The project is for a renovation of an existing single-story residential building. The client wanted to retain the existing structure and build an extension on the second floor.
The ground floor's exterior walls remained the same, but we removed some of the interior partitions to accommodate the stairs. To make the ground floor spacious, we opted for an open floor plan and sliding glass doors that opens to the garage. The garage also serves as an extension of the dining and living room area.
To maximize usable space, we laid out the second-floor rooms around the family room. A shared bathroom serves the three bedrooms on the upper ground, while the master bedroom has a separate master bathroom.
The interior design of a building is only as good as the furniture that fills it. Placing unique and interesting furniture in an area enhances the interior. This unique furniture sometimes becomes the focal point of a space.
I have always been fond of one-of-a-kind furniture pieces. I like furniture that is simple, sleek, and multifunctional. I also like furniture that is space-saving or can be tucked away and remain unobtrusive.
Some of the fascinating furniture pieces I found are works of art. There is also furniture that involves highly technical skills. These are the furniture that has a lot of highly accurate moving parts.
Due to the skills needed to create these unique pieces, these usually cost higher than regular furniture. If the budget is not a concern, then I would recommend these to my clients.
Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the architects who got me interested in architecture. My interest in architecture began when I saw the Solomon Guggenheim Museum from a chase scene in Men in Black.
After watching the movie, I did some research on the house. I found out that Architect Frank Lloyd Wright-designed the building in the late fifties. Given that the building was 24 years older than me, it looked like it was only newly built. It looked new compared to most of the buildings in Cebu back then.
Stairs are an integral part of a multi-level structure. We use it to gain access to different floors of a building. The downside with stairs is that it occupies a lot of space. Space has become scarce in urban areas, and designers are trying to find ways to optimize the use of every inch of space. Below are some of the clever stair design solutions that maximize the use of space.
1. 1m2 Stairs Eastairs
Designed by Eastairs, it is a metal spiral staircase that occupies 1 square meter. The stairs are prefabricated and assembled on site. It has a sleek design reminiscent of modern sculpture.
2.Zoku's Retractable Stair Design
One of Zoku's key designs is the retractable stairs that tuck away inside the cabinets. This ingenious design hides the stairs away when unused, freeing more valuable space inside the tiny area.
House MKA11 is a renovation for a two-storey residential building. The site had 585 square meters, and the building only occupied half of the lot area.
The client initially hired me to design the interior of the building. The client's original plan was to use the ground floor as his residence and utilize the second floor as an office for his outsourcing company.
Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese architect who won the Pritzker Prize in 1995. He creates beautiful structures using exposed precast concrete and highlights this material's beauty in most of his projects. He uses complex circulation spaces, yet most of his projects are sleek and straightforward.
The use of natural light through skylights and light wells are typical among his works. Tadao Ando uses natural light to enhance the interior space. He uses it to create dramatic transitions and contrast in his spaces.
His works complement the site. He uses well designed landscaped spaces to complement the structures he designs. Tadao Ando has designed several museums, and each one of them is unique.
His museums are exceptionally designed. People visit his museums not just for the art but for the building itself. Below are 15 of Tadao Ando's museum projects.
1. Kumamoto Prefectural Ancient Burial Mound Museum, Kumamoto, Japan (1992)
Completed in April 1992, zenpokoenfun was the basis of the design of the museum. Zenpokoenfun is a large keyhole-shaped tomb mount.
There is something about watching looping videos that relaxes our minds. It can be videos of mundane things repeated several times or weird, surreal looped videos. Looped videos have this unique effect on our minds. It makes our minds want to watch more and see something different might happen.
Tiny living spaces have always been of interest to me. It always astounds me how a well-designed small space can still offer comfort to the user. There is one project that is an excellent example of the quality of tiny homes. The Micro Compact Home (m-ch), designed by Richard Horden, has introduced me to well-designed tiny homes.
The project led by Architect Richard Horden was a collaboration between student teams at the Technical University, TIT Tokyo, and Haak and Hopfner Architects. The team designed in 2005 for short stay accommodation for students and business use.
Learning how to color correct your is crucial if you want your photos to look good. In-camera white balance is accurate most of the time. Cameras have a hard time determining proper white balance when there are multiple light sources with different colors. The camera will have a hard time picking which color to pick if there are two or more light colors within the picture.
The rainy season is about to start, and with it comes flooding. Flooding is a significant problem in a lot of cities in the Philippines. Trash accumulation in the drainage system is one of the root causes of flooding.
Another cause for flooding is the growing number of impervious layers in most cities. Most of the ground in developed areas is impervious materials. Runoff increases as we develop more areas of our environment. Lesser water infiltrates the soil.
