Modern Houseboat Design

As part of a Swedish design competition, Niall McLaughlin Architects designed this fabulous modern houseboat for two. Small in size but big on innovation, this unique floating home was born from three key considerations – light, space and construction. According to the architects, “Our aim was to design a house which has a spatial quality which we describe as a ‘thicket.’ Implicit in this is the idea that the enclosure is experienced as a congruence of lines rather than as a clearing defined by surfaces. The thicket suggested an intertwining of lines which led us to an interest in the process of weaving.” To realize their design concept, a visit to the West of Ireland schooled the architects on the building of light-weight, basket-like fishing boats called “currachs.” And thus the Houseboat was born. This cool, contemporary house design is made from woven carbon-fibre, and boasts inflatable flotation elements. The upper portion of the structure is a translucent, argon gas-filled volume that serves to insulate the space. “By combining inflatable and woven elements, within the depth of the construction of the houseboat, we extend the concept of interdependence between contained and container. The container and the contents rely on each other for stability,” reveal the architects. On entry, interwoven electronic elements immediately catch your eye. This curious contraption collects energy from the environment and reuses it. A really cool feature is one you can’t see outright - solar panels power a pump that circulates water through underwater coils to the exterior wall of the home, passively cooling the space.

Modern Cedar House in Vermont Mountains

Kyu Sung Woo Architects – the brains behind iconic designs like the 1988 Olympics Athletes’ Village, the Asian Culture Complex in Gwangju, Korea, and a collection of cultural, museum and university structures – bring this cedar sided Putney Mountain House to Vermont. Set on the slope of the mountain, the site’s densely wooded terrain and striking, sweeping views are the inspiration behind this back-to-nature house design. Three separate volumes complement the landscape, arranged in a clearing with mountain views to the west and meadows to the south. The architects have brought a new, modern look to traditional Vermont architecture and building materials. Red cedar siding and corrugated steel panels form the facade, which is punctuated with wide windows and outdoor living areas. Interiors are minimal, with the focus on the view. In the kitchen and dining space, a sliding glass wall extends these well-used interiors into the great outdoors.

High End House in Brazil with infinity pool and elevator

Set in sunny Brazil in Vila Castela, Nova Lima, BF House by Brazilian architect Humberto Hermeto was an innovative design back in 2005 when it was completed, and this cool design continues as one of the region's hottest properties in this high end home stretch. Set on a hill overlooking a vast valley, BF House boasts walls of floor-to-ceiling glass and integrates outdoor living spaces into its light, airy design. A set of stairs leads up to the main part of the home, where a glassed-in open-concept living room is supported by columns and cantilevers out into the breathtaking view. An infinity pool seems to flow right off the edge of the property. Interiors are superbly finished with luxurious details at every turn: gorgeous polished marble floors, contemporary columns holding up the cool, concrete ceiling, a wonderful modern fireplace at the center of it all, and enclosing this amazing space are invisible glass walls that invite the outdoors in.

Luxury House in Beverly Hills

23 Oakmount Drive, located in Brentwood Park, Beverly Hills, is sure to catch your gaze. This spectacular contemporary house sports a structured, clean facade of white with glass held in place by a striking black frame. Floors and ceilings feature rich hardwood, which abuts the floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

Brick House Design in Netherlands

Located at the Netherlands Germany border in Overijssel, this brick house design by architect Cino Zucchi is two-faced – but in a good way. This modern home’s front facade boasts dark gray-brown bricks, while the rear facade is clad in aluminum siding. The architect’s affection for asymmetry is apparent in this unusual modern design, which balances various cube-shaped volumes unevenly, and quite beautifully. The ground floor houses functional and social spaces – the kitchen, dining room, living spaces, a television room and a study. A set of clean-lined stairs leads up the tower, which boasts an interior height of 3.7 meters.

