Specht Harpman have designed the New Canaan Residence in Connecticut. Perched amongst old-growth trees, this 2010 house is a mid-century modern beacon. By creating unassuming but direct paths into the dramatic glass entryway, Specht Harpman designed the house to welcome its owners and their visitors into what feels like a floating pavilion in the tree canopy. The swimming pool area and separate cabana emphasize the project’s strong lines and classically modern roots.

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Source : Specht Harpman

Modern black and white private office interior is located on the second floor of tenement house in old town in Konin, Poland. The trump of such location is a beautiful view on the Warta river’s embankments. Monochrome character of the interior design is a background for art. Music, film, painting and photography, being parts of this black and white office, intermingle one another.

Architects designed the office so that the owner could rest here sitting by the fire, relax listening to the music and watching films or just work.

The interior is designed as a determined but harmonic contrast of black and white. Strong emphasis is a wooden floor formed in a chequered pattern, which turns into piano’s keys motive in the terrace area, And precisely this instrument – black grand piano – is a focus point in this modern interior.

Another interesting element is a table, that turns into an office desk if it is needed. It is a top table that is lowered from the wall and hides a mirror behind. The whole modern interior is completed with the form of the fireplace, elegant furniture and climatic lightening.

Source : TOYA Design

Golucci International Design have designed Yakiniku Master, a Japanese barbecue restaurant in Shanghai, China. Yakiniku Master is a Japanese barbecue restaurant brand started in 2007, and this project is the fifth branch of the brand in Shanghai. This project, they invited the famous Taiwan designer Lee Hsuheng to conduct the design.

Living in a large and bustling city like Shanghai, people are fast-paced and extremely busy. They are so busy that relationship between people goes further and further, even goes indifferent. Therefore, when thinking about the design, the designer hopes to create a room for people to isolate from their busy but lonesome life, and get together with several friends to have a delicious meal.

The restaurant has an area of 350 square meters, the design concept is “contemporary old Shanghai style”. The recycled wood pieces are reshaped and used to decorate the red bricks, presenting a mottled color wall, coupled with charcoal that has been used in previous stores, demonstrating the image and characteristics of yakiniku (Japanese BBQ). Therefore, the design integrates simplicity and complexity, traditional and contemporary methods to showcase a rich and colorful landscape.

Designers follow the original building wall structure, the dining area is divided into two different styles of space, one is the the the French leased area Sinan Mansions old Western-style shutters, the other side is Shikumen Chinese red brick wall. peeping through the windows between the two space each other, simple concept alluding to today’s urban window view in Shanghai.

Source : Golucci International Design

GLUCK+ has re-organized a traditional ‘urban townhouse’ to promote the privacy of the residents of this new york city dwelling, tucked behind a four-storey vertical library. the most radical change removes the stair from the party wall and places it and an elevator at the front of the townhouse, toward the street. this move separates the majority of the living quarters from the street both visually and audibly.

the circulation no longer squeezes the space into a long corridor with compartmentalized rooms, but allows a singular inhabitable area stretching to the back of the house which runs 38-feet-deep. during the day these spaces are flooded with natural light from the full height curtain wall that overlooks the private backyard.

the front facade is mostly solid and opaque. though constructed of metal, it references the materiality of its neighbors with brick-shaped cut-outs functioning as a rain screen. a glass reveal respectfully separates the two palettes, with panel reveals acknowledging the floor levels of the adjacent buildings. these slots and windows cut into the bookshelf behind the aluminum rain screen allow light to stream into the interior.

in contrast, the rear facade is clad in glass. within, the communal programs (living room, dining room and kitchen) are linked by a light-filled mezzanine that overlooks the backyard. the upper three floors of the transparent edifice are etched providing more privacy to the bedrooms and baths. extending the ground floor opening up the living and dining areas onto the backyard provides one a complete experience of the 70-foot-depth site.

Source : designboom

This is the new headquarters of Qihoo 360 Technology Co., ltd. Design Director David Ho binding ‘Large Hadron Collider’ and 360’s ‘Subversive Innovation’ corporate culture to design. Try to find out the future office for 360, the number one leading cloud-based Internet and mobile security products and services in China as measured by user base. At the end of March 2012, there are about 411 million monthly active Internet users, according to iResearch.

