The V-House at Verana / Heinz Legler

The V-House. An amazing jungle retreat near the fishing village of Yelapa in tropical Mexico. This rustic-modern aesthetic hotel was designed by Heinz Legler, who use to own a film set construction company and Veronique Lievre, previously a set decorator, from Paris. They started this project as their personal hideaway, but it ended up construction an hotel in a 5 acre area, with infinity pool, spa, restaurants, yoga hut and 8 guest rooms.













This year they expanded their hotel with V-Houses, 5 units with 3 units for hotel staff, 2 for guests, a kitchen and a shared bathroom. This three tower-houses have a particular structure, raising from a small concrete foundation as you can see on the construction pictures. The V Houses are made out of steel, plywood and red corrugated iron roofs.














The idea to build those ‘outlooks’ came from Jo Scheer who had build his ‘hoochs’ in Puerto Rico and Oregon. He use mainly Bamboo or Douglas fir poles; we decided to use metal instead. With basically no environmental impact or foot print, those structures can be built on any type of surface condition. Flat ground, steep hills, lots of vegetation, trees, water, sand or whatever else might be in the way for any other design or construction.



















With 16’ off the ground they also created an instant spectacular view where there normally wouldn’t be one. Each room has a floor size of 16’x16’ but since all walls tilt outwards the actual space when standing is increased to 18’x18’ and by the time you look at the ceiling we are at 21’x21’.














The houses are self contained. Solar panels on top, compost toilets and all grey water is treated in our gardens. Since it was an experiment there is room for improvements and definitely a learning curve. Disadvantage, this type of design and construction would have never been approved by any building department in US.














Architect: Heinz Legler
Location: Yelapa, Mexico
Client: Verana, Hotel&Spa
Construction year: 2007
Constructed Area: 5 x 1 sqm
Interior Area: 92 sqm
Budget: USD$79,000
Photographs: Martin Kunz

Luxury Single Home Property in Las Vegas

Luxury Single Home Property in Las Vegas

Looking for a Luxury Single Home/ Property in Las Vegas..?? Maybe this can be your choice...:), The best single family property in Summerlin, Clark, Las Vegas with Nearly 13,000sf Estate on 1.5 Acres. Built in 2001 with lots of features that you can get with Golf course view, Two story, Central air conditioning, Swimming pools, Spa/hot tubs, Dining room, Den, Laundry room and many luxury features are waiting for you.


Incredible home in the enclaves 1.5 acre lot. Foyer and living room features arched ceilings. All bedroom with baths, balconies and closets. Playeroom large theater 2 offices, music and exercise room. Enormous yard with pool and spa, playground, trampoline and more.





Canary palms, rose garden & fountain, Amazing golf and mountain view. Elegant marble staircase. Maid quarters with kitchen, full bath, closets 4 car carages. Wanna know the price for this Luxury property ..?? You can have this luxury home just for $10,750,000,- .

















Interior features: Dishwasher, Disposal, Refrigerator, Separate laundry room, Full bath downstairs, Formal dining room, Separate family room, Breakfast nook (eating area), Kitchen island, Marble/Stone countertops in kitchen, Marble/Stone flooring in kitchen, Formal living room.















Walk-in closet in master bedroom, 2nd bedroom: 16X17, 3rd bedroom: 15X22, Alarm system owned, Built-in microwave, Carpet, Convection oven, Double built-in gas ovens, Electric cooktop, Marble/Stone floors, Wine refrigerator.














Exterior features: Balcony, Brick fence, Built-In barbecue, Fountain, Front lawn, Front sprinkler system, Fully fenced, Garden area, Guest quarters, Mature landscaping, Outdoor spa, Rear lawn, Rear sprinkler system.

Beach Road 2, A Single Family Residence on Jupiter Island, Florida

This Single Family Residence is one of the best beach residence i ever meet, from the picture shown that the house is really an interesting place to stay for everyone who love the beach atmosphere with all joy we can have there. The house location providing a great views to the wide open space of ocean that giving us a relieve feeling that you will never found in somewhere else.







































This Beach Road 2 residence was designed by Scott Hughes & John Umbanhowar Architect with 48,000 sq.ft Site Area and 4,100 sq.ft Built-up Area. The house itself made of three materials ( glass, aluminum boat hull and sand ), they are put together to create shelter. Sand encloses the sleeping area, Aluminum the entertaining space, and glass the contemplative living space.

































Aluminum louvers on the west facade filter western light. A lap pool on the roof increases landscaping on the site, shelters swimmers from the ocean breezes and expands views through skylights within the pool floor.

Primary components

* Ceramic fritted glass
* Aluminum louvers
* Stucco
* Italian limestone
* Polycarbonate sheeting
* Onyx
* Bulthaup kitchen





























These 3 "boxes" are arranged to take advantage of site orientation:

* The two-storey high ceramic-fritted-glass-box with views to the south;
* The sand box to the north with punched openings for privacy and soft morning light
* The central aluminum box houses the kitchen - designed as a stage set and focus for entertaining guests, and preparation plus eating of meals.






















