The five facets are addressed as a gang of elevations. each has a character of its own but they share apparent similarities. A grid of black dots attempts to make sense of the concrete structures and defines the figure of the facades.

Reoccurring pairs of windows, yellow doors, green shutters and surfaces of glass brick correspond to intricate rooms, devise tense compositions and charismatic personas. the former warehouse is a house of many faces.

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Spruce House replaces an existing 1960s infill which was in poor structural and material condition. With no salvageable aspects of the previous building, ao-ft set out to design a home that minimized its carbon footprint through all aspects of its construction. Investigating several building methods led ao-ft to design the main structure in CLT for its environmental performance credentials and its beauty as an exposed internal finish. The custom-milled prefabricated panels sequester and store 37 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and were assembled on site in just five days. Leaving the panels exposed inside reduces the need for other building materials like plaster or paint, also ensuring the home features as little plastic as possible.

To create a new strong bond between interior and exterior living spaces, ao-ft designed the ground floor to feel embedded within the garden; the resulting floorplan echoes that of a traditional Victorian terrace house. On entry, visitors step down half a meter from street level into an open-plan, sunken living space bordered by cast concrete window seats and ground-to-ceiling glazing. ao-ft’s design decision to lower the foundation 50cm down into the plot places occupants level with the garden beds when inside, dually creating a generous sense of volume of the ground floor. Custom built-in joinery conceived as a piece of furniture conceals a media unit and under-stair WC, and links to a long stainless-steel kitchen and sunken dining space.

ao-ft has continued the use of light, verticality, and layering to create a subtle, understated interior. Raw structural materials – timber, stainless steel, polished concrete, white perforated steel – are deliberately arranged to transfer light and catch shadows, creating ever-changing texture and pattern throughout the house.

Drawing on past experience in industrial design, ao-ft designed the staircase to be a kit-parts that could be assembled and disassembled. The 24 individual interlocking treads act as the spine of the house and allow light and air from the large overhead skylight to pass through the perforations. The 5mm steel was laser cut and robotically folded to millimeter precision before being craned in and measure tested, removed, and powder coated off-site before final installation.

Two bedrooms and a family bathroom occupy the first floor, with the third main bedroom and ensuite bathroom located on the second story. The bedrooms benefit from openable solid Spruce panels which when open, transform both the interiors with natural light and views and the exterior facade with playful configurations.

ao-ft’s commitment to design is apparent throughout; full-height CLT doors with inlaid handles and spring-loaded door catches lay flush when open, a complex yet satisfying design detail that further conveys the commitment to continuous sightlines and space within Spruce House.

Spruce House also features a standalone design studio at the rear of the long 12-meter-deep garden. The space is constructed using traditional timber framing with larch glulam beams on the outside, and spruce on the inside. The studio features clerestory windows and exposed overhead rafters and opens onto a second smaller rear garden to offer natural cross ventilation through the space. A peaceful and carefully cultivated garden links the house and studio, designed to reintroduce pollinating plants and increase biodiversity.

Spruce House and Studio mark an important milestone for ao-ft; not only is it the office’s first completed project, but it is also the realization of technical capability, rigorous research, and intense passion for functional and highly detailed design. Spruce House and Studio sets an exciting precedent for infill sites across the United Kingdom and demonstrates the benefits of sustainable, flexible construction in creating buildings that enliven their context and make comfortable places for people to enjoy for many years to come.

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The reflection of the chimney becomes the stairs, leading to the pool. An erratic block, carried by the ancient glaciers from the Alps to the lake shore, sits upon the water’s surface. The main façade is a symmetrical reflection, a tribute to the horizontal line separating the looming mountains and reflective lake in Hodler’s work.

The long rectangular plan, highly constrained by building regulations, develops on three levels. While the ground floor living spaces largely open out to the surroundings, the underground bedrooms open to an enclosed, inaccessible patio, filled with a thin layer of rainwater collected from the roof. The light bounces off the two basins before entering the house, projecting its dancing reflections onto the wooden walls and ceiling.

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To protect the privacy of the occupants and the many surrounding neighbours the roof form is mono-pitched towards the courtyard. High level windows provide framed views of tree foliage while low level views look directly into the garden and large tree trunk. The height of internal walls in the courtyard creates a protected enclave, and adds a generous sense of volume within the garden.

Constructed from handmade bricks and cross-laminated timber (CLT), the natural materials are combined to minimise impact on the environment while an exhaust air heat pump is utilised to lower operational carbon. The key detail of the house is the seamless exposed CLT ceiling that creates a clean fold in the transition between the two pitched ceilings of the L-shaped plan using a glue laminated beam embedded into the roof construction.

