CONTEMPORIST

Mosman Park House by Paul Burnham
Trinity Bellwoods Town + Homes Interior by Cecconi Simone
Blaze Sculpture by Ian McChesney

Posted: 08 Dec 2011 01:36 PM PST

Architect Paul Burnham has designed the Mosman Park house in Perth, Western Australia.

Description from the architect:

The Mosman Park House is located on an elevated site overlooking the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.

The house is in two simple parts – a long shed with a transverse fully openable wing.
The north elevation of the shed element is fully glazed and protected with remotely operated louvres to control privacy and allow for complete summer sun exclusion and full winter sun penetration.

The transverse wing is set back from the front of the property to create privacy from the street while maintaining unobstructed river views.

The shed is a steel framed structure with marine quality Teak cladding. Internally a second central Teak box contains all service areas.

Notwithstanding the large glazed openings, the house is private, shaded in summer, sun soaked in winter and largely openable to take advantage of the Australian climate and the outstanding river views.

Visit Paul Burnham’s website – here.

Photography by Jody D’Arcy and P.A.I.D. Photography

Trinity Bellwoods Town + Homes Interior by Cecconi Simone

Posted: 08 Dec 2011 04:23 AM PST

Cecconi Simone have designed a model unit for a townhouse community in Toronto, Canada.

Description from Cecconi Simone:

The model for "Trinity Bellwoods Town + Homes" showcases contemporary interior design, imparting a progressive brand identity to this urban-infill project in a market segment crowded with retrograde developments.

Cecconi Simone conceived the interiors and custom fixtures for the three unit types within the community – 4.1 meter-wide, 4.6 meter-wide and 5.8 meter-wide. The ground level and third floor of the 4.6 meter unit are represented in the model, in a clean palette of white, black, walnut and yellow.

Custom millwork, with alternating closed and open storage, spans the full length of the ground level, generating a continuous, horizontal composition of solids and voids. The stair, kitchen island tower and integrated exhaust hood introduce modulating elements of verticality.

Subtle millwork details in the kitchen include zero-edge Corian counters, a slotted shelf for standing dishes, back-painted seamless backsplash and integrated appliances. A built-in bench in the dining area is complemented by an integrated ledge in the living area, both with storage below.

The master suite features a custom walnut-laminate sleep unit, incorporating a bed, side tables, sofa and display niches with LEDs. The ensuite contains a specially-designed vanity with integrated white Corian sinks, counter and backsplash and open and closed storage cabinets in white and walnut laminate. Custom wall-mounted medicine cabinets are accessed via a pivoting mirror.

Visit the Cecconi Simone website – here.

Photography by Joy von Tiedemann

Blaze Sculpture by Ian McChesney

Posted: 08 Dec 2011 02:39 AM PST

British architect Ian McChesney has designed the Blaze sculpture in Middlesbrough, England.

Blaze has been designed to populate the disparate roadside verges of the A66 in Middlesbrough – this is the first phase of the piece which can be implemented at numerous locations along the roadside. The A66 currently passes through the centre of Middlesbrough and for many drivers it is their only viewpoint of the town. Blaze was conceived as a unifying treatment to the roadside which would gradually emerge along further stretches gradually providing Middlesbrough A66 with its own unique identity.

A series of anodised aluminium staves are set in the ground in long arrays which give the impression of giant forms in the landscape. The arrays are arranged in layers so that the shape of the piece transforms as people pass by. Fabricated in gold anodised aluminium Blaze is designed to catch the light in unusual ways creating a bright sculptural form along the often dreary dual carriageway landscape.

Blaze originated with a proposal to create a gateway feature at the Cargo Fleet Roundabout on the A66 in Middlesbrough. The adjacent authority, Redcar, had installed a series of roundabout sculptures with which this scheme was originally to have been aligned.

Middlesbrough Borough Council working in partnership with Tees Valley Arts, Arts Council North East, and advised by Christian Barnes, took the view that the project should be developed as a spatial design concept. It should consist of an integrated landscape approach that might be able to extend beyond the Cargo Fleet roundabout populating other parts of the A66 corridor. The Cargo Fleet roundabout would be just the first prototype of the scheme. A range of other sites have also been identified for the treatment including land adjacent to Trinity Crescent, the approach to Will Alsop's Middlehaven development and the western approaches to the town.

An RIBA competition was held in 2007 to find a designer of the scheme which was subsequently won by Ian McChesney who proposed Blaze. The piece was subsequently developed with engineers Atelier One and fabricator Chris Brammall Ltd.

• Blaze is approximately 35m long by 35m wide by 4m tall.

• There are 472 individual staves of aluminium in Blaze.

• There are a total of 165 linear meters of staves in Blaze.

• The sculpture contains over 1.5 km of aluminium tubing.

• The cost of Blaze was £116,000 to fabricate and install.

• For the cost of Blaze we could build just 8 metres of motorway.

Contract duration: 9 months

Installation time: 10 days

Cost: £116,000

Client: Middlesbrough Council

Designer: Ian McChesney

Engineer: Atelier One

Fabricator: Chris Brammall Ltd