We continue the series featuring the winners of the the 2010 COTE Top Ten Green Projects with this house designed for the Make It Right Foundation to provide storm-resistant, affordable, and sustainable housing options for the residents of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward displaced by Hurricane Katrina. To support Make It Right's goal of building 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, this single-family home is poised for mass production, anticipating a shift from on-site to off-site fabrication as more homes are scheduled for construction.

Located in the Swiss Alpine village of Lumino, just north of Bellinzona, this house stands as a monolithic element, designed to quietly complement and echo its context.

The surrounding area is characterised by traditional stone built houses, many of which date back centuries and are marked by their use of this single construction material.

The new house is intended as a relevant response to and contemporary interpretation of the vernacular; its exposed fair face concrete construction recalls the revered strength and resonates the presence of these old stone houses. Sitting on the edge of the old village, the house acts as a sort of bastion between the old core and the modern residential expansion.

Photographs by Enrico Cano

The house’s owner, Ruth Hiller, a fine arts painter and corrective exercise specialist, purchased a 1950's single storey home located in Winter Park, Colorado.

All photographs courtesy of Bill Timmerman

Ruth, a single woman, approached Michael P. Johnson with the challenge to remodel this poorly designed building in a manner within a minimalist design ethic.

This home was designed to replace a seasonal residence originally built in 1958. The new construction 2000 SF, 3 bedroom, 2 bath home features a roof deck, outdoor kitchen, green roof, and sustainable materials. The Energy Star-rated home also received a LEED for Homes GOLD certification from the US Green Building Council.

The scope required the replacement the original building with one that reflected the client’s modern sensibilities, embodied the client’s environmental philosophy, and provided modern-day amenities for the client’s planned retirement and full time relocation to the property. The following design solutions were developed:

The home’s exterior is composed of three forms delineated by both geometry and material. The first floor consists of the Red box, which features the kitchen, living room, breakfast nook, and the Orange Box, which features the first floor bedrooms and full bath. The second floor Cedar Box houses the master suite and study. The relationship between the orange and red forms allows for a front entry that leads directly to the lake front deck. This well traveled path is delineated in stone for additional durability while the rest of the living spaces feature bamboo flooring. The site’s autumnal color palette inspired the vibrant red and orange façade colors while the Cape Cod location influenced the ship-lapped cedar siding.

One of winners AIA's 2010 Housing Awards, this California house seems crafted with a special attention to details as the different material cleverly interact, enriching the visual impact of the well proportioned volumes.


As detailed by the Architects, the house scales an uphill lot, with views to the west. Concrete walls run parallel along the side lot lines, forming the sidewalls of the house and continuing beyond to contain a protected garden. Sloping roof planes hover above, and are contained between the longitudinal concrete walls.

Photographs:
© Ethan Kaplan Photography
© Joe Fletcher Photography

Call it ‘Atelier’ or just an enclosure; the project is intriguing to say the least. A restrained budget, a simplified construction method, a creative idea and the Space was created, stripped to its bare necessities, yet powerful in its statement. The architects became the builder, and in the process produced an innovative adaptable enclosure.

We enjoyed the way Mount Fuji recalls the process that they went through. As they explain; the client wished to build an atelier that can also be utilized as a gallery and display the ceramic art that he produced as a hobby.


“Automobile is our rival to beat” they explained. With mere 1.5 million Yen (11,000 € / $16,000) that the client had originally saved to purchase a Toyota Corolla as total budget, they started our project.

All images by Mount Fuji Architects Studio

A-cero Architecture describes the design of this house as “The maximum expression of minimalism”. The house is situated in the upscale neighbourhood of “La Finca” in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), within an exclusive housing development, an area with wide green spaces, lakes and spectaculars houses, and most if them actually designed by A-cero.

The project renovates an existing house built in the 1950’s. The original house was well constructed, but, with 7’-6” ceilings and a stair segregating the main living spaces, it lacked spatial hierarchy and volume. In addition, the existing house failed to take advantage of its remarkable site, which offers spectacular views to the north and west across Puget Sound.