Scott Residence-Lebanon, PA This residence's owners undertook a whole-house remodel, with the following goals in mind: upgrading their 50-year-old home to reflect their environmental concerns, providing a suitable space to display their collection of art and sculpture, and creating a personal sanctuary for themselves and their pets. In the past, architects have looked to the green marketplace mainly for nontoxic and sustainable materials. But more and more, it is becoming a source for truly innovative and beautiful products. As a result, the Scott residence transcends the designation of "environmentally responsible house" to become something more like a large-scale art project. Each component serves a functional need and contributes to the goal of 100 percent sustainability, all while creating a pure sense of delight. Architect: Nest Architecture Inc.
The Shell Pool-S. Barrington, IL The pool house design is a three-level affair (two stories above grade and one below) and features an 18-by-40-foot ellipse pool, spa, children's pool, and sauna as well as a full array of cooking, dining, and entertainment amenities. The clamshell that opens over the swim channel between the indoor and outdoor pools has become the project's icon. The custom tile mosaic depicts the flowing form of a chiffon scarf draped across the steps and down into the elliptical pool. The outdoor pool includes a mosaic reef on the floor of the pool as well as a curving vanishing-edge feature that flows to a lower level patio. Architect: Platinum Poolcare/Hollander Architects
Park Boulevard- Chicago, IL This 21-unit, mixed-income condominium building is part of Phase I within a 33-acre, four phase development that will encompass more than 1,300 housing units when complete. The overall plan provides replacement housing for the Chicago Housing Authority's Stateway Gardens. Building facades reflect the diverse architectural nature of the surrounding Bronzeville neighborhood and IIT campus. Long facades are modulated through a variety of materials and their subtle variation. Brick is deployed in various color combinations. Metal balconies, canopies, and copings adopt both ribbed and smooth articulation. Architect: UrbanWorks Ltd.
Prospect House-Seattle, WA Prospect House is the result of celebrating a stunning Seattle panorama while accommodating a modest budget and a family with two young children. The house honors the owner's desire for a domestic refuge while maximizing the experience of its location. The project began with the domestic and the planting of two gabled, bearing-wall "houses" deep into the hillside. These contain rooms requiring enclosure, and they give the house the conventional street façade that the neighborhood deserves. The steel-framed "glass box" occupies the view façade and sews the houses together. These simple parts, simply combined, create complex social and spatial relationships within the house. The budget required basic construction usingoff-the-shelf parts. The greatest technical effort went into the design of the two-story window wall: residential wood windows assembled as a true curtain wall. Architect: Janof/Hald Architecture
The Plaza Irvine-Irvine, CA The Plaza Irvine is a timeless condominium high-rise development blending contemporary architecture and luxury amenities into resort-style living. As one of the first for-sale, high-rise residential developments in Orange County, it created a vibrant vertical neighborhood where residents socialize and interact as if they were living in street-level single-family units. The matching towers embrace the region's climate and surroundings through design that artfully balances indoor and outdoor living with privacy and views. Rising 15 stories to take advantage of an urban location with dramatic sight lines and a sunny, temperate clime, the dual towers endow each condo with a seven-foot deep balcony that invites enjoyment of the outdoors and expands the amount of living space. High-quality construction materials, neutral palette, and floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors, define Southern California living. Architect: MVE & Partners
Mountaintop House Cloister-Mt. Desert Island, ME The linear "cloister" shown here links the main rooms of the first floor of a mountain camp overlooking a harbor in Maine. The cloister is a one-story shed along the south flank of this two-story house, which lowers the scale on the side facing the main outdoor living space. Cedar shingles clad the interior of this passageway, giving it a rustic, outdoor character and differentiating it from the living spaces, which are finished with horizontal fir boards. The cloister also defines the principal axis of the house, which is perpendicular to the slope of the site. With this orientation, the first floor steps downward, while the second floor remains constant. The main living spaces, which open off the cloister, progress with increasingly high ceilings from cozy at the entry level to grand facing the view. Architect: Albert, Righter & Tittmann Architects
Meditation Hut III "Victor"- Champaign, IL The owners of a forested property wanted a quiet space to observe nature. Entry is across a visually kinetic approach ramp and through an obscured door detailed like the cedar walls. Inside an oversized window creates a composed view of mature trees. Adjacent to this is a miniature tea cabinet. A raised platform in the main space supports three tatami mats. The location along the north pond edge allowed the development of several effluvial sensations. Throughout the day water reflections are projected onto the soffit. The roof channels rainwater to a central spout over the pond. A horizontal window in the tatami room frames a meditative fragment of water. The floor of glossy ebonized birch has the sensation of a deep still pool--the grass tatami mats become an island within an island. The result is an interior volume that is protective and serene but alive with subtle energy. Architect: Jeffery S. Poss Architect
Lake Island Camp-Central New Hampshire This lake camp was designed for clients in 1969, and 40 years later they returned to design another camp on an adjacent part of the same land. The prismatic roof of the new Lake Island Camp is perhaps its most striking feature, recalling the angular roof of its predecessor. The exposed framing shown here in the living room emphasizes the Origami-like roof folds. The complex roof lends spatial excitement to a simple, rectangular plan. The double-sided fireplace is the focal point in the otherwise open living, dining, and kitchen area. Local granite on the chimney transitions into brick as it passes through the roof. Cavities in the open stud spaces provide ready-made places for bookshelves. Architect: Albert, Righter & Tittmann Architects
Prospect Plaza-Brooklyn, NY Prospect Plaza is a multifamily building designed to resemble a series of townhouses, occupying one entire city block in the Ocean Hill/Brownsville area of Brooklyn, NY. The building's appearance is a fusion of traditional Brooklyn brownstone design with more modern elements within the setback. This better articulates the facades along the street and revitalizes the community with a more refreshed appearance. Canopied entrances with front stoops employ colors to differentiate between residences and rear yards and outdoor areas afford residents greater community interaction. Architect: IMagnusson Architecture and Planning PC
Oak Court Residence- Dallas, TX Designed in 1956 by Edward Durell Stone, Oak Court represented a significant residential achievement in the architect's worldwide body of work. Stone's original design alludes to the climate similarities between Dallas and his concurrently designed U.S. Embassy in New Delhi -- which both feature courtyards and integrated water features. This restoration project begun in 2004 required an approach that balanced these aspects: respecting a rigorous nine-foot grid throughout the home and its surrounds and rectifying numerous insensitive modifications to the home over the years. The iconic dining room lagoon was fully restored to its original state of importance, and the courtyards were artfully integrated with living spaces. Architect: Buchanan Architecture
