Giles Pike Architects adds stepped glass extension to the Victorian house in South London

Giles Pike Architects has expanded this house in Putney, southwest of London, using glass walls to flood the new basement living areas with natural light.

Giles Pike Architects designed the stepped extension of a Victorian townhouse to create an open-plan living, kitchen and dining room.

The architects dug terrain at the back of the Felsham Road property to extend the basement and remove the rear side wall. A new two-story brick wall was added along the site boundary to take full advantage of the overall site width.

"Our writing was to expand and improve the property to reach its full potential and in doing so, we have exploited the volume inside the house to create double height spaces," said the architects.

"This was achieved by extending the basement areas and linking it with the ground floor and the first floors."

Glazing bridges the gap between the flat roof of a floor volume and the smaller brick structure on the second floor to make a long clerestory window.

A large skylight is also interwoven between the volume of brick and the wall of the two-story boundary, where it illuminates a staircase leading to a mezzanine level that dominates the space.

"The generous volumes plus the increase in natural light that we have brought to the house with the large areas of clear glass without frame combine to make this a spectacular home equipped for modern family life," said the architects.

The combined kitchen and dining area open to the garden, while the living room occupies an alcove in the back of the space.

Here, a door leads through the existing basement, which is now occupied by a bedroom and en-suite bathroom.

Simple finishes complement the exposed brick wall - dark wood covers the floor and the walls are painted white, while the kitchen cabinets and cabinets are painted a charcoal gray.

Tom Pike and Matt Giles founded their practice based at Battersea Giles Pike Architects in 2008 and have since completed a number of residential projects in the capital including converting a Victorian workshop into a home and a wooden residence designed for a small plot .

The photograph is by Logan McDougall.

Specht Architects orients New Mexico's built-in home to desert views

Glazing in this Santa Fe concrete home by the American studio Specht Architects offers sweeping views of the distant mountains while casting shadow patterns across the interior walls.

The Sundial House is located in the characteristic landscape of the northern cities of New Mexico - wavy and arid terrain that reaches into the nearby mountains.

To meet the height restrictions of the region for buildings, the architects built the house on a sunken plane. From the road, a slabbed walkway passes through a terrace and through a stairway to an entrance into the courtyard.

Both level areas have gardens that extend to the western edge of the facade. The shrubs planted on the upper terrace balance the tall trees that rise above the lower enclosure.

The ash-land fill that fills both plots reinforces continuity between the gardens and creates a smooth transition to light gray from the outside of the house.

The structure itself is built around two perpendicular concrete walls, marked with a board in the recessed plane. Throughout the intersection, Specht Architects aimed to better connect the house with the surrounding landscape.

"This house in Santa Fe is organized around a pair of perpendicular concrete walls that orient the house toward specific points of view," said the firm, which has offices in Austin and New York.

The longest part extends from north to south, defining the boundary of the lower vestibule and cutting part of the raised terrace.

The east-west wall forms the entrance façade. Just before the two concrete partitions intersect, a threshold provides access to the house.

The plant is divided into two rectangular sections along the north-south wall. The entrance opens in the west half, which accommodates service rooms, a kitchen and a small bedroom.

Passing an opening to the right of the threshold, the east side extends along the partition to offer views of hills through the interior.

Two bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms flank a central living room. The cantilevered roof covers a courtyard that runs along the length of the east façade.

Emphasizing the division of the house, the ceiling and the walls of the volume are short of the north-south partition.

The architects covered the gap with a short strip of glazing covering the gap. The light admitted through the glass serves to provide added brightness and interior trim.

The shifting striations projected by the wooden ceiling beams resemble a sundial - the time-indicating device of which the residence bears its name.

"A long, slender skylight casts shadows on a high-textured concrete wall in the house," Scott's founder and director Scott Specht told Dezeen. "These shadows change throughout the day, and you can" feel "the passage of time because of changing lighting conditions."

Directing the house towards the best views of the landscape and including the temporary characteristics of the site to in the design, the architects tried to create a home that is well incorporated in its surroundings.

"The movement of the sun and the way the house incorporates and modulates this, really make the day an important part of the experience of the place," Specht said.

"The house also extends into the landscape, with concrete walls stretching from the inside out and into the landscape beyond," added the architect.

Other recently completed desert homes in the American Southwest include a residence housing a series of walled courtyards and an Arizona home elevated over the surrounding landscape.

The photograph is by Taggart Sorensen.

