The Villa | Libeskind | Architecture

The Villa - Libeskind Signature Series

Like a crystal growing from rock, a dramatic structure emerges from the ground.
The Villa, Daniel Libeskind’s first signature series home, creates a new dialogue between contemporary living and a completely new experience of space.
Built from premium materials, this German-made, sculptural living space meets the highest standards in design, craftsmanship and sustainability.
It is unique at every turn, offering maximum insulation and durability, cutting-edge technologies and compliance with some of the toughest energy-saving standards across the world.
Studio Daniel Libeskind worked with proportion GmbH on this project.

Libeskind’s Villa awakens the senses: light floods through glass expanses, clean lines invite calm, elegant halls and staircases offer seamless transitions. Symbolically and physically, the Villa’s connection with nature is uninterrupted, offering ample natural light and open spaces.

A trio of interlocking architectural bands envelop the Villa in striking angles, creating a dramatic, asymmetrical interior of spiraling, two-story peaks and smooth transitions to secluded terraces. The impressive entrance hall leads to an elaborate Grand Room which highlights the geometric space.

Design details reveal style and functionality: A balcony adjacent to the master bedroom is adorned with elaborate metalwork; light wells direct daylight into a sauna; and recessed wardrobes streamline dressing spaces.

High-tech façadeMimicking the Jewish Museum in Berlin and other architectural masterpieces by Daniel Libeskind, the Villa’s exterior is enveloped by an elegant standing-seam zinc façade, which enables the use of 21st Century technologies such as a solar thermal system and a rain water harvesting system.

The zinc cladding is available in two hues that resemble naturally aged zinc: the popular pre-weathered blue-gray, and the elegant graphite-gray, both made by leading German zinc manufacturer Rheinzink.

Large floor-to-ceiling windows create dazzling displays of sunlight and transparency inside the house. The aluminum façade, adorned with mullions and concealed fittings, offers maximum thermal insulation, noise reduction and weather resistance. Homeowners may choose from double or triple low-E glazing, as well as different surface colors and finishes.
Casual style interiorThe dramatic look of the Villa’s exterior is matched by a luxurious interior. Among the exquisite amenities is the stunning kitchen ensemble, situated in the Grand Room, with a custom made island designed by Daniel Libeskind – an attractive focal point for cooking, dining and entertaining.

Elegant smoked parquet flooring, slim stainless steel staircases, and soft, bright manufactured stones in the bathrooms distinguish the Casual Style, which evokes a sense of warmth and comfort. Plush lounges, intimate lighting and warm colors, best suited to the Casual Style, create a striking contrast with the exterior architecture and more stylistic elements of the Villa.

Design and MaterialsSustainable materials are at the heart of Libeskind’s design. While not apparent from the exterior, the Villa is largely constructed of wood, a renewable resource that is making a strong comeback as a key building material for the 21st Century, due to its impressive carbon-storing capabilities.

The wooden core offers maximum thermal insulation, and thus efficient operation. With more than 360 mm of recyclable wooden fibers and a heat transition coefficient of 0.11 W/m²K, the insulation of the Villa’s exterior walls matches that of passive houses.

Onsite Renewables The Villa employs onsite renewable energy sources for heating, electricity and water. Its standard configuration includes a solar thermal system which is invisibly integrated into the zinc façade, as well as a geothermal system with a high-efficiency heat pump.
In addition, electric power may be generated from photovoltaic thin film, while rain water can be harvested from the rooftop for use in the garden’s irrigation system.
Energy Saving StandardsAs a result of its high thermal insulation capabilities and renewable energy sources, the Villa is classified as a low-energy structure. Indeed, it complies with some of the world’s toughest energy-saving standards, such as Germany’s KfW40 code, which indicates a thermal energy consumption of less than 40 kWh/m²a.

A new era of luxuryThe Villa can be shipped to almost any location in the world within months, and will be assembled on location by a team of experts within weeks.

The Villa - Libeskind Signature Series

Completion: 2009

Client: proportion GmbH
Technical Details: Building Area:515 sq m

Building Footprint: 26m x 22m, max height 11m

Building Details:Spacious room layout with a grand central room, 4 bedrooms, family room, multiple bath and restrooms, office and multi-purpose rooms in basement

Structure:Wood frame construction with maximum thermal insulation and noise reduction
Credits:Structural Engineer:Martin Augenstein, Werner ZuberBuilding Engineers:Hans-Dieter Hammer, Roland JockelConsulting Architect:Achim DannenbergImage Credits:©Screen ID: Images 2-7©SDL: Images 1, 8-11WebsiteLibeskind Villa

MTC/MRC Theatre and Recital Centre | ARM | Architecture

At night the white painted steel pipes of the MTC Theatre appear to be made of light, while the painted forms within the foyer add to the three-dimensional illusions.

