Category: Interior Design

Showcasing a simple cubic volume integrated directly into the surrounding environment, this gorgeous residence, designed by Lischer Partner Architekten, is a three-storey holiday house located in the splendid mountains of Switzerland, above Lake Lucerne in Vitznau. Taking full advantage of the challenging topography of the site, the project features a highly original layout and offers impressive views of the Lake Lucerne landscape.

In order to meet the client’s expectations of having a timber house, but also taking account the exceptional hillside location architects envisioned a solid construction that acts like a hard shell, enveloping and protecting the soft core of the timber house, the natural warm wooden interiors. The prefabricated timber frame cassettes were erected, sealed and insulated on site, then clad with a single skin of concrete.

The exterior concrete appearance of the holiday house was realized in Wesen gravel which take the graininess  and  the reddish colour of the prominent rock face behind the house. The timber structure stands as ‘a house in a house’ and the combination with the hard, concrete shell makes it possible the optimization of its load bearing size as it does not have to resist any shear forces. The main entry is accompanied by a garage, while a bridge leads into the home from an open courtyard

The interiors are filled with modern furniture pieces and the fact that the entire space  (floors, walls, ceiling) is executed in larchwood block panels ensures a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. The timber can also be seen from outside through the openings and recesses. Fixed floor to ceiling windows framed in larch provides fantastic views of the lake and the mountains. What is the most unique about this cubed project is that it camouflages itself into the rocky mountain on which it’s situated. This boxy abode blends into the surroundings being surrounded by mountainside forests. The family rooms, such as the dining and living rooms, are situated on the top floor. The bedrooms on the two lower floors are accessed by two opposing staircases. This feature creates a corridor through the structure which leads to various rooms that vary in orientation and have different outlooks. Have a look at the pictures below!

Photos © Roger Frei

Project details:

Design team: Lischer Partner Architekten Planer AG
Client: Christiane und Louis Berns, Luxembourg
Completed: 2011
Location: Vitznau, Switzerland

So your counter-tops are looking a little worn, your oven’s not cooking like it used to and the linoleum on the floor’s starting to buckle. It may be time for a kitchen makeover, but before you get the catalogues out, consider a more eco-friendly plan of action. There are lots of ways you can modernise your kitchen whilst still respecting the environment these days, and energy-saving measures can save you money as well. Here are some tips on how to give your kitchen an eco-friendly update…

Install green appliances

Most white goods in the kitchen are now made with energy-efficiency in mind. If you want to cut your energy use, monthly bills and impact on the environment all in one go, greener appliances are a good deal.

Refridgerators: Old fridges are big culprits for wasting energy. Look for newer fridge-freezers with an Energy Star Rating, and check out features like adjustable temperature settings in specific compartments for things like fish and meat. Also consider the size and habits of your household: how much room do you really need?

Cookers: In addition to the standard grill-cooker-hob combination, there are now many appliances which reduce energy usage as you cook. Match the size of the appliance to the size of the meal and looking into products like slow cookers, convection ovens and toaster ovens for energy-efficiency.

Dishwashers: While dishwashers generally save more water than washing by hand, some are more efficient than others and all add to your energy bill. Again, check the Star Rating and features such as a delayed timer, which will allow you to run the load on cheaper electricity during the night.

Make use of recycled materials

Almost every part of your kitchen’s décor can be manufactured more sustainably. If you’re replacing the floor, tiles or counters, you might want to think about the materials you buy.

Countertops: Glass is a popular material for incorporating into kitchen counters; using recycled glass chips mixed into resin, this reduces waste and looks distinctive as well. Alternatives include paper, again mixed in resin and made heatproof and stain resistant. This is a good choice if you’re on more of a budget.

Flooring: Those who like the wooden look could try bamboo as an alternative to wooden flooring. This fast-growing resource is better adapted to replenish itself than many other types of wood. If it has to be oak or cherry, try floorboards made from reclaimed or recycled lumber.

Tiling: Tiles can consist of anything from ceramic to metal but go green by swapping new ones for tiles made with reclaimed clay pots and vases, or an aluminium backsplash of old soda cans.

The good news is that by making any or all of these adaptations, your home may qualify for a better LEED rating by the US Green Building Council, which will put you in a good position if you need to sell in the future.

Tim Longstone writes about home and décor for the eco-conscious consumer and is currently working on making his home garden ‘greener’…

Photos© by Suzy Spence, used under Creative Comms license

Designer Sebastian Bergne created last year for Luceplan brand a striking lighting object that expresses complex design thinking where form and function are well balanced. This results into creative, highly original shape that seems to pay tribute to art and practicability in the same time.