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This project represents for us a key response in terms of curbing urban sprawl, a solution that understands and assimilates the different evolutions of families. A form of alternative housing, in a unique site, which pushes traditional real estate development to take another look at collective housing, and at its design methods.

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High ceilings create a design for spacious modern living, while retaining the modest heritage character of the existing portion of the house. Existing spaces are refurbished respectfully to retain the heritage character with new functional additions. The existing house contains the two bedrooms and presents a Victorian façade to the street with a new tiled veranda to refurbish the existing heritage character. Reinforcing the concept, a concrete kitchen island rises from the concrete floor to create the new hearth of the home for a growing family, while the floor-to-ceiling double-glazed windows and doors surround the courtyard but protect the interior from Melbourne’s inclement weather. This improved the sustainability performance while allowing for the clients desired indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

Response to Context – The selection of raw materials and direct connection to private garden courts create an inner-city oasis defined by architectural living areas. Spread across a single level, the design does not impede or draw attention to itself within the urban context, giving it the feeling of a secret garden. The streetscape is maintained and references to the former brick quarry that is now All Nations park are contained within.

Response to Constraints – Due to the budget and a small site, the design had to evolve with clever responses to dealing with compact space and easily constructable but highly crafted architectural detail. The constraints were used to the advantage of the project by considering them as design challenges to add value through effective solutions. The site constraints meant that the family home had to be accommodated on ground level. This gave impetus to think cleverly about adaptability, future use and the ability to contract and expand. While the budget constraints gave impetus to design with a refined material palette constructed in an economic but beautifully crafted resolution.

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There is no definitive entrance to the structure, no boundary between interior and exterior on its ground floor. High walls and columns rise to form a portico where breeze cuts through the humid heat. Every surface here is made of earth-tinted concrete — smooth slabs and blocks that assemble a space of time suspended. What might one do in such starkly rendered isolation? Prepare a simple meal over the kitchenette; lay atop the daybed; dip into the bottle-green waters of a narrow plunge pool. This slice of domesticated space amid an otherwise untouched landscape at once suggests civilizations past and utopian gestures of futurity, like an ancient temple activated through sleek fixtures of brass and steel.
Half-hidden behind a wall are the stairs that spiral up to the bedroom, also austere though made warmer by the abundance of wood on the floor and window frames. A richly textured terrace offers a full view of the ocean to wake up to, a space to bathe, and a thin ladder that leads to the roof, which completes the experience after nightfall. If the project feels born of the earth and human history, here it ends by connecting the user to the ether.

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The studio is perceived as a continuous spatial unit, but functions analogously to the maisonette attic apartment, divided over two floors. By developing the ground-level meeting area via a staircase into an extra-high work space in the basement, the permissible building profile – which is already limited by the angle of incidence of light – can be fully exploited.

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The house is accessed directly from Windsor Road, via an existing cobbled entrance and retained black steel gates. The relationship between the yard and building has been maintained and the 40 m2 exterior space now forms the entrance and private courtyard for the new house. In following the footprint of the existing building, the house naturally orientates itself south towards the yard. At ground floor, full width glazed sliding doors link and extend the open plan living, dining and kitchen space to the private courtyard. The stairs, WC, storage and laundry are organised along the rear ground wall to maximise open living space towards the south aspect.

At first floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom share natural light from clerestory windows to the north. A continuous ribbon of fully openable windows along the south provides bedrooms with natural light and ventilation, while angled timber louvres create privacy and prevent overlooking from neighbouring properties.

The site presents an atypical urban condition that the design seeks to embrace. There is a distinction between the new building and the existing brick structure, and a contrast between the expression of outside and in. The new external walls and roof are clad in corrugated cellulose sheets, dipped in bitumen. The matt black exterior palette, corrugated sheets, thin roofline and simple detail nod to the site’s original heritage.

Internally, exposed structural pine sections used for the floor and roof structure run north-south towards the courtyard. All soffits, internal walls, cabinetry and doors were fabricated on site using sheets of birch ply. Hand turned timber doorknobs introduce a level of delicacy within the straightforward construction. The white oil washed ply surfaces create a gentler interior atmosphere in contrast to the exterior.

The project was designed to be built using readily available, off-the- shelf materials that could be sourced from local timber yards and builders’ merchants. A small-scale local contractor was appointed to carry out all works and this sole responsibility encouraged a level of care and concern for economy, whilst maintaining consistency in the quality of craftsmanship. With the exception of the fenestration, all building elements were fabricated on site using the existing yard as a workshop.

In addition to Windsor Road, Russell Jones is currently working with the same client on a number of similar backland projects in London, exploring the potential for such sites whilst endeavouring to make a positive architectural and sustainable contribution to London’s growing housing stock.

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