Photos: John Gollings

The new MTC Theatre and Melbourne Recital Centre stand side-by-side in Southbank, Melbourne's arts precinct. Both projects were designed by Ashton Raggatt McDougall and constructed simultaneously, but each has its own distinct character. The aesthetic of the MTC Theatre was derived from the interior's main theatre and the metal frames backstage that function as scaffolds for performance sets. This involved the imitation of mechanical forms, as well as inspiration from paintings by Al Held, an American modern artist. The ornamental pipework on the exterior is continued into the interior of the foyer. Internally there is a play with three-dimensional pipework and two-dimensional painted pipework on the walls.

Standing side-by-side in Southbank, Melbourne - the MTC Theatre and the Melbourne Recital Centre.

The Melbourne Recital Hall's robust concrete exterior form is in contrast with the MTC Theatre. The form of the Melbourne Recital Hall is taken from the idea of the "white polystyrene packing device that, set within a cardboard box, cradles a precious consumer item, such as a computer." Like a packing device, the Melbourne Recital Centre holds something precious - the interior of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is lined with finely crafted timber. Optimum acoustic conditions are achieved through the variable layered "grain", out of which might coalesce images to amuse concert-goers with wandering eyes.

The sculpted interior of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall (MRC), the precious object cradled within the Recital Centre.

The main stair to the upper-level foyer of the MTC Theatre.

The grand stair to the upper-level foyer and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall (MRC) is enlivened by views of the city and puts concert-goers on show.

The moulded forms of the Melbourne Recital Centre entry foyer.

MTC/MRC Theatre and Recital Centre 2009

Melbourne Victoria

Architecture Ashton Raggatt McDougall Melbourne

Structural Engineer Bonacci Group

Acoustic and Theatre consultant Arup comprising Arup Acoustics

Theatreplan LLP (theatre plan) Entertech/RTM International (theatre technology)

LandscapeRushWright Associates

Ashton Raggatt McDougall Portfolio in PDF

Tattoo House | Maynard Architects | Architecture

An extension to an existing 3 bedroom house in Fitzroy North to provide new living and kitchen space for a growing young family.
Many of the design decisions were generated by the tight budget. The form is a simple box- the strongest form an architect can achieve at a bargain basement price.

Every element needed to perform multiple functions for maximum return- hence the kitchen bench becomes part of the stair, and the screening required by council reflects heat and glare away from the expansive windows, neatly eliminating the need for curtains.

Council requirements regarding overlooking which dictate a 75% opacity to second-storey spaces are resolved by UV stable stickers rather than expensive and elaborate screening. The tree supergraphic creates playful and ever-changing shadows across the interior spaces and is composed of images taken in the local park.

Despite these challenges a double story, non-domestic scale space was achieved with a basic palette of materials.

Council requirements regarding overlooking which dictate a 75% opacity to second-storey spaces are resolved by UV stable stickers rather than expensive and elaborate screening. The tree supergraphic creates playful and ever-changing shadows across the interior spaces and is composed of images taken in the local park.

The tattoo was conceived a continuation of the tree graphic around the dumb white box- to soften the impact of this modern addition to a resolutely 19th-century neighbourhood.
Furthermore the design was a neighbourly gesture. The household to the west has a lush cultivated garden which is very important to the resident. A stencil of vegetation was created in-house and applied by the AMA team in a covet operation to give the neighbour an additional layer of garden.

Photography by Peter Bennetts and Cara WisemanBuilder : Renovation One

Winner - Master Builders national award 2008
Winner - Master Builders Victorian award 2008
“The best renovations of 2007” - The AGE
“While the new volumes are generous, so are the ideas” - MARK magazine
Mocoloco’s top 5 for 2007 - mocoloco.com

UTS Design Competition | Denton Corker Marshall | Architecture

Denton Corker Marshall wins UTS design competition

Architects Denton Corker Marshall have won the design completion for a new state-of-the-art building for the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the corner of Broadway and Wattle Streets in Sydney.