Anahata's back house in western India has a facade designed as "a piece of art"

The sculptural facade of this house in the Indian city of Belgaum comprises staggered blocks containing rooms that extend from a central courtyard full of plants.

Padival House was designed by local Anahata studio for a young couple with two children, who wanted a modern home to sit on a site in a typical residential neighborhood.

The previous family home in the coastal town of Mangalore was a traditional villa set around a courtyard. The architects sought to repeat the feel of this building in the design of the contrasting contemporary urban house.

"The idea was to create a purest architecture of architecture," said Anahata, of architecture stripped of its non-essential elements, reduced only to its basic elements and to the feelings that space itself evokes. "

A predominantly closed facade with a series of staggered volumes was used in response to the proximity of the building to a busy road.

Each block reflects the layout of the internal program and results in a multidimensional surface that alters in appearance as the sun passes through it during the day.

"The composite wall is designed to resemble a fabric - very light and absent, keeping the composition unchanged," said the architects. "The house tries to be a work of art".

Inside the building, the central courtyard is surrounded by areas designated as specific functions. On the ground floor, a living space to one side of the entrance foyer flows smoothly into the dining room.

The heights of the ceilings that vary along this open floor space correspond to the layout of the superior rooms. A library nestled on a mezzanine level overlooks the courtyard on one side and the lounge on the other.

A full height atrium covered with a large ceiling light draws natural lighting through the floors to the patio and dining area.

The gratings that surround this glazed surface and other light high above the stairs constantly project shifting patterns of light and shadow across the white painted interior walls.

"Light as a building material is sculpted carefully to define the spaces and their functionalities," said Anahata. "As the sunlight changes throughout the day, the shadows make the space dynamic and changing in all seasons."

Glass windows in the upper levels allow light entry and create visual connections between the central courtyard and the surrounding rooms, including the bedrooms.

A staircase that ascends along one side of the building connects the ground floor with a prayer area housed in a box that cantilevers the facade.

The stairs continue to the family area containing the library and the rooms, before finally arriving at a barsati at the top of the house.

This small traditional rooftop room with an adjoining terrace acts as a threshold to a large terrace, and can be used as a pantry to serve food and drinks during the holidays.

Interior details and furniture characterized by strong use of color, line, space and light are influenced by the Indian artist S H Raza. In particular, a decorative stone work of art placed on the floor of the living room and the tables with their pyramidal wood forms evoke one of the paintings of Raza.

A concrete roof helps to join the interior spaces, which present a palette of white plaster, brass, wood and natural stone.

Iredale Pedersen Hook creates Walumba Elders Center for Australian Aboriginal community

A + Awards: An A + award was given to Architizer 2016 at this retirement home in Western Australia, designed by Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects for an Aboriginal community affected by devastating floods.

The Walumba Elders Center was built in Warrmarn (Warmun) after the floods in 2011 that destroyed the city's former facility, and damaged much of its homes and other buildings.

"About 350 people from Gija were forced to leave their homes until the houses and infrastructure were rebuilt over the next two years," said Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects, who designed the replacement care home.

The new structure is located next to a community school, and rises 2.4 meters above ground level to prevent future flooding.

The intention is for the building to "act as a focal point to bring the community together and to assist in the transmission of unique Aboriginal wisdom, Gija language and cultural knowledge to the younger members of the community," according to architects.

Its arrangement is organized as two parallel wings, united at one end by a facetted ceiling that rises through a roundabout and extends down both branches of rooms.

It offers accommodation for both personal care and high-level care. A variety of factors inherent in Aboriginal culture had to be taken into account with the design.

These include gender separation, access to public and private outdoor spaces, and hosting ceremonies that may include fire and smoke.

The concrete piloti is used to hold the raised structure, while the corrugated metal is used to coat the majority of the building. Multiple ladders lead to ground level, which is subtly landscaped.

"The concept refers to a bridge not only as physical infrastructure, but also as a step of knowledge between generations, and as a place of care and respite before the possibility of moving from this existence to the next," said the architects.

Walumba Elders Center was praised in the Health and Wellness category at the 2016 A + Awards.

Organized by Architizer, the awards promote and celebrate the best projects and products of the year.

Its declared mission is to foster appreciation of significant architecture in the world and defend its potential for a positive impact on everyday life. Learn more about the A +

The vote is open to the public to choose their favorite architecture and pre-selected products for this year's A + prizes until March 30, 2017. Cast your vote>

The photograph is by Peter Bennetts.

