We were asked to resolve a problem with the layout of a house in the Whitehall Park Conservation Area in Islington. The house had wonderful high ceilings and well proportioned reception rooms, but the kitchen was very compromised. It was housed in an old side return extension and accessed through a warren of other rooms. It was too small and low, didn’t relate well to the dining room and was cut off from the other rooms in the house, accessed down a small flight of steps. The owners wanted a generous, multifunctional family space where they could enjoy time together. Our solution was to take out the side wall of the rear reception room, reconstruct the side return completely and join the two spaces to create a lateral kitchen dining space. Behind this space the old dining room, with less access to natural light, became a utility room, cloakroom and music room. We flipped the kitchen into the old reception room and lowered the floor to create one seamless room level with the garden. This gave the kitchen a huge ceiling height and meant we could increase the size of the French doors which open out onto the garden, making them very grand and a real focal point of the room. The extension itself has a fully glazed roof to bring the most amount of light into the space, including electrically opening rooflights for ventilation. To avoid the dining room being overlooked by the neighbours upper windows, we designed a series of louvres made of oak to line the underside of the roof. These allow filtered light into the extension whilst maintaining a sense of privacy and enclosure. They are openable to allow the glass to be cleaned and we used them to inform the rest of the interior. The extension contrasts to the more traditional kitchen area with its high ceilings and ornate cornice, using oak panels as a lining around the walls. The opening into the kitchen forms a datum line, above which the oak is clad in battens to create texture and tie into design of the louvres. A bench containing storage runs all the way around the dining room and a large pivot window frames views from the music room into the garden. The window can be fully opened to connect the dining room to the outside. The rear wall of the dining room is finished in natural clay plaster, continuing the warm earthy tones of the oak cladding. Externally we used a traditional yellow stock brick so the extension feels like it belongs to the house, but we used the brick in a sawtooth bond, laying them at 45 degrees to create a triangular pattern which create interesting shadows throughout the day.

Photo of a country u-shaped kitchen in Burlington with flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, grey splashback, stone slab splashback, stainless steel appliances, light hardwood floors, with island, grey benchtop and wood.

Modern glass house set in the landscape evokes a midcentury vibe. A modern gas fireplace divides the living area with a polished concrete floor from the greenhouse with a gravel floor. The frame is painted steel with aluminum sliding glass door. The front features a green roof with native grasses and the rear is covered with a glass roof. Photo by: Peter Vanderwarker Photography

Brett Boardman
Inspiration for a contemporary hallway in Sydney with white walls and medium hardwood floors.

The Livermore Home at Squam River Landing. The exterior is Cedar singles and Cedar trim. With the lower roof done with metal roofing and upper in asphalt shingles.

Nigel Rigden
Design ideas for a contemporary two-storey white exterior in Hampshire with a gable roof.

The owners requested a Private Resort that catered to their love for entertaining friends and family, a place where 2 people would feel just as comfortable as 42. Located on the western edge of a Wisconsin lake, the site provides a range of natural ecosystems from forest to prairie to water, allowing the building to have a more complex relationship with the lake - not merely creating large unencumbered views in that direction. The gently sloping site to the lake is atypical in many ways to most lakeside lots - as its main trajectory is not directly to the lake views - allowing for focus to be pushed in other directions such as a courtyard and into a nearby forest. The biggest challenge was accommodating the large scale gathering spaces, while not overwhelming the natural setting with a single massive structure. Our solution was found in breaking down the scale of the project into digestible pieces and organizing them in a Camp-like collection of elements: - Main Lodge: Providing the proper entry to the Camp and a Mess Hall - Bunk House: A communal sleeping area and social space. - Party Barn: An entertainment facility that opens directly on to a swimming pool & outdoor room. - Guest Cottages: A series of smaller guest quarters. - Private Quarters: The owners private space that directly links to the Main Lodge. These elements are joined by a series green roof connectors, that merge with the landscape and allow the out buildings to retain their own identity. This Camp feel was further magnified through the materiality - specifically the use of Doug Fir, creating a modern Northwoods setting that is warm and inviting. The use of local limestone and poured concrete walls ground the buildings to the sloping site and serve as a cradle for the wood volumes that rest gently on them. The connections between these materials provided an opportunity to add a delicate reading to the spaces and re-enforce the camp aesthetic. The oscillation between large communal spaces and private, intimate zones is explored on the interior and in the outdoor rooms. From the large courtyard to the private balcony - accommodating a variety of opportunities to engage the landscape was at the heart of the concept. Overview Chenequa, WI Size Total Finished Area: 9,543 sf Completion Date May 2013 Services Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design

