Building Studio Site Updated - Great Modern/Green Projects

I was checking back in on some of my favorite architects' sites and noticed that Building Studio has done a major update since my last visit. There are several projects on the new site that I don't remember seeing before. Here's a sampler of four different projects:







The works cover the full spectrum of residential building, from private homes to vacation cabins to urban infill. All of them have a serious sustainable bent. Click over to the Building Studio site for lots more images and full details on all their projects.

Image credits - Building Studio site

Quick Links to Some Cool Houses

Just taking a moment to turn your attention to a couple of cool houses featured elsewhere ...

I like this NY Times Magazine slide show of Thomas Phifer and Partners' intriguing Salt Point House. The Times piece just gives you a taste. Look at the slides on the architect's site. The exterior treatment is very unusual but the effect is great. Bravo. I love the interior too. Here's a couple of pics to tease you on over to both sites to look at the rest.

Image credits - NY Times Magazine

I dig this eco-infill house from Living Space 21 in the UK, highlighted by treehugger. The Brits are racing ahead with sustainable home design and alternative energy for real people and the country as a whole (while the U.S. lumbers out of its sleep). It's a good read - illustrates how to do it right to get more green projects actually built - so check their post.

Image Credit - Living Space 21

Kudos to the blog House for pointing out the Phinney Ridge House and Blip Design a little while back. It's a major remodel of an existing house that features Built Green certification. Love it.

Image credit - BLIP Design

Finally, the good folks at rolu dsgn have a great flickr page with lots more pics of the sea container vacation cabin being built by some of their friends at Hive Modular. If you couldn't get enough from rolu's post check there for more.

See More of Uni's Inspiring Designs

If you read dwell on a regular basis you've no doubt seen the work of husband and wife architects Beat Schenk and Chaewon Kim. The couple, and their unique homes in Cambridge, have been featured twice in the modernist mag. The first house was a great remodel, and then they built three more on their site. But have you also seen the website for the couple's practice, Uni, or Uni's blog, or have you watched them on HGTV's fun show What's With That House (episode HWTH-309)? You can see tons more of Uni's four great houses at these resources. The Uni main site also has lots of links to other places where their work is featured, and more great images there too.

Here's a couple of pics from their blog that I like:








I admire Uni's minimalist style and their DIY attitude. They do great things with simple materials, and they show that high style can be had on a budget. Here's something to watch for - on their main site they show the four houses they've already built, and it looks like two more are coming! No pics yet, but the site shows an "XL," and a "+" which I can't wait to see!

There's also an "H" shown on the site, which Uni designed as their entry to a competition for a wilderness base camp (the Palisades Glacier Mountain Hut Competition). A very cool design for a cool contest. The "H" is based on modules of standard ISO sea containers clad in transparent materials, stacked like building blocks, and powered by the sun. How cool. Here's their entry board:




Good stuff. Definitely a team to keep watching.

Image credits - Uni's Blog, Uni main site

Urban Infill Magic - Donald Chong's Galley House in Toronto

There's a neat post today on MoCo Loco about a design competition in Toronto tied to the city's architecture and design festival called Twenty + Change. One of the featured projects is Donald Chong's Galley House, a slim infill design that's really turning heads.



It's always fun to see what people do with tiny, overlooked lots like this one. The Galley House is small but stunning. Though it is only one room wide, and looks quite narrow from the outside, on the inside it gives the impression of overflowing with space. Here's a few more pics from Chong's site:





The Galley House is a head turner, but it doesn't overpower the neighborhood it's living in. Inside, however, it has a bold, sculptural quality. The spaces are flooded with natural light. I really like the outdoor living spaces Chong incorporated too. It's a great example of doing a lot with just a little space.

You can read a little more about Chong at this page on the IDS07 show.

Via MoCo Loco

Image credits - Donald Chong Studio site