When was ready to start the design in 2012, the world’s largest underground particle accelerator in Geneva (Large Hadron Collider, referred to as LHC) have discovered the Higgs boson (Higgs). The Higgs boson is a physicist called the last undiscovered elementary particles in the standard model, finding the Higgs boson is the key to unlock the Universe mystery of Big Bang. The news gave inspiration to David Ho, combined with the subversive innovation company culture and collider concept into design. According to this concept, he designed 4 radial capsule shape ‘Future Collider’ in the two floor high open area in 6th floor, provide employees brainstorm space to create more creative ideas.

These ‘Future Collider’, sitting on bamboo flooring, are constructed by using straw board, a renewable agriculture bi-product to create an innovative solution for sustainable construction and healthy office environment of interior decoration. It was also the main material used in 2010 Shanghai World Expo Pavilion. The straw board based on 100% superior wheat straw; using formaldehyde-free adhesive (p-MDI) through hot press process with low carbon furnishing, healthy and environment-friendly structural. As they are “zero wood” content, this products help reducing deforestation, which in turn has a further positive impact on the quality of the air we breath.

A climbing wall and a giant inflatable castle is installed to another 2 floor high open space where particularly devoted to the staff also their family when visit the office for having relaxing. Very much reflects the good care of employees of the company culture. In the centre meeting area, designers configured three round public meeting rooms. This shape is also a metaphor for the logo of 360.

Most of the workstations are allocated along the window so employees can enjoy the best view and natural light. In each floor, there is a public pantry near the core area and the main circulation to rise/inspire more interactivities between staffs. David Ho’s design concept not only bring the ‘Green Space’ to the working space, but also take 360 companies’ User Experience ‘cultural to transfer to ‘Staff’s Experience ‘ for 360’s new HQ office.

Source : edg Corporation Ltd

HFP/Ambuske Architects have completed a house renovation in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The original house was built in 1989. The house was built with the vernacular of the 1980’s; split level living room, brick fireplace in between the living room and dining room, dark hardwood floors and oak cabinets. The exterior was typical Nantucket shake with small double hung windows. The house is situated in a cul-de-sac away from the beautiful views of the sea.

With the above restrictions as a starting point Dr and Mrs. Toby Cosgrove desired a modern – white precisely detailed home similar to their home in Ohio. Architect William Blunden designed the renovation of their Ohio home and was hired to design 10 North Star in Nantucket.

The design was developed with weekly design review meetings at HFP/ Ambuske Architect’s conference room every Saturday for over a year. The architectural design team included William Blunden, Alan Ambuske, Chad Costello and Toby and Anita Cosgrove. The Owners Saturday input was either in person or via telephone from different parts of the world.

The original house was simply rebuilt – the only thing that was left after the demolition was the structure. New large windows were added to the house to extend the interior views, the attic space was removed to extend the second floor bedrooms, bathrooms and entry foyer to the roof. Dormers were added to bring natural light into the upper floors and to the upper area of the Foyer. The design included a series of modern white spaces including the conversion of the existing garage into a media center and the addition of a master suite to the original floor plan that contained a new master bedroom, bath and dressing area. The exterior included new shake siding, windows and new roof per Nantucket’s historic guidelines.

The basic materials for the interior of the house included drywall with white paint, stainless steel kitchen pedestal, stainless steel appliances, white painted casework and white stained oak hardwood flooring throughout the house.

The lighting included dimmable downlights, LED lights placed at vertical and horizontal plane changes and a custom LED fixture for the Dining Room. Back painted white glass was utilized for the countertops and glass with stainless steel were an integral part of the bathrooms.

The Living Room fireplace complements the total design aesthetic. The contractor, Seamus Crowley, spent considerable time removing the existing brick fireplace and constructing the stunning modern Living Room focal point.

The furniture selection was completed by Anita Cosgrove and her London Interior Designer, Constanze Von Unruh. The Living Room stainless steel coffee table and Dining Room table were designed by Architect William Blunden. The artwork was selected by Anita Cosgrove.

The design of 10 North Star is a great integration of architecture, interior design and the careful selection of all details from furniture to artwork. The design is precise and refreshing both inside and outside, concluding with the remodeled modern – white interior within the historic Nantucket exterior.

Source : HFP/Ambuske Architects