Rammed earth, concrete and timber are celebrated design heroes at this newly built house in Blackburn. The site presented interesting design challenges due to its location within a Significant Landscape Overlay in a unique urban pocket of Melbourne.
Project name
Laurel Grove
Architecture firm
Kirsten Johnstone Architecture
Location
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Photography
Tatjana Plitt
Principal architect
Kirsten Johnstone
Interior design
Kirsten Johnstone Architecture
Civil engineer
Maurice Farrugia + Associates Pty Ltd
Structural engineer
Maurice Farrugia + Associates Pty Ltd
Construction
CBD Contracting Group Pty Ltd
Material
Rammed earth, concrete and timber
Typology
Residential › House
Built in the heart of Mbour, Senegal, nestled in the fertile province of Nguerigne Serere, lies a unique experimental project; an architecturally expressive house built using raw, local materials – chiefly, rammed earth: U:BIKIWITI HOUSE.
Project name
U:BIKWITI HOUSE
Location
Nguerigne, Senegal
Photography
SEYNI BA/ID+EA
Principal architect
Fatiya Diene Mazza
Design team
Fatiya Diene Mazza, Mamadou Ndiaye, Lamine Mahamat Toure Abdoulaye, Saidou Ba
Interior design
Fatiya Diene Mazza
Civil engineer
Delta Ingenieurie
Structural engineer
Setco Ingenieurie
Environmental & MEP
Setco Ingenieurie
Lighting
Sterne industries, Inc
Tools used
ArchiCAD, Twinmotion, D5, Autodesk 3ds Max, Adobe Photoshop
Material
Galassia Interior Design Sarl, Fiorenzo Interior Design, Ltd.
Typology
Residential › House
La Terre is a one-off new build home in an AONB in Surrey, Southern England. La Terre utilizes renewable resources and passive house principles to achieve low energy consumption.
Architecture firm
The DHaus Company
Location
Surrey, United Kingdom
Tools used
AutoCAD, Rhinoceros 3D, Lumion
Principal architect
Daniel Woolfson, David Ben-Grunberg
Design team
Daniel Woolfson, David Ben-Grunberg, Nikki Mrkic-Smith
Collaborators
Michael Alexander (Structural engineer)
Typology
Residential › House
This project is the very first “rammed earth” implementation in Costa Rica. Two minimalist-shaped villas designed for short-term rent partially levitate above the edge of a steep hill of the overgrown jungle and bring endless views of the Pacific Ocean. Both villas were designed with respect to sustainability and the surrounding wild environment.
Architecture firm
Formafatal
Location
Playa Hermosa, OSA Uvita – Bahia Ballena, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Principal architect
Dagmar Štěpánová
Collaborators
Rammed earth walls: Terra Compacta [Daniel Mantovani]. Statics: Ch. Vargas. Garden: Dagmar Štěpánová [part of the architectural project]. Realization: construction leader Willy Jeferson Céspedes Vargas + local workers. Realization of screed surfaces: Different Design [Pavel Trousil]. Graphic design [logo]: Zuzana Vemeová.
Built area
Built-up Area 190 m² / 95 m² per villa; Gross Floor Area 180 m² / 90 m² per villa; Usable Floor Area 180 m² / 90 m² per villa
Material
Clay – perimeter bearing walls. Concrete – floor slabs, interior walls, ceiling slabs, plunge pool, furniture (kitchen unit with sink and Shelves, bedside tables, outdoor bench (all according to the author's design). Raw structural steel /H-beams and U-beams/ – columns and rim/attic roof. Cement screed /Ecobeton Italy/ – colored surfaces (floor and walls, furniture according to the author's design). PlyRock (fibre cement board) – Sliding interior panel (shower/toilet) and dining table (all according to the author's design). Glass – parts of the facades. Teak massive– beds (according to the author's design). 100% linen – all fabric (bedding, curtains, mosquito nets).
Client
Dagmar Štěpánová & Karel Vančura
Typology
Hospitality, Resort, Villas
The vision is to imagine a house of the future - compact and sustainable, that would introduce the use of Rammed Earth as a building material in Slovenia. Envisioned with the intention to create a space that is close to nature, the house has a strong visual as well as physical connection with the environment.
Project name
House for humans and a tree
Architecture firm
Sneha Dhanuka + Dhruv Shah
Location
Dobrava, Slovenia
Tools used
AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhinoceros 3D, Lumion, Adobe Photoshop
Principal architect
Sneha Dhanuka, Dhruv Shah
Design team
Sneha Dhanuka, Dhruv Shah
Visualization
Sneha Dhanuka + Dhruv Shah
Typology
Residential › House
The main concept of the build was to accomplish spaces where the boundaries between inside and outside blur: where the ranges and colors of the environment integrate into the shades of the building, and where the inhabitants can walk barefoot across the considered choice of the same natural stone floor without distinguishing whether they’ve come ou...
Project name
Espacio Kaab
Architecture firm
Di Frenna Arquitectos
Location
Nogueras, Comala, Colima, Mexico
Photography
Lorena Darquea
Principal architect
Matia Di Frenna Müller
Design team
Matia Di Frenna Müller, Mariana de la Mora Padilla, Juan Gerardo Guardado Ávila
Collaborators
Juan Gerardo Guardado Avila
Interior design
Di Frenna Arquitectos
Civil engineer
Juan Gerardo Guardado Avila
Structural engineer
Hugo Saucedo Acosta
Landscape
Di Frenna arquitectos
Lighting
Di Frenna arquitectos
Supervision
Di Frenna arquitectos
Visualization
Di Frenna arquitectos
Tools used
AutoCAD, SketchUp, Lumion, V-ray
Construction
Di Frenna Arquitectos
Material
Concrete, Stone, Wood, Glass, Steel, Soil, Eggshell-colored Chukum stucco
Typology
Residential › House
Chuanzihe Cave Dwellings is located at Shanxi Province, in between two large historic cities: Xi'an & Yan'an. The site used to be a village and now is abandoned. It is surrounded by different tourists attractions, such as Huangdi Mausoleum, Fudi Lake, and National Park. The beautiful landscape and natural resource are the significant characters of...
Project name
Chuanzihe Renovation
Architecture firm
Office ZHU
Location
Chuanzihe, Shanxi Province, China
Principal architect
Zhuoer Wang
Design team
Zhuoer Wang, Begoña Masiá, Wissam M. Sader, Jiajun Wang, Fan Zhang
Visualization
Wissam M. Sader
Typology
Hospitality › Hotel
The school looks to facilitate environments that cater to a child’s creative freedom and knowledge. Upon entering the school, people are met with a large semi covered outdoor library space, which acts as the very hearth of the entire design. The school is visually divided into three sectors with the green pockets becoming major points of multilevel...
Project name
The Earth School
Architecture firm
Abhijit Prasanth and Asjad Ahmed
Location
Kafountine, Senegal
Tools used
Rhinoceros 3D, Autodesk Revit, Lumion, AutoCAD, Adobe Photoshop
Design team
Abhijit Prasanth, Asjad Ahmed
Visualization
Abhijit Prasanth
Status
Proposal for a competition
Typology
Educational, School