The $170 million building, designed to strong environmentally sustainable principles, provides for 12 levels of research laboratories, lecture theatres, seminar rooms, teaching laboratories and academic offices.



The building is seen as a singular sculptural object, with floor levels concealed within the skin. The basic volume is broken or eroded by a ‘crevasse’ giving pedestrian access through the building and connecting with the surrounding locality. The volume of the building is then covered by four tilted and skewed plates – one for each façade. These form a series of triangular openings at the corners which extend to ground level, allowing access and visual penetration.

The surface of each plate is creased to form a series of ‘gills’, visually reinforcing the sense of plate as skin and creating a semi-transparent screen. Further permeability is established by perforating the skin of each plate. Using the ‘1’s and ‘0s’ of binary code, the alphabetical character string for ‘University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Engineering and information Technology’ is translated and re-worked to create a perforated pattern on the skins.

The design targets a minimum 5-star Green Star rating, with an energy saving strategy expected to deliver a 30% to 45% energy saving over benchmark tertiary educational buildings with similar functional spaces.

Wilton Poolhouse | Hariri & Hariri | Residencial Architecture

This 1200 square feet structure was designed as a minimalist sculpture in the landscape. It is part of a 3.5 Acre property in Connecticut. The architecture of this pool house is in contrast to the traditional architecture of the existing house yet the design sets up a dialogue between the two.

The architecture of the pool house hovers over a 48'x20' pool like a vessel in the water. On the North there is a spa and an outdoor/indoor shower, and on the south there is a roofed veranda acting as an indoor/outdoor dinning area with a large opening on the wall framing the landscape beyond. The area around the pool becomes a sunken courtyard paved in travertine with steps and walls of stone.

The interior of this pool house contains a living/entertainment room, kitchen and bar area, simple bathroom and variety of terraces and decks. It is enclosed by series of metal and glass sliding panels that would allow the structure to be transparent and open up towards outside. A wall of green mosaic tiles cover the wet areas (both inside and out side showers) and becomes part of the main composition of the facade bringing color and tactility to the place.

The main frame and the ceiling of the structure are in Ipe wood (Brazilian Walnut) and make the place warm, nautical and sculptural at the same time. The wood floors stretch out from the interior hovering over the pool and becoming a deck for reflecting and simply sitting around and putting your toes in the water.

A fire pit on the south side of the structure creates an intimate space on the end of the terrace for gathering around in the cold, making marshmallows and enjoying the place.
LOCATION Wilton, CT
TOTAL LOT AREA3.5 acres
TOTAL POOLHOUSE AREA1,200 sf plus 3,630 sq ft of pool and stone terrace
PROGRAM Spa, pool, indoor/outdoor living space, bath, kitchen
COST $500 per square foot including pool and all landscaping
STATUS Completed 2007
Image Credit Paul Warchol

Big Dig House | SsD | Architecture

Lexington, MA 2006
[AIA/BSA Housing Design Award, Metropolis Magazine Feature, Boston Globe Arts Feature, Business Week Feature]

As a prototype building that demonstrates how infrastructural refuse can be salvaged and reused, the structural system for this house is comprised of steel and concrete discarded from Boston’s Big Dig utilizing over 600,000 lbs of salvaged materials from elevated portions of the dismantled I-93 highway. Planning the reassembly of the materials in as if it were a pre-fab system, subtle spatial arrangements are created. These materials however are capable of carrying much higher loads than standard structure, easily allowing the integration of large scale roof gardens. Most importantly, the project demonstrates an untapped potential for the public realm: with strategic front-end planning, much needed community programs including schools, libraries, and housing could be constructed whenever infrastructure is deconstructed, saving valuable resources, embodied energy, and taxpayer dollars

Within 2 days, the house is framed: reusing steel structure and roadway panels from the big dig has sped up this phase of construction from 2 weeks to 12 hours.

To minimize fabrication time and expense, the structural pieces were reused as-is.

Salvaged structural materials are left raw. The roof garden connects to the living room and utilizes harvested rainwater .
Window walls in conjunction with double height spaces bring natural light deep in the space while exterior overhangs shade summer sun.

 

construction sequence

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
John Hong AIA /LEED, Jinhee Park AIA (principals in charge), Erik Carlson, Sadmir Ovcina, Chris Minor

structural design & construction
Paul Pedini, Jay Cashman, Inc.

structural engineer
Weidlinger Associates, Inc.

water management design
Cristina Perez-Pedini