Detail Project Description :

* Project Name: Beach Road 2
* Project Type: Single Family Residence
* Principal Designer/s: Scott Hughes & John Umbanhowar
* Design Team: Scott Hughes, Daniel Huh, Ayako Mizushiro, David Montalba, John Umbanhowar
* Contractor/s: Benchmark Homes, Gary Flynn
* Date of commencement of project: May 2004
* Date of completion of project: November 2005
* Location of site: Jupiter Island, Florida, USA
* Site Area: 48,000 sq.ft.
* Built-up Area: 4,100 sq.ft.
* Text Credit by John Umbanhowar, Courtesy of SH_Arc Scott Hughes Architects
* Photographs Credit by Ken Hayden, Courtesy of SH_Arc Scott Hughes Architects

Amazing Sinquefield House, Osage County, Missouri by Barton Phelps & Associates

Amazing Vacation House in Osage County, Missouri by Barton Phelps & Associates - Architects and Planners

About the site: a wooded limestone bluff overlooking the Osage River on a thousand acres of working farmland in the rolling Ozarks - the name derived from the explorers’ term, “aux arcs”, referring to the bows of the region’s rivers. The house initiates a rural retreat / conference center and ecological preserve for use by an extended family, youth groups, and educational institutions and its design reflects ideas about relationships between social interaction and the experience of nature.


































Design for gathering (and escaping): the building’s dual public / private use reflects a complexity of initiative and the plan establishes a graduated structure of spaces. Clusters of rooms frame the central court, itself defining a niche in the larger landscape. The pattern gives options for social interaction in family and conference modes. Lined by arcades on three sides, the courtyard functions urbanistically as the most public interior space (the entry canopy is designed as an orchestra shell) and most other spaces can be entered off it. Glass enclosures expose interior volumes to view from all sides and long sight lines connect distant points.

In winter, an overhead glass door closes the portal to shelter circulation around the courtyard. On the west, two-story bedroom suites are separated by walkways that give private routes into the woods. Sitting rooms and screened porches cantilever over the forest floor, softening the building’s landing and merging with outside.





































Landscape Change: new facilities are sited for minimal disruption of natural terrain and farm operations as surrounding woodlands and meadows undergo restoration. The new entry drive begins high on the property giving expansive views of the farm but no hint of the new house or the river beyond. The farm compound is prominent upon entering.
The road drops into the woods and road turns sharply to enter a car court. The view through the big entry portal is the dominant feature of the front of the house. Moving onto the stone-paved platform of the central courtyard, one gets a first full view of the river below. A network of roads and trails leads visitors from the house to explore selected natural features - overlooks, rock formations, old-growth glens, and limestone springs - that dot the property.







































































































Other-directed spaces: communal activities in the east wing are reached via the courtyard. Shed-roofed volumes project from the bluff, interacting differently with the outdoors. The gallery / living room extends farthest - along an axial clearing - to frame a view of the river’s southerly arc. The dining room pushes into the woods, its slanted window mullions tilting with the tree trunks beyond. In the billiard room, glazed corners give non-axial views out and back into the house.































































Duality: building form and materials emphasize variety in spatial type and heighten awareness of difference. Dualities - communal and private, open and closed, opaque and transparent, above and below, heavy and light – are emphasized to encourage comparison and allow users to prefer places for group activity or solitude. The stone masonry front and lower story anchor the building to the rock on which it is built. On three sides the battered masonry base lifts the light, wood-sided envelopes of the mostly single-story composition above the sloping site. On the east, masonry walls drop off the bluff to enclose a mezzanine exercise room and lower level swimming pool. Entered at the low end of its folded ceiling, the pool space rises to give views out amid a grove of stone piers that support the voluminous wood and glass forms above. A natural limestone bank supports a rough stone stairway that links the lower garden with the central courtyard.


































Elevated Performance: heating and cooling are produced by an extensive “groundsource” well system that transfers constant ground water temperature to heat pumps distributed in attic spaces. Space heating combines radiant slab and forced-air systems for efficiency. Pool water is heated by groundsource and kept covered when not in use. North – south orientation and deep embedment of the lower levels in natural rock reduce energy requirements. Glazing systems are thermally broken metal frames with inch - thick insulating glass. Louvered arcades reduce summer heat gain. Domestic water is supplied by wells on the property and septic systems with sand-bed filters release clean irrigation water. Fire sprinkler and hydrant systems are fed from the pool and farm pond.

















































Photography:
Timothy Hursley

Design Awards:
Tucker Design Award, Building Stone Institute, 2004
American Architecture Award, The Chicago Athenaeum, 2002
Design Award, AIA / St. Louis, 2002

Publication:
Sinquefield House, Building Stone Magazine, July/Sept, 2004
Long for the River, Colorfulness, (Beijing), June, 2004
A House at the Meeting of Two Landscapes, Places, Spring, 2002
River House, Interior Digest, (Moscow) October 2002

Broadcast Media:
Amazing Vacation Houses, The Travel Channel, Mike Mathis Productions, 2005.

Hill House, Pasific Palisade CA | by Johnston Marklee

The Hill House is designed by Johnston Marklee under condotions generated by modern problems of building on the hillside. The site, an irregular shaped lot situated on an uneven downhill slope, offfers panoramic views of Santa Monica Canyon.

The design of the house utilizes the restriction of hillside and zoning ordinance to create a spatial and structural opportinity - adopting the zoning envelope as a building form. The dynamic form minimizes disinction between roof and wall planes while maximizing the distinction between interior and exterior.
















































See the complete article here.