The Outstanding L23 House in Guimaraes, Portugal

Today, we will be presenting to you a contemporary home built in Guimareas, Portugal. The design of this house is divided into 2 levels. The main entrance of the house is located on the first floor. The visitors can stay in the first floor of the house specifically in the arrival area. This has a large paved outdoor space which is bordered on the north/west by a suspended volume. You may also see the staircase linking the two house floors in the entrance hall. From this hall, there are two volumes distributed namely the private spaces and the common spaces.

The bedrooms in this house are organized in a series of spaces which is open to the balcony over the patio. The common space includes the living areas such as living room, dining, kitchen, study room and a small gym. The small gym is connected to the indoor pool which is located on the ground floor. These spaces underlines the visual relationship of the design with the distant landscape while enjoying the ambiance in the patio below it.

On the ground floor, the house plan is distributed over the 2 volumes, one is for the pool and the locker room, and the other is intended for the social and services area. However, this patio functions as the exterior’s extension of the room’s space. The designer chooses the anthracite zinc for the materials used in covering the façade panels. Now let’s take a short tour of the interior and exterior of this L23 House through the images below.

As you can see the geometrical structure of the house stands out in the middle of this beautiful landscape.

At night time, the lighting materials used by the designer are very effective to make the interior visible.

Take a look at the different lines and shapes that is perfectly displayed in this edifice.

The landscape in the exterior is carefully trimmed to maintain its cleanliness.

The homeowner chooses to set this small dining set for four near the glass door so they can take the full advantage of the panoramic view oustide.

Standing in this terrace is a great way to overlook the natural beauty of the surroundings.

COncrete, wood and glass looked good when combined in this area. The door also used wooden planks making it appear unique.

The white palette used in the walls and ceiling of this living space shows a simple contemporary interior design.

The modern chairs perfectly match with the wooden table and round pendant lights above it.

A kitchen in dark blue also looks beatiful with modular kitchen system and blue ceramic tile flooring.

Glass and wooden materials are used in the exterior to complement with the elements in the exterior.

Even in the second level of the house, the designer just used plain white palette for the walls and ceilings so that the texture of the wooden floors will stand out.

This bathroom is definitely neat and clean using marble for its finish.

An indoor swimming pool is installed in this space so that the client can still enjoy swimming even if it’s cold outside.

You can see the simple landscaping done in the outdoor area with a simple patio and seating area.

Basalt cube is used on the external decks for car access; wood pallets are used for the pedestrian track or living spaces as an extension of the interior floors. Black aluminium is used for the external casings. The designer said that the roof has a significant importance for the total appearance so they used porous concrete in order to create a draining surface. The Pitagoras Arquitectos concludes that the wooden cover of this house did a lot of advantage in realizing the structure’s volume.

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The Me Too House in Valencia, Spain

A modern residence designed this year 2013 is going to be our house for the day. This is a residential house located in Sagunto, Valencia, Spain. It possessed a minimal and modest exterior with a more lavish and spacious interior. The house building is composed of four interconnected volumes and each of this volumes comprised different heights. Well, this is called Me Too House. Its incredible volumes are articulated in order to generate a huge private garden which is open for the sunlight and surrounding views to be perceived in the interior. The gray concrete and the steel columns are considered to be the main material used in developing the entire house.

Specifically, the designer made use of this gray concrete together with zinc panels and glass walls with anodized aluminum frames. The designer decided to have a half story intervals of the volumes to be able to acknowledge the adaptation of the natural slope of the area. The designer also aimed to portray a silent and simple house but can still display luxury in the interior. To be able to access the two volume of the house it opens to the north by a concrete canopy that may function as the outside parking. While on the south, you may see the lobby and the library on the top floor. Now let’s explore more of the luxurious images of the interior and exterior of this incredible Me Too House below.

A cantilevered volume is shown in this building design through the entrance of this house.

Here is the spacious exterior of the house with the vast green plants and grass in the surroundings.

You may take a look at the lap pool installed in this vast garden where the client can find comfort and a stress free zone.

This living space may be simple but you can see how the designer displayed some paintings that will make this space more attractive.

The beautiful views in the exterior can still be seen with the glass walls.

We can say that this interior has really a great work of art.

Stairs play the most important role in connecting the different parts of this house.

High quality and latest type of fixtures are used in the kitchen to provide a more convenient time for the homeowner to do his activities here.

This wooden stair seems to invite the guests to explore the second level of the house.

White paint is used in the interior together with the furniture and mattresses here that made this look clean and comfortable.

The designer used modern fixture and LED lights to underline the concept of this bathroom.

The natural light can freely enter the bathroom from the skylight.

The lighting utilized in the buildings are very effective to make this house stands out in the night.

In the exterior, the designer chooses to install some LEDs to highlight the geometrical volume of the house design.

Here is a small lap swimming pool that may be a great feature of the house.

The designer said that this house is divided into day and night area. The day area is divided into 2 volumes with one story each; one for the kitchen, service area and living room. Also the bathroom is located in a two-story volume with the top floor for the parents and that in the ground floor for the children. Another feature of this house is the cross ventilation system that is capable of eliminating the artificial air conditioning which is normally used especially during summer.

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The Incredible Purotu Bach in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Today, we will be showing you a holiday home set in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. This is successfully designed by Studio MWA. This is surrounded by lush vegetation with the incredible views of Miritu Bay. The site is combined with two individual lots with the total area of 4611 square meters, with the building platform which is elevated for about 10 meters above the sea level.