Modern Wooden Home Unfolds

This modern Melbourne, Australia beach home is a twisted, wooden mass sprawling across the beach of its Mornington Peninsula property. The home’s entrance isn’t immediately apparent without a walk-about – a feature that the architects at McBride Charles Ryan purposely incorporated into the design for this vacation home, providing a quiet, peaceful retreat for residents and their guests. A glazed door peeks out from beneath the wooden folds which occupy the better part of the facade. Inside, a more-traditional design is surprising, given the home’s unique, modern exterior. Sunlight streams through the windows, casting illuminated shapes onto the wooden floor while illuminating every corner. A wooden deck encircles the home’s exterior, creating wonderful outdoor living spaces to take in the sunny surroundings.

Modern Contemporary Home in Australia

This modern contemporary home designed by Australia’s Wright Architects is as exotic as its location, steps from the beach of Port Douglas. The only thing that rivals this picturesque property is the contemporary design of the house itself, which subtly infuses water influences into its bold concrete, steel and core-filled clay brick masonry. Wooden “waves” make their way down from the home’s roof, leading to a refreshing salt-water lap pool wrapped in a wooden deck. Beneath the waves and overlooking the pool, and wall of glass blurs the boundary between the outdoors and the sleek, modern interiors. Overlooking the garden and decks, an open-concept kitchen and various living areas make the most of this lush setting. And just when you thought this gorgeous home couldn’t get any better, architect Charles Wright also designed it with sustainability in mind, featuring passive cooling and a double-insulated roof cavity to reduce heat absorption.

Hawaiian House

A cool design for tricky terrain (no pun intended) the Robert Trickey House on Big Island is a modern Hawaiian house nestled on lavaflow with the ocean splayed at its feet. A more-perfect spot could not possibly exist for this gorgeous 6,200-sq.-ft. house, designed by Architect Craig Steely. The house consists of two volumes – a single-storey studio and a separate two-level home – wrapped in glass for maximum views. Residents and guests cross a bridge stretching across the pool and to a large 40-by-40-ft. deck, leading to a cut lava entrance that welcomes you home. Opening onto the deck are the glass-enclosed living room, dining room, kitchen and a guest room. Taking you upstairs, a cantilevered mango-wood staircase leads to the master bedroom, bathroom and study. Visible from the home’s deck, the Kilauea crater glows red by night.

Modern Glass Home in Krakow

Designed by UK-based architects PCKO in co-operation with MOFO Architects of Krakow, Poland, Jodlowa House is a modern glass home located on a picturesque plot just outside of Krakow’s city limits. The single-storey home’s fully glazed facade sits in a contemporary steel frame, which floats above the ground (so not only does this modern home showcase nature, but it’s also designed to minimize its environmental footprint). Built right into the design, a mature tree adds yet another level of nature to the design. The windows too help to bring the outdoors in, flooding interiors with natural light. Behind these wide expanses of glass, an indoor swimming pool, two main bedrooms and a sprawling 140m2 living area provide unobstructed views of nature. But the best seat in the house for enjoying these vistas is from the five-storey tower. The tower’s lower levels house guest accommodations, and are topped by a study that frames views of the Tatra Mountains on the distant horizon.

Modern Hillside House Rules the Hills

Located in Berkeley, California, Gypsy House designed by Architect Craig Steely sits on a steep slope in the hills. Divided into two zones – one part of the home buried into the hillside, and the other a glass-enclosed zone cantilevered toward the valley – this modern house carries Steely’s signature notes of natural elements alongside cool, contemporary notes. This unique hillside house is clad in natural-finish wood – a perfect complement to its natural surroundings, with expansive windows to brighten interiors. Inside, rich wood too prevails, giving floors and ceilings an organically beautiful depth. The kitchen combines warm wood with lots of windows, casting shapes of sunlight on every surface. A wood and glass staircase seems to float up to the second storey, where a ceiling of skylights creates the effect of an endless sky above.

Rustic Mountain Cabin

Surrounded by the serenity of the evergreen forest and snow-capped mountains of its Winthrop, Washington location, the rustic Methow Cabin designed by Eggleston Farkas Architects offers the indulgence of simplicity. This nature retreat serves as a base for cross-country skiing by winter and mountain biking in the summer, making this a veritable nature-lovers retreat. The cabin itself is built in line with the slope of the valley, its main facade pointing toward the great peaks. The structure itself is in shed style, allowing the snow to slide off the roof. Like its exterior, the cabin interior is all wood, giving it a cozy, rustic look. A loft is occupied by the sleeping quarters, overlooking the living area complete with a wood-burning stove.

