Balance Associates Architects have designed a house in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The Capitol Hill Residence is located on a ridge with a 180 degree view of the surrounding lakes and mountains. The form of the house cantilevers off its concrete base on three sides in order to stay within the footprint of the previous house.

A majority of the glazing is located on the eastern side of the house to capture the view and to provide privacy from neighbors. The center section of the house is designed as a translucent slot to filter daylight into the core. This area serves as the main circulation space in the house and is planned to contain a translucent stair and bridge. Sustainable systems include a rain water catchment system in the form of an entry water feature, solar panels, and solar shading in addition to our standard sustainable building practices such as high levels of insulation, low-e glazing, and selection of environmentally friendly materials. Photography: Steve Keating. Via: contemporist.

Studio Fuksas have completed the Tbilisi Public Service Hall in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Tbilisi Public Service Hall is situated in the central area of the city and it overlooks the Kura river. The building is 28.000 mq. It is made up of 7 volumes that contain offices (each volume is made up of 4 floors located on different levels). These volumes are placed around a ”central public square”, which is the core of the project,  where there is the front office services. Offices are connected to each other by internal footbridges that stretches on different levels.

Volumes and the central public space are towered above by 11 big ”petals” that are independent both formally and structurally from the rest of the building. Three of those big petals covers the central space. The petals, different for their geometry and dimension, reaches almost 35 meters and they are supported by a structure of steel pillars with a tree shape, visible, as well as the petals, externally and internally from the building. The Tbilisi Public Service Hall includes: the National Bank of Georgia, the Minister of Energy, the Civil and National Registry. via : contemporist.

Kariouk Associates have designed the Chelsea Hill house near Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Project description: Design Challenge: The logistical challenge was to create within a small home a segregation of spaces for the very different habits (privacy, acoustical, tidiness, etc.) of teenagers and adults while avoiding choppy spaces.

Design Solution: The house is conceived as a very simple masonry volume: “the foundation of the family” which overlooks a beautiful river valley.  The spaces most used by the teenagers, their bedrooms, a TV area, and sports equipment storage, are all placed on the ground level. Durable surfaces such as a radiant concrete floor are used throughout this level. The formal areas of the house, the living area, dining area, kitchen, but also the master bedroom and bathroom, are all located upstairs and, as such, are given the most privileged views. Here, as well as on the stairway that leads to the main living level, more rich materials such as wood floors and glass railings are introduced with higher ceilings.  While all of the noisy and messy areas fall out of view by being placed directly beneath the living areas, the two levels are joined by the double-height entryway and hallway below.  In this way, the primary living level is perceived to float lightly above the serene vista beyond.  Though the home is constructed of fundamentally simple, industrial materials, one significant “cushy” indulgence was included: a bathtub suspended in the double-height space that looks over the valley.  This tub, sunken in the floor, is accessed from the master bedroom and, if needed, is closed off from the adjacent living area by a sliding frosted-glass screen.

The lightness of the interior living area is contrasted by the solidity of the exterior.  In response to the project’s very modest budget, industrial concrete blocks were used as the exterior veneer, but in an unconventional manner: the rough material is arranged in a pinwheelpattern yielding a playful façade throwing deep shadows. Last, because the house is quite small for a large family, an exterior, screened-in living/dining area was designed for the flat roof. When completed, this space will be accessed by an exterior steel stair, linking the interior living area and exterior living area. Photography: Photolux Studios, Christian Lalonde. Via: contemporist.

Widawscy Studio Architektury have designed the interior of an apartment in Warsaw, Poland. Apartment in Warsaw is an open space suffused with daylight and symbolically divided into zones for different purposes: hall, kitchen, living and work space. The creation of flexible space which allow to spend time together was a basic purpose of investors, that we have collectively achieved. “Merging” living area in one open interior gave residents a sense of freedom and became a field of different activities: conversations, work, play, preparing a meal, reception of guests and rest. With the right shaping of space in terms of functionality all flat zones  seamlessly overlap to form a coherent whole.

The dominant color in the interior is white temperate conected with natural, wooden floor. Character of the interior creates a lot of colorful accents for a variety of forms and functions. In the space of the kitchen those are yellow, hanging cabinets, in the living room yellow interior of  white  bookcase, and other accessories like yellow carpet in a circle referring to the style of folk, lamps, chairs, pillows and other small items. The whole emphasizes the color dominant in colorful stripes photo wallpaper, designed specifically for the interior and graphic wallpaper with subtitles permeating the kitchen area to the entrance hall apartment. Other areas relate style living area – green bathroom with the theme graphic, printed on white PVC, the son’s room with the dominant of white broken by color accents in the form of wallpapers and accessories. Bedroom – bright and light, unlike the rest of the apartment, without strong accents of color promotes rest and relaxation. Interior Design: Widawscy Studio Architektury. Photography: Lukasz Kozyra. Via : contemporist.