Private house, Edgely Design, North London
British firm Edgely Design has just completed work on a four-metre wide house in London’s Islington. The 29-metre long, urban infill project includes four above-ground rooms spread over two floors, along with a full-length basement.
The site is packed in-between two existing residential buildings, which means that no windows could be used on the side walls. Instead, the architects used a top-lit stair and a rear light well to pull light deep into the building.
The structure uses prefabricated panels and 70mm steel screw piles to create a functional basement.
The architects used a courtyard inside the design and a lot of glass at ground floor level to introduce as much light and natural air as possible to the house. The designers used materials with appearances that alter over time, such as sweet chestnut and copper.
Los Andes House, Juan Carlos Doblado, Peru
Featuring in Wallpaper* this month, this recently completed private house is made up of a concrete pavilion that hides in the nook of the slope and a second one that cantilevers forward across the site.
The plan undermines the difference between the interior and the exterior, creating spaces in the overlap between the two structures. Each room has a wall of glass revealing expansive views of the mountains and ushering in natural light.
The plan was borne from the architect’s desire to create a separate guest wing in the house.
Natural materials complete the elemental design, concrete walls are coupled with stone floors, echoing the mountain behind.
Peru-based architect Doblado graduated from Universidad Ricardo Palma and is also currently a tenured professor of Architectural Design at the Faculty of Architecture at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC).
Explore the interactive floor plan at Wallpaper* here
Ludlow Street Apartments, New York, Magnusson Architects
Magnusson Architects is chasing LEED Gold certification and with its design for a New York 4,227m2 affordable housing project.
The six-and-a-half storey building packs 40 rental units as well as exterior and covered parking for residents. There is an extensive green roof, passive solar heating, more than 50 kW of solar photovoltaic panels, a shade canopy and a south-facing building integrated façade. There is also a roof-top laundry with a community room and internet access.
The system is reportedly capable of producing over 50,000kW of power a year.
The client, Westhab, is a developer that specializes in building homes that enable homeless and low-income families to become self sufficient. The $34 (US $24) million development is expected to be occupied soon.