Peru Modern Architecture

The only thing that rivals the awe-inspiring cliff-top view in Punta Misterio, Peru, is the amazing Lefevre Beach House designed by Longhi Architects. Overlooking the waters of the Pacific Ocean, this contemporary home blends raw nature and modern innovation, landscape and architecture. Built into a rocky cliff, this cool house boasts sand-garden roofs that bring a bit of the desert landscape into the design. Contemporary stone tiles surround a rooftop lap pool – a luxury oasis in this desert setting. And cantilevered over the edge of this cliff, a glass box boldly hangs above the ocean, connecting desert, water and architecture. Inside, expansive windows invite the magnificent outdoors in. Beyond the views framed by expansive windows and sliding glass doors, nature comes alive inside this house on the rock walls, sleek stone floor tiles, skylights, and the balconies and terraces that wrap the home’s facade.

Best Hollywood Home of the Year

Called “Home of the Year” by some American journalists, this stunning house sits among the Hollywood Hills and it’s full of new technologies: CinemaScope theater, 7.1-channel surround-sound, intricate TV concealment, extensive automation.


The residence was designed and built by Temple Home, whose co-owner, Xorin Balbes, has earned recognition for his restoration of famous Los Angeles-area homes.


“They developed it as the ultimate bachelor pad, and part of their thing was that they wanted all of the technology that a young Hollywood actor or director might want,” says systems developer and DSI co-founder Eric Thies.


“Obviously, there were a lot of potential buyers here that fit that category, so for a 7,000-square-foot house they wanted a lot of technology crammed into it.”

Three areas are filled by surround sound, including a rattling 7.1-channel JBL Synthesis system in the theater and an understated 7.1 Sonance architectural speaker layout in the family room.

There’s even a separate video game room that features a triple-screen auto racing simulator and a flat-panel TV that taps into a local PC for gaming fun.

The theater presents movies on a 125-inch Stewart Filmscreen in the superwide CinemaScope format (2.35:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by a Runco projector and CineWide anamorphic lens that fills the screen without black bars. Combined with the JBL system, which includes Synthesis processing, amplification and equalization, the theater rates with the finest of Hollywood screening rooms.


The blend of A/V and architectural touches doesn’t stop at the back door, either (35-foot sliding glass doors, by the way).

The outdoor pool area and landscaping are included among the 20 zones of housewide audio and peppered with 16 unobtrusively placed speakers.


“The ability for technology to disappear was far more important in this house than others we’ve done, and the things we couldn’t hide, like touchpanels and keypads, had to be special,” says Thies. “We didn’t want to completely give up A/V performance, and I think we compromised here in the right ways.”

Japanese House Architecture

From the outside, this Japanese house architecture is all organic. On the inside, the Branching Coral House is edgy and modern – not quite what you’d expect from the gentle curves that characterize its facade, but a pleasant surprise by all accounts. Architect Yasuhiro Yamashita of Atelier Tekuto designed this sleek house located in Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan. Distinguishable for its unique, sloping roofline and tapering profile, the white shell encases an expansive, glazed front face. Inside, the highlight of the living room is an industrial-style steel staircase; white like the walls, in cool contrast to the black floor, which gives this modern house a striking, urban appeal. Minimalist details complement the industrial white-siding walls throughout. And check out the sunken soaker tub in the master bath.

Japanese House Design

Inhabited by a professional pianist based in Tokyo, innovative architects Yasuhiro Yamashita and Takada Masahiko of renowned Japanese architecture firm Atelier Tekuto have made some beautiful music of their own in the form of this inspired house design. Dubbed Music House, this modern home boasts a unique three-wall design resulting in a triangular footprint. A balustrade terrace with aluminum louvers provides shade while creating a balanced facade. The home’s uniquely angled roofline translates into unusually shaped rooms inside – 24 in total, spread throughout the home’s three storeys. On special request, each room is suitable for practicing music, thanks to high-performance acoustical enhancements and sound proofing incorporated into the design. Apart from their function, interiors are contemporary, yet classic, featuring the industrial look of cool concrete against a rich, natural backdrop of wood and windows.

