights underneath the cantilevered dining room above.​

KOTO [ KO-TO ] The traditional Finnish word for ‘cosy at home’ is made up of the design husband and wife design duo Johnathon Little and Zoe Little. Having spent the past decade in Oslo where Johnathon previously worked for Snohetta, Johnathon and Zoe wanted to acknowledge, not only the enduring minimal aesthetics of Scandinavian design they became attached to but the Nordic lifestyle and the value of a healthy work-life balance.
‘We are creating beautiful small buildings that allow people to connect with nature and embrace outdoor living.' Our ambition has been to create a lifestyle brand that is centred around the Nordic concept Friluftsliv (pronounced free-loofts-liv), an expression that translates to “open-air living”. 

Norwegian poet Ibsen described the term as the value of spending time in the remote outdoors for spiritual and mental wellbeing. KOTO are challenging how we think about buildings in the landscape from every angle, from construction to how they are used and the environmental impact at every step along the way. We have created an ‘off the shelf’ housing solution, that addresses the demands of our changing mindsets towards house buying.

‘They are a sculptural interpretation of the small buildings that you see across Europe, from Bothys to Alpine huts and Norwegian Hytte. These small pitched roof buildings are an integral part of the landscape and provide warmth, shelter and an opportunity to fully immerse in nature. That is the heart of the ethos at KOTO .'

Partnering with manufacturers Kudos has brought an exceptional level of experience and craftsmanship to the finished product and builds on years of their development of low energy, timber frame buildings. Koto’s modular concept allows for flexible living. 1, 2, 3 or 4-bed combinations with additional ‘add-ons’ including outdoor showers and saunas. Thinking about each living space as a separate design exercise has allowed us to create unique experiences in each space. 

Throughout the buildings, expansive concealed storage walls maximise floor space and maintain the clean aesthetic. The space is flooded by natural light, cosy nooks and generous bespoke window seats, maximising use of space whilst connecting the user to the outside world. Although working with a relatively small footprint, the tall diagonal ridge opens up the spaces dramatically.

Each bedroom is designed to feel like a private retreat within the landscape, key pieces of furniture all from Hay have been curated to create a calm, minimal environment. Occupants can enjoy flexible space, to sleep, to relax and to disconnect. Features include concealed storage walls and fold down beds. Even though each ‘pod’ boasts a large glazed facade, they can be orientated in such a fashion they will always remain private. Continuing the Nordic aesthetic, each cabin has a Morsoe wood burning stove and neutral interiors create calm and elegant spaces. 

The interiors in the ensuite bathroom give a striking contrast. Dark colours and copper Lusso fixtures bring a feeling of ‘noir opulence’, enveloping and awakening all senses. The black outdoor shower and add-on sauna cabin all add to the ‘spa' experience. The collection of KOTO buildings within the landscape can be ‘added to (or taken from)', reconfigured to the needs of the client and the constraints of the site. They are designed to last a lifetime and can even be relocated to a totally different site years later.

​Photography - Joe Laverty

https://kotodesign.co.uk

American studio Walker Warner Architects has created an auxiliary dwelling for a northern California residence that consists of gabled volumes wrapped in reclaimed wood.

The project, Portola Valley Barn, is located in the town of Portola Valley, which lies just south of San Francisco. Built on a four-acre (1.6-hectare) property with a main residence, the new building houses guest quarters, an office, and spaces for entertaining and relaxing.

Encompassing 5,200 square feet (483 square metres), the dwelling consists of gabled forms that stretch across a clearing in a grove of trees. The volumes are loosely arranged around a terrace and verdant lawn. "The compound comprises three primary structures – a spacious home office, a home theatre and a luxurious guest suite – connected by interstitial entryways containing a kitchen and powder room," described Walker Warner Architects, a San Francisco-based studio.

The landscape was designed by Walker Warner Architects in collaboration with Janell Denler Hobart. Plantings include California lilacs, coffee berry and strawberry trees.

Photography is by Matthew Millman.

Bloot Architecture have designed a minimalist house extension in The Netherlands, that contrasts the brick architecture of a 1927’s house.The architects used retractable glass walls, so that the fig tree in the backyard could easily be viewed and enjoyed, and the natural light could be enjoyed year round. A new kitchen was created inside the extension, and the dark cabinetry is a strong contrast to the white walls, ceiling, and light concrete floor. Adjacent to the kitchen is the dining room. When the glass walls of the extension are open, the home owners now have a semi-enclosed outdoor space that allows them to enjoy the back garden. The fully glazed facade has a minimal roof ledge, and from the inside, there are virtually no visual barriers to the outside. The construction of the extension is kept out of sight but for one plus-shaped column, which makes the roof of the extension appear to float.​

​https://www.weehouse.com/wee/
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The Sonoma WeeHouse is, in fact, not one but two houses—one main house and one guest house—on a hillside site in Santa Rosa, Calif., just north and west of the vineyard-rich region that gave it its name. These small, impeccably detailed, minimalist, weathering steel-clad boxes were designed by St. Paul, Minn.–based firm Alchemy Architects for a client that knows a thing or two about fine-detailing and minimalism: Apple’s senior design director of real estate and development, himself an architect who collaborated on the design.

The structures were designed as part of Alchemy’s WeeHouse system of modular, prefabricated houses. The 640-square-foot main structure, which features an ipe-lined interior and a 9-foot-tall sliding glass door on either side, was assembled in Oregon in two parts: a 16-foot by 40-foot module and a bolt-on porch, which were each shipped to the site largely complete. The 330-square-foot guest house, a single unit, followed suit. The steel-framed modules were then set on concrete plinths on site, ready to occupy. The porch cantilevers out over the hillside, offering views of the valley below, and it was this striking profile that caught the attention of the jury. “It’s so tiny, but quite dramatic,” David Baker said.
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With such small footprints, not a single inch can be wasted. The main house features a whitewashed oak bed in the middle of the structures, with the frame forming the bedroom walls, and privacy screens pocket into the bathroom ceiling in lieu of traditional swinging doors. In the guest house, a built-in oak wardrobe serves as storage, and the wall of the bathroom. But throughout, the minimal palette is used to great effect. “I love the use of natural materials,” R. Michael Graham said.