Expensive Places

Hermitage Plaza is a 2.2 billion euro project to develop what would be Europe’s tallest buildings. The ambition to create two 320 metre-high towers, slightly less than the Eiffel Tower was criticized by local groups because bring more modern high-end residential construction in a city best-known for its grand 19th-century buildings.

The scheme brings together a hotel, spa, panoramic apartments, offices and serviced apartments, as well as shops and cafes at the base. The generously proportioned apartments are located on the upper floors to take advantage of both the spectacular views and the retail and leisure facilities provided by the hotel below, with penthouses occupying an entire floor plate.
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The 9,000 square foot luxury residence designed by Stuart Parr is targeted to all marble lovers who are willing to pay 17,500,000 for a house in New York…

The luxury New York apartment offers the privacy and exclusivity of townhouse-style living with the luxury, ease, and convenience of a 24-hour doorman and private self-parking.

The aptly-named Marble House is a delight to the senses with a range of rich, harmonious surfaces: decadent imported Carrara, Striato Olimpico, Grey Bardiglio, and Crema Valencia marbles from slabs hand-selected by Parr himself; grade-A, rift and quarter-sawn, wide-plank White Oak floors laid in a chic Chevron pattern-stunning in their simplicity; custom-designed plaster crown moldings; nickel-plated hardware; and blackened steel. This masterfully-composed palette in combination with soaring ceilings and massive wood-framed windows creates a dramatic backdrop for any style of décor or artwork.

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The Wanaka House project is a luxury house can be found in Wanaka, New Zealand. Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects designed it elegant and transparent, an object touching the land lightly

The house is low slung and nestled into the landscape, wedged into a gentle gully on the site, allowing for privacy from surrounding dwellings and protection from the northwesterly wind.

The garage to the east is disconnected from the main house allowing for a modulation of the built forms in the landscape. This is also the entry point to the house, moving between the timber garage wall along a sculpted gabion wall. Steel sections placed in this wall provide light shafts into the east of the house.

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Athens-based architectural studio Mab Architects prove that a healthcare facility can have a modern design. Embryocare, 140sqm flat in downtown Athens, Greece, is a gynecological clinic specialized in assisted reproduction and Mab Architects got the job to make a new design for it.

The entire flat was gutted including all installations. The concept was to provide cool but friendly clinical environment for doctors and their patients. The predominant color is white with just few sculptural pieces of furniture in “summer-sky” blue. The choice of materials with cellular structures is a reference to the nature of the work performed in this surgery.

Partitions and wall claddings are made of special translucent sandwich panels, made of two sheets of Perspex and the in-between gap, which is filled with plastic straws of different diameters. The material provides extraordinary effects and changes translucency depending on the viewpoint. White round mosaic tiling is covering all floors and occasionally the same surface splashes also over walls. Glossy white plaster ceiling is randomly pierced by seemingly floating circles of light or circular air vents. All furniture and fittings were carefully chosen to enhance the overall appearance.

The end user – gynecologists and their patients are happy with the result and hopefully the new serene environment will assist more women in conceiving a baby.

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Sliding House project by dRMM, London, is sliced into three: house, garage and annexe. The garage is pulled off axis to create a courtyard between the three. The composition is further defined by material and color; red rubber membrane and glass, red and black stained larch.

The separated forms are transformed by a 20 ton mobile roof/wall enclosure which traverses the site, creating combinations of enclosure, open-air living and framing of views according to position. This is an autonomous structure; steel, timber, insulation and unstained larch spanning recessed railway tracks. Movement is powered by hidden electric motors on wheels integrated into the wall thickness. The tracks can be extended in the future should the client wish to build a swimming pool, which may need occasional shelter.

Sliding House (uniquely) offers radically variable spaces, extent of shelter, sunlight insulation, and views. A denial of static architecture. The dynamic change is a physical phenomenon difficult to describe in words or images. It is about the ability to alter the overall building composition and character according to season, weather, or a remote-controlled desire to delight.

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