Freestanding House

Best of Year 2009 Winner: Artechnic

Best of Year -- Interior Design, 12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

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Best of Year > 2009 > Project Design > Freestanding House

Best of Year Winner, Freestanding House: artechnic: Tunnel of Love, Karuizawa, Japan
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Determined to distance himself from the English-style shingles and gables typical of this stylish mountain resort since the 1920's, principal Kotaro Ide designed a house in the form of two concrete tubes laid end to end. The front door is in the two-story volume, which contains the bedrooms. A glassed-in passage connects to the single-story volume, an open-plan great room comprising the kitchen and living-dining area. Both the great room and the master suite face onto a deck, terraced because the 3,600-square-foot structure is raised 5 feet off the ground to guard against mold. An under-floor HVAC system draws clean air through louvers beneath the deck and expells stale air through vents at the front and rear. Of course, during the warmer part of the year, sliding glass doors are open to the woodland breezes, too.

KENYU FUJII; MANAMI IDE; MORIYUKI FUJIHARA; RURI MITSUYASU; TAKASHI MOTONANI: PROJECT TEAM.

Best of Year Merit Awards, Freestanding House

Charles De Lisle Workshop: Portola Valley Residence, Wooside, CA
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Renovating a ranch house involved channeling its 1950's provenance via new cedar paneling and high-pressure paper laminate as well as a vintage Spanish stained-glass screen by the pool.

Joeb Moore + Partners Architects: Spiral House, Old Greenwich, CT

Steel columns raise the private wing of this dynamic cedar-clad house 14 feet, the better to appreciate views of Long Island Sound.

Marmol Radziner: Experimental Ranch, Brentwood, CA

A renovation reestablished the open plan of a 1952 house by Cliff May while adding walnut cabinetry, terrazzo flooring, and a skylight punched into an aluminum-tiled roof.