Architecture
Look Up! Exposed Wooden Beams Make an Architectural Comeback
Exposed beams have an architectural legacy rooted in the 1970s' back-to-nature environmental movement, which remains relevant today
Exposed beams were a popular feature in 1970s houses, when the back-to-nature movement had a significant influence on style. With a growing appreciation for environmentalism, architects designed houses to blend with their surroundings, physically and visually, creating a connection between indoor spaces and the world outside. Four decades later, exposed beams are appearing in local architecture projects once again. Here are eight contemporary homes that show their bones to great effect.
The exposed beams are an honest expression of the structure of the house, and they bring warmth, grain, texture and dimension to the upper plane of the room.
Take a tour of this house
Take a tour of this house
2. Respecting the setting
This 1960s bungalow in Auckland, New Zealand, is nestled among trees in a suburban setting. Recently updated, both the original architect and Strachan Group Architects – responsible for the latest renovation – have had great empathy for the site. The house is modernist in style and has a low-pitched gabled roof, raking ceilings and exposed rafters typical of the period. The dark wooden ceiling creates a sense of enclosure in harmony with the tree canopies outside.
This 1960s bungalow in Auckland, New Zealand, is nestled among trees in a suburban setting. Recently updated, both the original architect and Strachan Group Architects – responsible for the latest renovation – have had great empathy for the site. The house is modernist in style and has a low-pitched gabled roof, raking ceilings and exposed rafters typical of the period. The dark wooden ceiling creates a sense of enclosure in harmony with the tree canopies outside.
3. Drawing on former use
Once a cowshed, this contemporary inner-Sydney house preserves the character of its previous life and celebrates the eclectic nature of the neighbourhood. Wherever possible, Carterwilliamson Architects retained the fabric of the original cowshed and rebuilt whatever it couldn’t.
Once a cowshed, this contemporary inner-Sydney house preserves the character of its previous life and celebrates the eclectic nature of the neighbourhood. Wherever possible, Carterwilliamson Architects retained the fabric of the original cowshed and rebuilt whatever it couldn’t.
To embody the cowshed’s former spirit, the architects revealed the timber structure of the house. The exposed wooden beams, as well as the oiled timber doors and windows, and the corrugated cladding “hint at the Australian pastoral vernacular now all but forgotten in this rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood,” the architects say.
4. Lowering the ceiling
In the kitchen of this Marrickville home, architect David Boyle has deliberately lowered the ceiling with Oregon timber beams to compress and then expand spatial volumes of the long narrow interior. Looking through the kitchen into the dining and living zones, the low ceiling soars to over 4.5 metres.
Tour this house
In the kitchen of this Marrickville home, architect David Boyle has deliberately lowered the ceiling with Oregon timber beams to compress and then expand spatial volumes of the long narrow interior. Looking through the kitchen into the dining and living zones, the low ceiling soars to over 4.5 metres.
Tour this house
5. Recycling materials
The Petersham House also has a 4.5-metre-high ceiling that, faced with nearly full-length windows, creates a lofty sense of space. Architect Sam Crawford used exposed, oversized timber beams to scale the ceiling and create visual balance in the upper and lower planes of the room. Conveniently, and with consideration to environmental sustainability, the timber beams were reclaimed from demolished portions of the building, making them one of the many sustainable features of the house.
The Petersham House also has a 4.5-metre-high ceiling that, faced with nearly full-length windows, creates a lofty sense of space. Architect Sam Crawford used exposed, oversized timber beams to scale the ceiling and create visual balance in the upper and lower planes of the room. Conveniently, and with consideration to environmental sustainability, the timber beams were reclaimed from demolished portions of the building, making them one of the many sustainable features of the house.
6. Showcasing history
This Phillip Island house was once a traditional chicory kiln, used for drying chicory dock, a root vegetable similar to parsnip. Now its a modern holiday home with a wooden addition encasing the concrete kiln.
Like the structural framework, the design has a strong concept that explores what constitutes ‘home’ or ‘place’ in an ever-changing world. Inside the house, high ceilings, exposed beams and trusses are sympathetic to the heritage-listed kiln’s industrial past and historical charm.
The truth about trusses
This Phillip Island house was once a traditional chicory kiln, used for drying chicory dock, a root vegetable similar to parsnip. Now its a modern holiday home with a wooden addition encasing the concrete kiln.
Like the structural framework, the design has a strong concept that explores what constitutes ‘home’ or ‘place’ in an ever-changing world. Inside the house, high ceilings, exposed beams and trusses are sympathetic to the heritage-listed kiln’s industrial past and historical charm.
The truth about trusses
7. Revealing industrial bones
More and more once-commercial buildings, warehouses and factories are being transformed into loft apartments facilitating the desire for inner-city living. As industrial buildings had little thought given to aesthetics and interior design, much of the structural elements, such as wooden beams, remain visible. In their transformation into loft apartments, architects and designers are taking advantage of the exposed industrial features to create a look and feel increasingly associated with loft living. The result is spacious, open-plan apartments with a look that is as urban as it is stylish.
Read about the evolution of loft apartments
More and more once-commercial buildings, warehouses and factories are being transformed into loft apartments facilitating the desire for inner-city living. As industrial buildings had little thought given to aesthetics and interior design, much of the structural elements, such as wooden beams, remain visible. In their transformation into loft apartments, architects and designers are taking advantage of the exposed industrial features to create a look and feel increasingly associated with loft living. The result is spacious, open-plan apartments with a look that is as urban as it is stylish.
Read about the evolution of loft apartments
8. Adding geometric dimension
This small addition stitches together an existing Queenslander home and a detached two-level tower, and claims the space between. While much of the new space is open and lofty, the bathroom has a flat wooden ceiling with intersecting exposed beams that add a sense of geometric dimension in keeping with the elongated windows of the room.
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Do you have exposed wooden beams in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments below.
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This small addition stitches together an existing Queenslander home and a detached two-level tower, and claims the space between. While much of the new space is open and lofty, the bathroom has a flat wooden ceiling with intersecting exposed beams that add a sense of geometric dimension in keeping with the elongated windows of the room.
TELL US
Do you have exposed wooden beams in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments below.
MORE
See more design features
Australian architect Kevin Borland designed the pre-renovated version of this expressive modernist home in 1977. The update, design by architecture firm Mihaly Slocombe, retains the house’s core personality, protecting its post-and-beam construction, timber structure and timber linings.