Located on the second floor of a commercial building in Mandaue City, the project has a floor area of approximately 130 square meters. The project was a redesign of an existing office. It had existing concrete walls and a movable partition.
We had to remove everything except for most of the concrete partitions. The wanted a bright and open interior. The space requirements were an open space for the office staff. A separate office for the manager and supervisor. A repair room and storage area. A soundproof conference room and an office pantry with ample seating space.
Grand Designs is a British television series produced by Boundless and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects.
The program has been presented by Kevin McCloud since it first aired in April 1999, and more than 200 episodes have been broadcast in twenty series.
Grand Designs New Zealand is a New Zealand television series on TV3. It is based on the British television series Grand Designs, and it is presented by the architect Chris Moller. It began airing in New Zealand on 4 October 2015
Proper scene exposure is a problem most beginners encounter in Vray. Back when I started learning Vray, my workflow was long and tedious. I did all my exposure corrections manually. If I have an underexposed image, I make changes to the physical camera parameters. I render the scene again and examine the output for proper exposure. It always took me several tries before I get the appropriate exposure.
I've always relied on post-processing to improve the dynamic range of my rendering. Wide dynamic range scenes happen when there is a wide gap between the dark and light areas of a scene, usually in interior scenes, when the outside is visible from the inside. Interior scenes facing windows or sliding doors exposed to sunlight are the typical wide dynamic range scenes.
If your space is small, you must maximize the use of all your space. The bed is one of the biggest pieces of furniture in your home. The bed is one of the pieces of furniture you can optimize to serve multiple functions.
Furniture is dependent on the function of a particular area, and most of the time, these functions are not used simultaneously. You can optimize your bed by overlapping other tasks in the same place.
There are several ways to make your space multifunctional through your bed. Each bed design provides various solutions for particular problems.
Utilizing vertical space is essential when space is limited. One of the simplest ways to use vertical space is to add a usable space on top. Loft beds provide users with the flexibility of using the bottom area for a different function. Use the bottom area as an office, entertainment area, or closet space.
Loft beds are affordable and straightforward solutions to maximizing space. The simplicity of the design is applicable in most small areas. A carpenter or welder can quickly build it. It is available in a lot of furniture stores. Loft beds are movable and easy to transfer to a separate area, and they can simultaneously use the functions.
The sleeping area is independent of the bottom area. Access to your bed is not easy. Due to the height of the bed, it is not safe for very young or old users. Low ceiling areas can't use loft beds.
2. Elevator Bed
Another method to utilize vertical space is by using Elevator Beds. Elevator beds provide two various functions on the same spot. Raising the bed to the ceiling allows the use of the area below. Elevator beds are an excellent option to hide a bed out of sight.
It takes time to set up and set aside the bed. This option is complicated and requires specific hardware, and installation is more complicated, resulting in improper installation. The motor can malfunction and leave the bed stuck. Installation areas for this bed are limited and need to be anchored to a structural component to support the load.
One of the projects that started my interest in small interiors was the Swiss Army Knife. This project was designed by architect Robert Garneau. He introduced a range of clever design solutions that maximizes small interior.
Swiss Army Knife
Architect Robert Garneau used multi-functionality to maximize the available space. The use of an adjustable dining table that doubles as a kitchen counter. A sofa that can be rearranged into a bed. These solutions combined. This design allowed the architect to combine two areas into a single space.
A beautiful kitchen will have an impact on the value of a house. Finding a contractor who can meet your budget and expectations can be a difficult task. Below are some of Cebu 's modular kitchen contractors. If you know any kitchen contractors in Cebu, please leave a comment below.
Small interiors are becoming more common in urbanized cities. Making a small interior look huge is one of the challenges facing architects and interior designers. Some designers use optical illusions to make space appear larger, while others use innovative technology to maximize small spaces.
Peter Dahmen is a German paper artist and pop-up designer. He has created a variety of beautiful paper sculptures. Some of his works are very complex geometric sculptures, which almost seem to have been printed in 3D. Check out some of his work on his official DesignPD Youtube page.
I wanted to buy the best software when I started my architectural firm. The office that I used to worked for invested in software that I consider to be the benchmark in our industry. After careful deliberation on the cost of this software, I chose to seek alternatives to those programs that didn't break the bank. After trying out other apps, these are the ones that I personally like.
Well designed small spaces always attract people's attention. Designing something with limited space requires skill and imagination. The design solution for these small spaces is generally simple and efficient. Maximizing space is the number one priority for such projects. The lack of available space typically results in the development of multi-designed elements. It forces the designer to create three- design solutions.