This seems like a pretty positioned cottage with a single storied two bedroom building in a plain weatherboard finish and pitched Colorsteel roof. This house was settled into the native bush. The designer revealed that they also spend one weekend with the clients to be able to better understand their demands on how they would improve the old cottage.

Thus, the designer simply incorporated the open plan kitchen, dining, living area with fireplace (wood burner) 3 double bedrooms and all with a good orientation and views. It has a separate studio, office area, and laundry-changing room with exterior shower, main complete bathroom and a separate toilet. Meanwhile, the exterior is also very functional and it needs to be incorporating with the existing spa. Now why don’t we check the interior and exterior spaces of this Puroto Bach house as we see the images below.

See how the designer come up with a better idea on putting this cottage house in the middle of this green tall trees and beautiful landscape.

Glass wall material and wood are used in building the structure of the edifice to maintain its sustainability.

From above, you will see the amazing view when you stand in the terrace and enjoys the fresh air.

The geometrical concept in the structure is also displayed in the entrance.

Now you will see the different lines, shapes and textures applied here by the designer to come up with different dimensions, too.

Here is the open living space where you can access the kitchen and living space at the same time.

See how the designer used the newest and innovative kitchen furniture and fixture to show the modern concept here.

The dining space is found next the kitchen where they can enjoy the sight of the exterior because of the glass walls here.

Unique comfort and style is seen in the kind of mattress and pillow used here while they can still take advantage of the exterior.

The large space in this room is perfectly consumed by the designer by putting the high quality furniture.

Here is another spacious bedroom where it can allow the sun’s rays to freely enter the bedroom for natural light.

Neat and clean bathroom is well displayed here that definitely shows the perfect smooth texture of the fixture.

You may see the lines and shapes in the roof of this house that emphasize its quality and standard.

The panoramic views are one of the most important features that this house can naturally offer.

The designer also used the unique lightings in the interior to prove its luxurious concept as well.

Hence, the designer decided to remove the existing cottage and they rotated the new building to capture an even better orientation and view. To capture the amazing views of the environment they stretched the building’s form along the existing contours. The front of the building is occupied with an extensive deck and acts as an extension from the open plan interiors. The back of the house is dedicated for services as it includes the bathroom, separate toilet and laundry. There is also an internal street-gallery, intimate private courtyard with outdoor seating, spa and outdoor shower that is capable of capturing the beautiful sunsets at the back of the stunning view to the front.

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The Rustic Modern Design of Burlingame Residence in California

Most modern home these would have that sleek and clean look while making sure that they are functional. But there are some designers who are successful in fusing or combining different design styles to come up with a unique house for their clients. One best example for this is the rustic modern home design inBurlingame, California. As we have mentioned, this is a fusion of modern, rustic, luxurious and even green design.

We won’t wonder why this home is so cleverly designed because it is a collaboration of two teams of brilliant minded individuals- the Toby Long Design and the Cipriani Studios Design. The exterior of the house made use of wood, concrete and cladding tiles. The subtle use of stones in the columns made it look more beautiful. What added to the warm and welcoming aura of this home are the lush green surroundings outdoors and the incorporation of nature in the interior design. We will give you a look into the home’s interior so you could understand what we mean by this.

Another good aspect of this home is its seemingly transparent look as it used floor to ceiling windows. Wide windows allowed natural light to enter the house giving it a breezy and airy feel. There is also a terrace equipped with an outdoor kitchen as well as a seating area where the homeowners could spend their time relaxing while enjoying the serene touch of nature. Well, did we say so much about it already? Why don’t we let the images speak about the beauty we have talking about. Scroll down and have a view of the Burlingame Residence:

With this kind of exterior, no one could resist to get inside this home. It made use of wooden stairs and flooring for the terrace. Also the roof eaves were covered with wooden spandrel making it look totally stunning.

A modern fireplace is placed outside with comfy dining and living areas in the terrace. In this image, you can closely see the beautiful details of the stones.

An outdoor kitchen is ideal for families who love to spend time outdoors. The position and location of this kitchen used space wisely.

This is just one of the living rooms. This part is located on the elevated area at the left side of the house. The gray walls didn’t hinder to make this place have that cozy feel.

This is the living room that welcomes guests who passes through the terrace. Aside from the lovely carpet and furniture in neutral hues, you can also observe the modular wall system that has plenty of storage spaces.

Remember the nature thingy we mentioned in the introduction? This is the part we are talking about. You can see an indoor garden near the stairs. Isn’t this divine?

Dining seats in printed black and white give this dining area more life.

In this view, you could see the kitchen island as well as the living room. This house is quite spacious, isn’t it?

The kitchen is equipped with everything the homeowner needs for food preparation and the ambience with browns make it look more cozy.

It would really be nice to have a patio outside a bedroom. The interior design of this bedroom is simple but the view from the outside is splendid!

This could be the master’s bedroom having gray prints for the bed cover which is one of the colors used in this home’s interior. You can notice that this bedroom is carpeted unlike the previous one which has wooden tiles for the flooring.

Again, gray was used for this interior. The decorative circles for the wall tiles match the prints we see in the living room and dining room.

You can notice that the vanity with dual lavatory is designed similar to the modular system in the kitchen and living room. This house was really designed with coherence in mind.

Let us take a look at the outdoor area. Concrete planters were used to match the exterior of the house. The pavers also look so modern.

With the large windows, this house would be a head turner in a distance due to the lights that is seen from the outside. This image is a proof that the house is designed to get a transparent look.

Let us give this house a one last glance by taking a look at the rear part of it. It sure has strong sleek lines in it. Stone was use more on this side of the house.

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