Category: Inspiring architecture

Templeton Architecture

  • 7 November 2018

Take a browse through the project gallery of Melbourne based Templeton Architecture and you will see refined sophistication. Their bio describes an ethos of focusing on light, colour and proportion whilst respecting the Architectural history of each project.

The Matilda project is a weekend getaway built on the clients childhood land Northeast of Victoria. The layered rawness of the Rammed Earth construction is breathtaking, it appears to hold history.  While the product was chosen for its thermal properties for me the solid timeless beauty of the earth surpasses any technical advantage!

 

Aptly described by Templeton Architecture as “The honest warmth of the material, and the depth of its construction, grounded the project into the natural contours of the land”

Templeton’s  homage to history can clearly been seen here in the Delatite Station  project as well

Beautifully elegant!

 

Shipping Container living

  • 8 October 2018

It’s always a privilege to listen to International Industry Experts, while it can make you feel like a pretty small fish in the big sea of the Design World, at the same time its incredibly inspiring and motivating to learn first hand about the jaw dropping projects that are going on around the world.

Recently Tauranga was fortunate enough to host  Kai-Uwe Bergmann,  a partner at Bjarke Ingles Group BIG  Kai-Uwe heads up the business development arm of the architectural practice that operates in over 20 countries around the world. The presentation covered a range of recent BIG projects, from a tiny cabin in the forest to underground gymnasiums, LEGO and GOOGLE head quarters, a new form of public transport in Dubai – non friction transport tubes and the ongoing investigation into creating living pods for Mars!! What!!

The Urban Rigger project was one that really resonated with me. Don’t get me wrong my mind was blown with all the projects but the Urban Rigger seemed to have a local Tauranga sense of scale.

The idea was a solution to a lack of student accommodation in Copenhagen.

9 shipping containers were stacked in a circle creating 12 studio spaces with a central communal space and garden.  Floating on pontoons the containers were designed to be buoyant, once constructed they are moved to the harbor in the heart of the city.

Simple right? The pods were designed to connect together forming communities … with million dollar views!

These floating studio apartments were made even more appealing with the inherent paired back sophisticated Danish style.

 

 

Australian heritage house reinvented by tenfifyfive

  • 8 August 2017

Tenfifiyfive web site has me on the first page “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”  William Morris’s quote is one of my favorites and definitely  the basis of my own design ethos.

There is lots to admire in the studios gallery of work, I particularly like the combination of materials and attention to detail in the Park House project, rustic red bricks, warm timber, harsh raw concrete with super fine back steel and elegant Statuario marble all wrapped up in a family home.

I’m a bit obsessed with window seats at the moment  I like to communal gathering space they offer, love the depth of this window seat and how the joinery wraps around the window, the depth detail is nicely repeated in the desk area.

As creatures of habit we make auto pilot decisions without considering alternatives, glass shower screens are always designed to disappear right?  Think again ….. glass framed in super fine black joinery is stunning. Auto pilot #2 cabinetry stops at the window .. not necessarily!

Layer upon layer of texture and detail … love it

Park House images by Christine Francis, first seen on Contemporist

Bosjes Chapel – an astonishing building

  • 13 March 2017

Located in South Africa’s Western Cape Bosjes Chapel is nothing short of remarkable.  The stunning organic form hovers delicately and weightlessly above an equally majestic landscape.

The crisp white concrete shell appears to be held up by nothing but glass …. how is this possible!!? The roof line swoops and soars and at points dips to almost touch the surface of the refection pool. A cross shaped window frame represents the traditional crucifix, a golden pulpit positioned in front of the window sets the scene  for contemplation.

A collaboration between UK based Steyn Studio and South Africa’s TV3 Architects. First seen on Contemporist

Courtyard Living

  • 30 January 2014

I have always been intrigued by the concept of internal courtyards in homes, as a student I visited a circular house with an internal courtyard, since then the concept has remained firmly at the top of my wish list. I love the self-contained privacy of them.

This home by Selldorf Architects is a great example; located in Colorado the images immediately reminded me of Queenstown.

The building is arranged around a central courtyard as a series of one-story pavilions dedicated to specific functions, spaces are linked by an internal corridor. Many of the external walls are floor to ceiling glazing making the most of the stunning views. While the internal courtyard is always protected from the prevailing wind and the neighbours!

(Photos: Todd Eberle)