Modern House O House by Philippe Stuebi Architekten

How cool is this place? I love how the circular theme/pattern runs throughout the whole house and into the yard. Having the Ferraris to go with the house wouldn’t be bad either.
On both, the front and the lake side, this sculptural villa shows very expressive and ornamental facades. Facing mount pilatus the white concrete elements are dotted with circular openings that allow glimpses into the two-levelled orangery with its exotic plants, as well as the lounge, the guest tract and the staircase accessed through one of the openings at the ground floor. The lake side with superb mountain views of the rigi and the bürgenstock shows off a protruding, glistering loggia made of round glass bricks. Very decorative, such elements are a strong contrast to the rough renderings of the side facades. The basement nestles along the slope and opens into a large fitness area with a 25 meter pool, half inside, half outside, which is inserted in a white terrazzo plate. This terrazzo plate extends gracefully from the pool bar located inside along the boathouse made of white tinted, rough jetted concrete into lake lucerne.

Modern Home by CHRISTOPHERCHRIS PTY LTD ARCHITECTURE

Love this modern home by CHRISTOPHERCHRIS PTY LTD ARCHITECTURE. The openess of the floor plan is what makes this home so great. I really like the use of different modern materials on the exterior including the red stripe, I would have done orange. More after the jump.
A new contemporary house for a young family who moves from one city to the bustling peninsula Momington. The house is constructed mainly with panels of cedar and earth chipboard (Rammer earth), a mixture of soil, cement and water that is molded with shuttering.
The basic form of the house is enhanced by a selection of materials, textures and colors that intersect and contrast, baste along the wall of earth. The main views into the valley are used from the living room and bedrooms. The master bedroom has also been located in a privileged tower.

Modern Homes by ah3

These three modern homes by ah3 are really great. What I like about them is their somewhat modest and not over the top. I love the first house probably due to the fact that it is painted black. More after the jump.

Modern Home by Bates Masi Architects

I am a complete fan of taking an “ordinary home” and making it a modern home. Unfortunately we don’t have a pic of the before but the after is pretty cool. I love the two flavors of house right next to each other, the butterfly roof juxtaposed with a traditional pitched roof. Bates Masi has a great portfolio of modern homes don’t forget to check them out. More after the jump.

Japanese Traditional House in Carlsbad

Wabi House is an understated, down-to-earth residence inspired by time-honored Japanese design. Located in Carlsbad, California, this contemporary home designed by Sebastian Marsical Studio is described by the architects as “a modern and introspective take on an old tradition.” Street side, the house is barely visible through a densely planted garden, which conceals the home from the public view and offers a secluded escape from the outside world. Past the entrance, the home itself sits on a slightly sunken plot, enhancing its sense of retreat. The house structure is placed on a raised platform, accessed by a bridge (or 'engawa') which leads over a pond and to the 'genkan', a red-lacquered volume where tradition dictates that the shoes be removed prior to entering the main house. At the heart of this sunken property, the home’s main floor is enclosed in glass, offering an earthy view through the floor-to-ceiling windows that can be folded to open up the interiors to the outdoors. The interiors on the main level include "a low heated table and tatami mat floor in the open dining/living area as well as the traditional Japanese bath known as an ofuro bath." Upstairs, the master bedroom boasts access to a spacious rooftop garden. Rich woods are the predominant material, giving the house a warm, rustic yet refined look.

Mountain Home Design Inspired by Views

 

Sherman Residence is a really cool mountain home by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects. Located in Mill Valley, California, this modern design blends nature and innovation in a truly contemporary house on a hill. The sloped terrain set the tone for the home unique shape. The main volume of this mountain house sits close to the hillside, clad in a natural wood that complements its surroundings. Overhead, the home's upper volume features expansive windows and cantilevers overhead, seeming to dive into the spectacular Tamalpais Valley views. Interiors are bright and minimalist with warm woods on a simple white backdrop, not even daring to compete with the gorgeous landscape outside. An aesthetically pleasing design that blends with the terrain, by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects.