Interior Design Sense

More hot Singapore design. We’ve focused on apartments before but there are a lucky few who possess that most valuable of quantities on this populous island state …. land no matter how small. These stunning conservation architecture homes are in Singapore’s conservation zones. Many are shop houses but behind their immaculately preserved historical facades hide stunning modern homes where every square inch is devoted to living life well. All were designed by one of South-East Asia’s leading architectural firms ONG&ONG. Beautiful, considerate of heritage and spatially clever! More after the jump.

It might look pretty, but if it doesn’t work then what good is it? This practical kitchen by Italian kitchen company Veneta Cucine has it all – fashion and function, all the while being efficient in terms of the Earth and economy. The Liquida kitchen created by Elisa Gargan and Stefano Giovannoni puts into practice some important principles, according to the designers. “The objectives that we were aiming for make it necessary for us to seek out high-performance technical materials that are wholly recyclable and can also be used to create new functional characteristics, such as doors which slide into cupboards.” This custom-style kitchen features modern, lacquered facades with minimalist details and an integrated light that illuminates your work space and looks out of this world! Visit Veneta Cucine for more info.

House M comes from Caramel Architects and is located in Linz, Austria. The first striking thing about this house is its exterior design: two facades have a hermetic appearance in order to prevent passers by from looking inside, while the other two feature windows from floor to ceiling. This design allows the building to receive plenty of natural light throughout the day, which is just one of the factors due to which this construction can be called highly economical and ecological. House M is built from prefabricated materials and has cellulose-fiber thermal isolation. The kitchen and dining rooms are spacious and open areas and offer great views of the near by pond.

House M comes from Caramel Architects and is located in Linz, Austria. The first striking thing about this house is its exterior design: two facades have a hermetic appearance in order to prevent passers by from looking inside, while the other two feature windows from floor to ceiling. This design allows the building to receive plenty of natural light throughout the day, which is just one of the factors due to which this construction can be called highly economical and ecological. House M is built from prefabricated materials and has cellulose-fiber thermal isolation. The kitchen and dining rooms are spacious and open areas and offer great views of the near by pond.

Two facades two very different houses. Both with a neutral colour story, both with the warmth of timber balanced by stone. I’ve been stalking again but I can’t make up my mind which one I like more. I love the period features of the second home, the warren of rooms but I love the retro modern vibe of the first. Exposed trusses, rich plank walls, clean modern lines. Dilemma isn’t it! Fortunately I can afford neither. Phew! Links here and here while they last.

A good construction manual is a must have for any architect’s library.

The Modern Construction Handbook by Andrew Watts is in my opinion one of the best construction manuals these days, covering construction systems in an extensive way. The best of this book are the details: good quality of the drawings and 3D sections that help you understand the details in a better way.

Construction manuals tend to be very outdated, even if they are brand new. On the contrary, this book includes a whole section on energy and alternative materials, along with a section called “Future” which helps us resolve complex geometries, twisted facades, new glazing systems and more.

The book has 500 pages printed in good quality paper, something very important for  a book that you will be constantly flipping when needing help on a project.

More images about the book, along with the full index so you can see if it fits you after the break:

The Modern Construction Handbook has become a building construction classic. Its systematic approach with chapters on materials, walls, roofs, construction and environment offers clear and efficient orientation.

The second edition underwent a considerable expansion and has been thoroughly updated:

Digital fabrication techniques are included and presented in an instructional book for the first time, in addition to traditional production processes
- Constructive building principles are shown with new, color 3D drawings and illustrated with photos of built examples of the work of renown architects
- More and densely packed information provided by 3D drawings of the individual components and structures
- Glossary following every chapter containing explanations of terminology and related information
- Environmental aspects and properties of the different materials
- New design and rendering methods such as parametrical design, CAD/CAM and 3D Modeler are explained, shown and integrated in the respective chapters.