Jan Sofka takes the Japanese home signs for the rural residence near Cape Town

Stone, brick and wood introduce subtle textures to this house near Cape Town, which was designed by the architect Jan Sofka to resemble a spotted Japanese house in Dezeen.

Hoptoad's house was started in 2013 by businessman Sven ten Bokkel Huinink, who was looking to build a second property on his small estate in Noordhoek, a village about 30 kilometers south of the city.

Ten Bokkel Huinink was struggling with how to introduce another building into the site in a way that was not too damaging to the adjacent farm and its natural surroundings.

The inspiration came from a house in Osaka, designed by Arbol Design, which features a walled garden that surrounds it to offer views of the vegetation while protecting the interior from the view of its neighbors.

"It all started after seeing the Arbol Design project in Dezeen," said Ten Bokkel Huinink. "Its design had a very different theme to tackle, as it had to provide an oasis in the middle of a large Japanese city."

"For me it was the other way around." "I did not want to keep the exterior outside, but I needed a house that looked good from the outside, particularly from the back, as the existing house would look directly at it."

Ten Bokkel Huinink invited Jan Sofka from Sofkapatterson Architects' study in Cape Town to develop a proposal for a building informed by the Japanese house.

The resulting design provides privacy from the main house, while promoting the connection between interior spaces and the natural environment.

A high fence protects the single-story building from one side, preventing full-height windows from the master bedroom being overlooked. The fence is made of local pine which will naturally be soft over time to a soft gray similar to the trunks of adjacent trees.

A gravel-filled courtyard nestled between the fence and the glazing extends L-shaped around the bedroom. The patio is also visible through a large window in a wall of the living room, allowing daylight to enter the building.

A high wall comprising large blocks of local stone introduces an additional natural detail to the exterior which is complemented by a brick wall exposed on one side of the dwelling.

A solid pine floor in the living area provides a light, natural surface that enhances the bright feel of the interior. The rest of the house has a seamless epoxy floor that extends from the hallways into bedrooms and bathrooms.

The property has a total area of 200 square meters, including a separate wing that accommodates two more bedrooms and a large bathroom.

It was called Hoptoad after the boat captained by Pippi Longstocking's father in the stories of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren.

De Rosee Sa uses cobbled courtyards to bring light to the West London house

A trio of cobbled courtyards surrounded by glass breaks this London house, which has cedar-clad walls that refer to the old wooden tent it replaces.

The London-based De Rosee Sa architecture house designed the home for a customer who lived across the road from the old wooden storage yard. He bought the site located between the terraces and a row of 16 garages to avoid being overdeveloped.

The architects were challenged to design an online residence with strict planning restrictions stipulating that the structure matches the height of the former single storey shed.

It was also not possible to create openings in the two boundaries of 37 meters in length since they are walls of party with the neighboring structures.

Instead, three internal courtyards and a series of skylights are used to bring lots of natural light to the long and slender residence aptly named Courtyard House.

These patios also separate the plan into three pieces: a combined kitchen and dining room, a living room and a two-story bedroom block created by digging down to form a basement.

Crittall style glazing and doors - a manufacturer of industrial windows that became popular in the 1920s but enjoyed a revival - enclose the patios, allowing views to and from outdoor space.

"The most satisfying aspects of the project are the superior light that pours into the interiors and the long views across the courtyards," said study co-founder Max de Rosee.

Once inside, you forget that this house is in London.

Doors can also be opened in warm weather to allow fresh air in the house of paved granite patios.

The living room opens directly to the front garden on one side and a patio on the other, while additional natural light is provided by two roof lights.

The patio links the living room with the combined kitchen and dining area beyond, which in turn overlooks a sunken patio located between the block of two-story bedrooms.

Red cedar slats line the walls of the patios as a reference to the old site use as a wood storage yard and a contrast to the minimal interiors, which have clean white walls and patterned floor patterned on tang.

The red dye cedar liner continues inside to surround two small boxes that contain a study niche, laundry room and a toilet.

"We wanted to contrast the white walls and ceiling with some strong materials, so we spent a considerable amount of time considering the detail of western red cedar slats and granite cracks on patio surfaces," Rosee said.

Glazed doors bring light into the two bedrooms, which are set one above the other next to their bathrooms.

A third patio, which is much smaller than the other two, also cuts between bedrooms and bathrooms to provide more lighting.

De Rosee Sa was founded in 2007 by Max de Rosee and Claire Sa and is based in North London Kensington.