“Curl”, as it was entitled, is a table lamp with a futuristic design in the form of a half-moon for indoor use. The Curl lamp consists of a special LED module, that allow the user, through a simple rotation of the diffuser, to vary the temperature of the white light, from 2400 to 3500 degrees Kelvin. A dimmer function has also the switch at the center of the base. When the lamp isn’t lit, it’s a stylish white, semicircular object, but when it’s on, “Curl” is very bright, creating a diffused light in the rest of the room. The light, which comes from its base,  illuminates the body in die-cast aluminium, which acts as a reflector due to the opaque technopolymer injection molding. Very interesting, isn’t it?

Synonymous with innovative faucet designs, Brooklin-based firm Watermark Designs has been the leading producer of decorative plumbing fixtures, lighting and elegant hardware, and bathroom accessories for the luxury commercial and residential segment, for more than three decades.

Over time, they worked with some of the world’s finest designers and architects producing remarkable high-quality products and original collections specifically customized to meet client’s precise specifications. Their success is largely due to an intelligent combination of sustainable hands-on designs with an eye towards architectural detail, and state-of-the-industry equipment.

Drawing inspiration from the surrounding nature, Watermark Designs pushes the edges of faucet innovation and design by enveiling their latest collection of faucet handles entitled “Zen Collection”. The original-looking collection is really something completely new in faucet design, because they were able to utilize rocks and stones in ways never used before.  It’s contains quartz faucet handles, carved by Stone Forest, and rocks hand-picked from the shores of  the Great Lakes in Michigan, ideal to create a spa-like bathroom interior, warm and very inviting. A favorite rock garden of Avi Abel’s was the inspiration in designing the appealing “Zen Collection”.

The idea was to make faucet handles that would be similar to the counter or vanity material as possible, to blend in beautifully that you almost could not tell where the vanity ended and the handles began, so rocks and stone were the perfect choice. The handles are secured to counters using rare earth magnets, eliminating in this way the need to use set screws and improving the look of these handles. Moreover, the shapes of the rocks are rather irregular, so this contributes even more to their organic and natural appearance they have. Therefore, the quartz stone handles seamlessly integrate into the look of the counter, thing that isn’t possible with a traditional brass or nickel handle.

The “Zen Collection” of handles is available for any Watermark Designs faucet in any configuration, giving designers virtually hundreds of design options. The stones are available in the following colors: Ice White Onyx, Honey Onyx, Nero Marquinha, Carrara Marble and Multi-Color; while the rock colors are: Winter Morning, Harvest Light Beige, Mountain Midnight Dark and Harvest Dark.

For more faucet designs with distinguished look, check out also the KLUDI BOZZ line.

 Photos © Watermark Designs

“Psychiko House” is a modern and striking private residence exhaling simple sophistication. Envisioned by London and Athens-based firm Divercity Architects, it’s situated on the same property as the existing family home,  in Psychiko, an affluent suburb of the capital of Greece, Athens. The single storey Psychiko House, which spreads over 600 m2 on a 1000 m2 site, was completed last year and the results are amazing. It incorporates interesting architectural features that plays with scale and light, exploiting the tension between conflicting elements -curves juxtaposed with angular geometry, opaqueness and transparency, openness and intimacy.

Designed to offer maximum freedom of movement and flexibility, the exquisite residence is a playful environment of lights and shadows, with attractive, simple and rigurous volumes, where three different, large living zones are distinguished: a stone core inspired by the defensive rock of the Acropolis, an amphitheatrical upper floor, imagined as a pair of binoculars framing the expansive city views, and a transparent living area that occupies the space between them. Each area is linked with with the other through ribbon running through the site.

Because the owners are passionate about cars and art, the first zone houses the gallery for the owners collection of vintage cars and modern art. The amphitheatre -like upper floor comprisies the private areas of the home and a transparent and fluid living area, which occupies the space between them. The Psychiko House is sheltered from the surrounding buildings to the south through an opaque, linear, stone-clad boundary wall with views towards the intimate pool that follow the shape of the site and the structure.

The curving pool connect the front and the back of the residence and offers the chance of shared space  with the house next to it.  Finally, as it becomes wider, it forms the living space of the residence, which offers a dramatic expansive view of Olympic Park below. The interior spaces are filled with plenty of natural light during daytime thanks to floor-to-ceiling, framless windows, glazed partitions, skylights, and slatted blinds. High-quality materials and great execution ensure an astonishing modern, minimalist interior design. Check out these wonderful images below to discover more design details.

