Heath Lane, UK
Hollie Bowden
Set in a leafy part of London, this project draws on the farmhouse typology and the existing structure on site. Its interiors’ author, designer Hollie Bowden, completely redesigned the space, infusing it with her tactile and warm signature minimalist aesthetic. The contemporary internal facelift also includes seamlessly integrating thermal efficiency into the fabric of both the old and new part of the building. As a result, the original structure, an old coach house, was artfully reimagined and has also been extended with the addition of a sleek, suitably minimalist summer house in the garden.
Salt Point retreat, USA
Suchi Reddy and Ai Weiwei
An angular, linear volume has been peaking out from the green, rolling hills of Salt Point, New York. It is the artful extension to an existing weekend residence, and it has been created by New York architecture studio Reddymade and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The new minimalist escape has a distinctive form that complements the original home’s cluster of hexagonal pavilions, creating a complex that is a real feast of geometries and a sculptural, exciting piece of architecture. ‘The extension was designed to be strikingly simple and minimal, which is reflected not only in its graphic language, but also in its materiality,’ explains Reddymade founder Suchi Reddy. ‘The metal rib exterior allows for a crisp edge, and ensures project longevity. Through its materiality, it also has a relationship with the previously completed Artfarm on the property,’ she adds referring to a gallery building. Photography: Ashok Sinha
Tunbridge Winter Cabin, USA
New Affiliates
Set within the leafy hills of Vermont, Tunbridge Winter Cabin was commissioned by a private client as an idyllic winter retreat and artists’ studio. Occupying some 1,250 sq ft, the project is generous but maintains a strong cabin-style identity, clad in a distinctive dark timber skin and featuring sharp, pitched roofs that echo traditional structures in this part of the world. The design by New Affiliates is inspired by ‘the area’s strange aggregate structures, in which barns, houses and sheds all grow on and around each other as if clustering for warmth’. Still, designed as two identical squares that in plan meet at a corner, the structure maintains a strong, contemporary sensibility. Slight misalignments and minor asymmetries add quirkiness and personality to the whole, while minimalist white interiors starkly contrast with the grey timber plank exterior, creating a dialogue betweek inside and outside. Photography: Michael Vahrenwald
Fowóralé house, Nigeria
cmD+A
The luxurious and picturesque Ilashe beach outside Lagos, is the green setting of this crisp, white minimalist villa by cmD+A, Fowóralé house. Tosin Oshinowo and her seven-strong team worked with the serene, natural environment to compose the house’s design concept. This exclusive beach can only be accessed by water, making aggressive development in the area difficult, and allowing the natural environment to remain just that – pristine and untouched. The design seeks to reflect a sense of peace and connection with nature. ‘Our intent in the design was to create horizontally and vertically framed views, showcasing the calm serene beach environment,’ says the architect. ‘The minimalist aesthetic draws your eye to the surroundings with the casuarina trees planted in a colonial area that have blended beautifully with the indigenous palm trees.’ Photography: David Timibra
Rounded House, South Korea
CHOHELO A+U
This generous private home in the outskirts of Seoul was designed with both work and entertaining in mind. The clients, part of a large family that enjoys hosting, called upon CHOHELO A+U’s Shinhyung Cho and Stuart Helo for a house design featuring a generous kitchen and dining area that would be perfect for big family banquets, but also have enough space for a workshop on the lower ground level – one of the clients is an established metalworker. CHOHELO A+U obliged and Rounded House was born, defined by its scale and apparent simpicity. Its crisp, white, minimalist box form with rounded corners, which add a subtly futuristic edge, conceals a range of living spaces within. The public areas are located on the ground level, with a flowing dining area, kitchen, and living room spilling out to a large garden. Private rooms are upstairs, and the workspace downstairs.
Maryland House
Remi.C.T Studio
Tucked away on an unassuming street, within a quiet residential pocket off the beaten track in east London, Remi Connolly-Taylor’s first new build cuts a distinctly contemporary figure. Marking the end of a residential terrace, the bold structure feels at once modern and respectful to the low Victorian housing it sits next to. Maryland House, named after its namesake neighbourhood in Stratford, is a highly tailored live/work space, designed precisely for the needs of its dynamic creator and her young business. The site used to be a small, empty lot filled with rubbish and debris from surrounding construction. Now, it holds a two-level home with a studio on top, and is clad in London stock brick that mirrors the surrounding materials and colour tones of the neighbourhood’s mix of Victorian and post-war housing. With only 100 sq m of internal space, size played a key role in design decisions. ‘Maryland House was designed around what we could and couldn’t do,’ says Connolly-Taylor. Working with local manufacturers and craftsmen, the project developed into a jewel box of a home, ticking all the boxes for efficiency, functionality, spaciousness and a clean, fairly minimalist aesthetic. Photography: James Retief
