Monday 14 April 2014

The fun of function, Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Completed in 2013, this sophisticated and sleek house design is located in a back alley of MontrĂ©al’s Plateau neighbourhood. Appropriately named Stacked House, this single family home is the creation of the award winning architectural practice Naturehumaine. Based in Canada, Naturehumaine design to a simple yet strong philosophy 'Not just pretty pictures in a magazine. Real spaces for real people'. And Stacked House is definitely true to this claim. 

While jumping out at me from these sharp, clean, light-filled photos, the house design is nevertheless so much more than just sheer beauty in a series of dazzlingly photographed moments. Faced with the challenge of needing to build upwards rather than outwards, the architects have created a stack of four boxes, each clad in a different material. From street view, each stack has its own character and visual personality. The facade sports tight horizontal patterns meeting with wide vertical ones, which in turn are broken by the relief of wooden louvres and modern window frames. There is a true play on juxtaposition, all while a visual rhythm is seamlessly achieved.   

Behind the facade, rooms and spaces are drenched with light, thanks to a void curved out of the centre of the house. Not only does this provide daylight but also ventilation and the opportunity of a private outdoor space. My favourite aspect I think would have to be the numerous 'viewing' moments created as a result of this void. When occupying any one space, the void let's the user view across to spaces on the other side of the house, as well as above, behind, and even directly below. Essentially, with very limited space and light Naturehumaine have very creatively solved for quite a tricky problem in urban dwelling.   

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine


Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Nest of Pearls - Australian Design Blog - Stacked House by Naturehumaine

Source - naturehumaine.com
Images courtesy of - Source - naturehumaine.com

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