Polish practice KWK promes has designed ‘Konieczny’s ark’, a countryside retreat that takes the form of a traditional rural barn. Positioned at the highest point of the site, the concrete home offers expansive views across the valley below.

From the architect:

The highest value of the plot is a wonderful view stretching out. The idea was for the house to become its framework that crops it. The most appropriate building turned out to be a fully open on mountain landscape one-storey building, which gives the same view to all of the interiors.

Because of the plot being located in an absolute wilderness a problem of security came out. The solution turned out to be “twisting” the building so as only its one corner touches the ground and the rest is hang over the edge of the hill. With this solution, part of the ground floor where the bedrooms were located was pulled up to the level of the first floor. Because of the fact that there are wide glass openings in the building, my wife asked me to effectivly close the entrance side of the house. A 10 meter wall and a drawbridge, which combines the function of stairs and a window shutter, appeared.

Location of the house on a steep slope, was followed by high risk of landslip, more and more frequent in polish mountains. As to limit the movement of the subsoil the house was treated as a bridge, under which rain water flows naturally.

Realities of mountain landscape as well as the local law constrained a gable roof. House took the form of a typical barn standing on three thin walls.

To give rigidity to the building the walls were tensed by the planes of the “inverted” roof, slightly lifted over gound. Their incline increased the feeling of security. And so, we basically created a house with two roofs that protect it from water, it began to resamble an arc floating over the fields. After some time I realized, that in order not to disturb this impression, the best garden design would be lack of it, the best fence would be a temporary herding fence, the best approach - few rocks. In the same time the building was supposed to be cheap and easy to construct. That is why I deciced on insulating it from the inside, the concrete structure became an finnished elevation. This is how I got rid of complicated details and finish, they were replaced by poured concrete from a local producer. Sprayed closed-cell-structure foam turned out to be the optimal insulation. It is also a vapour barrier.

A small concrete structure once used as a house for doves has been transformed by Portuguese studio AZO Sequeira Arquitectos Associados into a garden playroom.

The former dovecote had sat derelict in the back garden of the clients’ Braga home, so they asked the AZO Sequeira team to make it into a space that they could use.

This is an emotional design!

“Our client asked us to reform an old dovecote in the backyard of his home. We decided to propose a play house for the children and a balneary to serve the pool on the ground floor. The whole family loved the idea.”

“We wanted a play room inspired by magic, fantasy and also by the childhood dreams and memories…

We decided to transform the old dovecote in a minimal concrete «tree house» that represent these memories and fantasies of pure and peaceful way.”

“We look for a way that seemed the main volume is levitating as a tree house but simultaneously it had to be balanced and pure.
The idea was that the interior was absent of superfluous elements and were gradually decorated by the works and toys of these children as a reflection of consumer society we are experiencing.”

(Source: azoarq.com)

For architects seeking NCARB licensure, few things are more daunting than the dreaded structural exam. But now, thanks to a series of videos from structural engineer Dilip Khatri, even those of us who spent more time doodling than paying attention in college engineering classes can acquire the skills needed to pass the structural section of the ARE.

Khatri, principal of Khatri International Structural and Civil Engineers, has a PHD in Structural Engineering from the University of Southern California and over 30 years experience in the profession, including over 20 years of teaching structural engineering. In the videos, he covers everything you’ll need to know for the exam, from test-taking strategy to shear and moment diagramming to complex problem solving, illustrating with the help of a sharpie pen.

Check out the videos below, and find links to supplementary notes here:

Check out more videos here: AIA Structural Exam Modules