Photos © Erieta Attali

Project details:

Project name: Psychiko House
Architects: Divercity Architects
Location: Psychiko, Athens, Greece
Collaborators: Alkestie Skarlatou, lighting designer; Manos Vordonarakis, industrial design consultant; Sophia Vantaraki, space consultant.
Client: private, 1st prize in invited architectural competition
Project status: Complete, 2012
Site area: 1000m²
House area: 600m²
Design: 2007-2009
Construction: 2009-2012

Cuad-S pendant lamp is one of the newest addition to the amazing collection of lamps that Valencia-based company LZD Lamps has in its portofolio. The small company, which has been making handmade lights exclusively out of wood veneer right from its beginnings (at the end of 1994), is dedicated to create very special lights for very special people, as themselves say, and the results are the awards that they received (Good Design, two Design Plus and one Red Dot prize) and the fact that are among niche market suppliers worldwide.

Designed by Burkhard Dammer, Cuad S and Cuad SG show that simplicity can also have a really significant impact. The beautiful pendant lamp is an architectural model of great elegance. It features a minimalist appearance and is suitable for various modern settings both residential and public ones, especially because it’s equipped with T5 electronic technology offering a great versatility too.

The lampshades, made of natural wood veneer, are available in 11 different attractive finishes to suits your taste and decor needs. This noble material creates a spectacular lighting effect, projecting the internal beauty of the wood and radiating a gently warm light for an agreeable atmosphere. The hanging lamp comes also in two sizes: standard and large. What do you think about? Do you like the design?

Photos © LZF Lamps

One of the beautiful works of the Brazilian architect Mauricio Arruda from Mauricio Arruda Arquitetos & Designers is Maranhão Residence, designed in November 2012. It was an 70-year-old apartment situated in the district of Moema in Sao Paulo, that had never been remodeled until last year. The property was bought by the couple (the existing owners) from the parents of one of the owners and wanted to change its entire appearance in order to fit with their own lifestyle: they like to receive people and wished to have the freedom to change the furniture arrangement.

Therefore, architect Mauricio Arruda redesigned the 200 square meters completely, transforming it into a flexible loft where modern technology equipment combines creatively with natural materials and retro design details, resulting a lovely contemporary setting showcasing casualness and lightness to create a connection between the history of the property and its owners. To open spaces and give breadth to the Maranhão Residence, the architect canceled the previous small rooms and demolished all the walls.

With a great ability he explored, retained and made apparent throughout the entire home the original materials such as wood, concrete and stone, that combined together create an amazing contrast and ensure an original-looking interior design that it wasn’t for sure an easy job. It was obtained a perfect balance for that meets the expectations of the owners.

The project consists of a large open area that have the living room, dining / billiards, library and home and kitchen. Only two suites, toilet and laundry facilities remain separate. A series of layouts ensuring flexibility environments were designed in order to offer more than one option to change the place of the furniture pieces. For example, in the bedroom the owners can place the bed on three different walls with sockets and switches within reach; or the home theatre can be used in four different locations as well. In the dining area, in the middle of it, there is a nice pool table that easily turns into a dining table ready to be used anytime.

Windows frames and doors were replaced with new ones, as well as the plumbing and electrical switching for the entire apartment. Various paterns and materials of the versatile furniture and decor elements create an interesting and catchy combination of contemporary and retro design: Thonet chairs, a sofa vintage, oriental rugs and a library that has been transformed into cabinet. Also part of the decor are the furniture items envisioned by the architect itself: Pallet chair, table Swallow, and mobile line Joseph, in the living room and bedroom. Check out the following photos to discover how he managed to mix them and tell us what you liked most.

Photos © Victor Affaro

Los Feliz House is a project developed by Mike Jacobs from the New York-based professional architectural studio Mike Jacobs Architecture between 2009-2011 in the foothills of Griffith Park, California. Renovated for two actors with a strong sense of personal style and who love art, the residence combines modern functionality with architectural details, creatively displaying the client’s expanding art collection.

Los Feliz House looks really neat and modern and the lively splashes of color constrasting beautifully with the white backdrop makes it a place to clear the mind, a retreat that give you positive energy and recharge your batteries. It represents a 630 square ft addition and complete interior renovation to a 1920’s Mediterranean-style bungalow with 2 bedrooms.

The previous design of the house had a lot of deficiencies that architects had to redress them. The aim was to augment the area enclosing a disproportionate area of the property. Firstly, they create interior spaces that open to outdoor ones, accomplishing a seamless transition between interior spaces and the gardens. The outdoor areas were elnarged with a series of roof decks. The kitchen, living room and dining zone opens towards the outdoor living space, which was redesigned adding a swimming pool, benches with table and a lot of greenery. The interior is designed in clean modern lines, with minimal materials and a variated color palette instill the property a breezy, holiday feel and provide an appropriate setting for a wonderful expanding art collection.

Photos © Michael Wells

Project details:

Name: Los Feliz House
Architects: Mike Jacobs Architecture
Location: Griffith Park, California
General Contracting: Hi-Teck Construction
Structural Engineering: Armen Martirossian
Construction period: 2009-2011