My client for this project was a builder/ developer. He had purchased a flat two acre parcel with vineyards that was within easy walking distance of downtown St. Helena. He planned to “build for sale” a three bedroom home with a separate one bedroom guest house, a pool and a pool house. He wanted a modern type farmhouse design that opened up to the site and to the views of the hills beyond and to keep as much of the vineyards as possible. The house was designed with a central Great Room consisting of a kitchen area, a dining area, and a living area all under one roof with a central linear cupola to bring natural light into the middle of the room. One approaches the entrance to the home through a small garden with water features on both sides of a path that leads to a covered entry porch and the front door. The entry hall runs the length of the Great Room and serves as both a link to the bedroom wings, the garage, the laundry room and a small study. The entry hall also serves as an art gallery for the future owner. An interstitial space between the entry hall and the Great Room contains a pantry, a wine room, an entry closet, an electrical room and a powder room. A large deep porch on the pool/garden side of the house extends most of the length of the Great Room with a small breakfast Room at one end that opens both to the kitchen and to this porch. The Great Room and porch open up to a swimming pool that is on on axis with the front door. The main house has two wings. One wing contains the master bedroom suite with a walk in closet and a bathroom with soaking tub in a bay window and separate toilet room and shower. The other wing at the opposite end of the househas two children’s bedrooms each with their own bathroom a small play room serving both bedrooms. A rear hallway serves the children’s wing, a Laundry Room and a Study, the garage and a stair to an Au Pair unit above the garage. A separate small one bedroom guest house has a small living room, a kitchen, a toilet room to serve the pool and a small covered porch. The bedroom is ensuite with a full bath. This guest house faces the side of the pool and serves to provide privacy and block views ofthe neighbors to the east. A Pool house at the far end of the pool on the main axis of the house has a covered sitting area with a pizza oven, a bar area and a small bathroom. Vineyards were saved on all sides of the house to help provide a private enclave within the vines. The exterior of the house has simple gable roofs over the major rooms of the house with sloping ceilings and large wooden trusses in the Great Room and plaster sloping ceilings in the bedrooms. The exterior siding through out is painted board and batten siding similar to farmhouses of other older homes in the area. Clyde Construction: General Contractor Photographed by: Paul Rollins

Graham Yelton
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary one-storey grey house exterior in Birmingham with mixed siding and a shingle roof.

J. Craig Sweat Photography Inc.
This is an example of a contemporary carport in Other.

This house is discreetly tucked into its wooded site in the Mad River Valley near the Sugarbush Resort in Vermont. The soaring roof lines complement the slope of the land and open up views though large windows to a meadow planted with native wildflowers. The house was built with natural materials of cedar shingles, fir beams and native stone walls. These materials are complemented with innovative touches including concrete floors, composite exterior wall panels and exposed steel beams. The home is passively heated by the sun, aided by triple pane windows and super-insulated walls. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

This 15,000+ square foot Tuscan beauty is located high in the hills of Los Gatos. Conrado built the main house, the guest house, and the pool and installed all of the hardscaping and landscaping. Special features include imported clay tile roofing, a round garage (to mimic an old water tank), a whole house generator, and radiant floor heat throughout. Architect: Michael Layne & Associates Landscape Architect: Robert Mowat Associates

This house is discreetly tucked into its wooded site in the Mad River Valley near the Sugarbush Resort in Vermont. The soaring roof lines complement the slope of the land and open up views though large windows to a meadow planted with native wildflowers. The house was built with natural materials of cedar shingles, fir beams and native stone walls. These materials are complemented with innovative touches including concrete floors, composite exterior wall panels and exposed steel beams. The home is passively heated by the sun, aided by triple pane windows and super-insulated walls. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

The front and rear of the house were re-clad with James Hardie board-and-batten siding for a traditional farmhouse feel, while the middle section of the house was re-clad with a more modern large-scale James Hardie cement fiberboard panel system. The front windows were re-designed to provide an ordered facade. The upper window is detailed with barn door shudders. The downspouts were replaced and re-located to help to break up the different sections of the house, while blending in with the linear siding. Additional Integrity windows were installed on the exposed side of the house to allow for more natural sunlight.

The wooden walkway extends out past the sloped roof line.
Inspiration for a large contemporary one-storey exterior in San Francisco with wood siding and a shed roof.

Entry Elevation; Historic bungalow on right, linked by new one story entry to 2 story addition on left. Cathy Schwabe Architecture. Photograph by David Wakely. Contractor: Young & Burton, Inc.

Rob Karosis
This is an example of a country eat-in kitchen in New York with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, metallic splashback, stainless steel appliances, granite benchtops and metal splashback.

A successful design build project by Red House. This home underwent a complete interior and exterior renovation including a shed dormer addition on the rear. All new finishes, windows, cabinets, insulation, and mechanical systems. Photo by Nat Rea Instagram: @redhousedesignbuild

photography by Tom Harper
Inspiration for a mediterranean exterior in Miami with stone veneer.