Articles by Paula Pintos

The brief was a family home for four; comfortable rather than grandiose, and for a design that complimented the site and felt ‘naturally belonging’ to the landscape. Ben Hudson Architects sought to reinterpret the simple rural vernacular of traditional agricultural buildings; as such the design is a contemporary interpretation of the Central Otago hay barn, with single pitch ‘farm shed’ roof forms. The result is a refined but simple silhouette which sits modestly below the mountains.

The client is a Finnish craft producer of spirits that started from scratch but is rapidly expanding after winning several international prizes including the best gin & tonic in 2015. The fame resulted in huge demand for the world’s northernmost gin and whiskey distillery’s products. The company organized an invited competition for the expansion. Avanto Architects was chosen to design a master plan, several new buildings and to convert historic buildings on the old dairy area.

The sense of uncluttered minimalism of Casa G makes visiting this bespoke home in northern Italy a truly relaxing experience. Its architect, Sondrio based Italian Alfredo Vanotti, admits to aiming to create a space that felt calm and in touch with the outdoors, like an ‘inhabited terrace’, he says. When his client approached him for a house on a beautiful spot among vineyards, in a historical town on the Rhaetian side of the Alps, the architect jumped at the opportunity. 

Powerhouse Brattørkaia is located in Trondheim, Norway, 63° north of the Earth’s equator, where sunlight varies greatly between the seasons. This presents a unique opportunity to explore how to harvest and store solar energy under challenging conditions. The 18 000 m^2 office building is situated by the harbor and connects to Trondheim Central Station via a pedestrian bridge on the rear end of the building. The waterfront façade is the slimmest face of the building, allowing the project to be read at a similar scale with its neighbors. Clad with black aluminum and solar panels, the façade is reflected in the adjacent Trondheim Fjord. On average, Powerhouse Brattørkaia produces more than twice as much electricity as it consumes daily, and will supply renewable energy to itself, its neighboring buildings, electric buses, cars and boats through a local microgrid.