Modern Residential Design

Shubin + Donaldson Architects Santa Barbara Riviera Residence Sun Filled in the Hills - Shubin + Donaldson Architects have created an ideal place to soak up sun and views in the Santa Barbara hills. Client Owners Geoffrey Moore and Genie Gable searched more than a year to find a site that met their exacting and almost-contradictory requirements. - Moore (international businessman and writer who, when not travelling, splits his work time between a home office in Santa Barbara and a corporate office 85 miles south in Santa Monica) wanted a shaded, quiet office space filled with cutting-edge technology for global communication where he could write without distraction. - Genie, his wife (principal of Genie Gable Interior Design, and a graduate of the Professional Design Program at UCLA, studied in the masters classes of Rose Tarlow) sought sun-filled spaces with unimpeded views of the nearby Pacific Ocean and, at night, the city lights of Santa Barbara. The public rooms reflect her spe...

Nicholas Burns Johanna Beach House Thinking Globally | Acting Locally - Nicholas Burns has taken this "green" addage and designed a modern residential retreat that: incorporates international ideas, templates low impact construction, has relatively minimal impact on the environment and embraces this spectacular plot. The Johanna residence sits a few kilometres off the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, up a bush track leading to a gravel turnaround. This porous parking area is the first step into Nicholas's realm of environmentally concious design, allowing the water to soak through in a semi un-constructed area, combats erosion far better than a concrete slab. Constructed of rammed earth taken in part from the surrounding area the house self regulates in temperature for all but the coldest of days. A super insulated wood burning fire in the centre of the living area tops up on the few days that it is required, whilst for most of the year the 300mm walls and thick...

Apologies for the slow posts Hello all, Apologies for the recent slow in articles. I've had a few revelations in my day job and have had to work a little on this after hours. New articles are on their way though... Nick

Davide Macullo & Marco Strozzi House in Comano Hard covered book - This house by Davide Macullo appears an industrial bunker at first glance from curbside, yet opens up to the garden and to delight once inside. Overview Proving you shouldn't judge books by their cover, this house located in Comano, 5 km north of Lugano (Ticino), is set on the border between more traditional buildings up the hill and a new urbanised area on the plains below. Layout The construction stands on the lower part of a steep slope. Consisting of three main rectangular units, each of which leads out onto a different level of the terraced plot. The huge entrance porch, that serves also as covered car-park, is carved into the hill as a cave; leaving the upper volume as if “floating” in the green landscape. The void generated between the three main volumes, hosts the stairs that link the levels. Rather than full storeys between each, the stairway connects each level at a landing, half a floor apart, g...