- SpringerWienNewYork

Publisher: SpringerWienNewYork
Author: Andrew Watts
Layout and Cover Design: Yasmin Watts

Language: English
Cover: Hardcover
Pages: 504
Illustrations: 1000 color illustrations
Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.5 x 1.6 inches
ISBN: 978-3-211-99195-4

Index

Introduction

Introduction to Second Edition
Changes from the First Edition
Structure of this book

1. Materials

Taxonomy of material systems
Structure and envelope
Digital tectonics
Parametric design

Tectonics in metal
Steel
Aluminium
Copper, zinc and lead

Tectonics in glass
Glass

Tectonics in concrete
Concrete

Tectonics in masonry
Masonry
Concrete block
Stone
Brick

Tectonics in plastics
Plastics and composites

Tectonics in timber
Timber
Fabrics and membranes

Internal walls
Fixed and demountable
Plaster systems
Wallboard systems

Floors
Ceilings

2. Walls

Trends in facade design
Generic wall types

Metal
Sheet metal
Profiled cladding
Composite panels
Rainscreens
Mesh screens
Louvre screens

Glass systems
Stick systems
Unitised glazing
Clamped glazing
Bolt fixed glazing
Glass blocks and channels
Steel windows
Aluminium windows
Timber windows

Concrete
Cast in situ
Storey height precast
Small precast panels

Masonry loadbearing walls

Masonry cavity walls
Brick
Stone and block
Masonry cladding
Masonry rainscreens

Plastic
Plastic-based cladding
Plastic rainscreens

Timber
Timber frame
Cladding panels

3. Roofs

Trends in roof design

Metal roofs
Metal standing seam
Profiled metal sheet
Composite panels
Rainscreens
Metal louvres

Glass roofs
Greenhouse glazing and capped systems
Silicone-sealed glazing and rooflights
Bolt fixed glazing
Bonded glass rooflights

Concrete
Concealed membranes
Exposed membranes
Planted roof

Timber roofs
Flat roof: mastic asphalt coverings
Flat roof: bitumen-based sheet membranes
Pitched roof: tiles

Plastic roofs
GRP rooflights
GRP panels and shells

Fabric systems
ETFE cushions
Single membrane: cone-shaped roof
Single membrane: barrel-shaped roof

4. Structure

Material systems for structures

Braced frames
Reinforced concrete
Steel
Timber

Portal frames

Loadbearing boxes
Reinforced concrete
Brick
Glass

Trusses

Arches and shells

Space grids

Floor structures
Cast in situ / cast-in-place concrete
Precast concrete
Steel and steel mesh
Timber
Glass

Stairs
Concrete
Steel
Timber
Glass

5. Environment

Energy and the building envelope

Double skin facades
Environmental studies for envelopes

Analysis for design
Solar radiation
Daylight
Embodied energy

Passive design
Natural ventilation
Solar shading and daylight controls
Solar power
Solar heating

Low energy material systems
Straw bales and hemp
Rammed earth, cob and adobe bricks
Green oak and bamboo
Green walls

Active design
Liquid based heating/cooling systems
Mechanical heating/cooling systems
Electrical lighting
Fuel and water supply

Support services
Sanitation and drainage
Fire control
Maintenance and cleaning
Lifts

6. Future

A future for building construction
Folded glazing
Metal solar shading: louvres and mesh
Triangular panels for twisted facades
Twisted panels with flat glass for twisted facades
Moving shading panels
Precast concrete panels for facades of complex geometry
Glazing systems with integral solar shading
Stick glazing for double facades
Shingled glazing for facades of complex geometry
Variable concrete panels for solar shading
Structural facades of complex geometry
Facade with integrated furniture

References

Glossary of terms
Authorship
Photo credits
Index

Buy this book

Architects: Vaillo + Irigaray / Antonio Vaillo + Juan Luis Irigaray
Location: Gorraiz, Navarra, Spain
Project manager: Ibón Ibarlucea Ochandiano, architect
Graphic design of facades: Alex Viladrich, ALDRICH
Riggers: José Ingacio Sola y Julián Damboriena
Structure: Gonzalo Díez
Contractor: GOSA S.L.
Project year: 1998
Finished year: 2004
Photographs: José Manuel Cutillas, Albert Font, Joan Mundó

Location: Many small plots around a golf course,  mis-ordered devices external to the individual qualities of the environment, backed, resulting in an almost monstrous mix.

Adaptation is key into abstraction mimetic. The green totally invaded the facade, and the house disappears: as a large magnifying glass focusing on a piece of grass.

Internally an impluvium (water, light and oxygen) defines the organization, around which living gravitates. As in Alice’s house, it becomes a hole where golf balls slip.

Architects: N+B Architectes / Jacques BRION, Elodie NOURRIGAT
Location: Brissac, France
Associated Architect: Julien WAFFLART
Client: Conseil Général de l’Hérault
Delegated Client: Hérault Aménagement
Structural Consultant: SOTEC INGENIERIE
Constructed Area: 1,619 sqm
Budget: US $ 2.64 M
Year: 2008
Photographs: N+B Architectes

The exploitation center and the building for forest fire fighters, takes place on a site to be located in the very heart of a huge green zone. It is composed of hills covered with scrublands and with vast agricultural plains which transcribe the very specific character of this region. These natural elements are a major asset.

The project tries to join as a line of supplementary slope which complies to by-pass and protect major elements of the landscape, such as the big trees or the standing banks. So protecting these recognizable elements, the building goes from the basement of the hill and develops three main facades: the roof, the East façade and the West one. The whole is homogenous, thanks to the choice of the “corten”, a textured matter, the tones and nuances of which are in harmony with the environment.

Architects: Vaillo + Irigaray / Antonio Vaillo + Juan Luis Irigaray
Location: Navarra, Spain
Project manager: Daniel Galar Irurre, architect
Rigger: Pacho Jiménez
Structure: Tadeo Errea- LANDABE
Engineer: Luis Miguel Navarro
Lighting: Anton Aman – ALS LIGHTING
Facades: VITROCSA
Client: Restaurante Marisol
Project year: 2007
Photographs: Vaillo + Irigaray

The organizational scheme is due to similar patterns of micro-structures, more in line with geometric patterns of liquid and / or aerosols that Cartesian structures. In establishing a working geometry using “soft” and a unified treatment space “airy”.

The new space is conceived as a continuation of the existing fence, wrapping it all, but hidden: expressing their new identity, not as constructed element, but as a re-forested. A new plant species grown in the surrounding area … the new scalar similarity between elements of “plant” makes the proposal a new understanding of the link with the existing connection.

This species builds a base of recycled plastic tubes of different colors similar to reeds, organizing a braided flexible and deformable organic capability to adapt to any situation and geometry.

Architect: Guilermo Hevia – GH+A Arquitectos
Location: La Estrella, VI Región, Chile
Collaborators: Tomás Villalón, Francisco Carrión, Guillermo Hevia G, Marcela Suazo
Client: Olisur S.A.
Contractor: Pitagora S.A.
Project Year: 2008
Constructed Area: 2.800 sqm
Site Area: 5 ha (Mill) – 1.000 ha (Plantations)
Materials: Laminated Wood, Plywood, Fibre Cement, Concrete & Glass
Climate consultant: BIOTECH Chile Consultores Ltda.
Exterior skin: Pizarreño S.A.
Structure & Wooden skin: Arauco S.A.
Lighting: Opendark S.A.
Production: Jaime Gálvez – Tomás Eguiguren
Photographs: Cristóbal Palma, Guillermo Hevia

A volume of architecture simple and emphatic, which reinterprets allegorically anonymous architectures of the central valley, sits on the softer mountains of olives, looking subtly with its wooden facades and colors that stand out with the luminosity of the place. The body will mimic the geography and planning lines of trees on their facades. It uses sustainable technologies, creating the enabling environment for work and olive oil production quality.