This concrete house on stilts is a family home in Austria by Vienna studio Wolfgang Tschapeller Architekt.

Called Single Family House St Joseph, the exposed concrete structure features irregular-shaped windows and sits on four supporting legs.

A shallow pit has been dug underneath the hovering building and can be utilised as a car port or storage space.

Despite the flat planes of the exterior shell, the interior space features a series of faceted walls, forming oddly-shaped rooms and windows.

The interior spaces are finished completely in white, with the exception of wooden flooring in some rooms and the treads of the staircase, which cantilever out of the wall.

Photographs are by Lukas Schaller unless otherwise stated.

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The following information is from the architects:

Single Family House St Joseph by Wolfgang Tschapeller ArchitektSt. Joseph

St. Joseph is a concrete form to be made habitable independent of the building site.

The concrete shell is placed at the edge of the remainder of a plain along the Danube floodplains.

Its basic measurements are 615 cm by 620 cm by 2230 cm.

Above photograph is by Roland Krauss

The concrete form is set on 4 supports – one one-legged element, two two-legged elements and one three-legged element.

Its distance from the ground ranges from 120 cm to 210 cm.

A second form, soft, white and independent of the outer shell, is set within the concrete shell.

Above photograph is by Wolfgang Tschapeller

The white form opens up and programs – makes habitable, if you wish – the concrete shell’s inner area, which is 2165 cm long and approx. 515 cm high.

Above photograph is by Roland Krauss

These are two interleaved forms, each with a different hardness and materiality.

Official name of project: St. Joseph

Location: Lower Austria, Austria

Project Team: Wolfgang Tschapeller ZT GmbH with Wolfram Mehlem and Jesper Bork

Above photograph is by Werner Feiersinger

Above photograph is by Sebastian Holzinger

Above photograph is by Sebastian Holzinger

Above photograph is by Wolfgang Tschapeller

Above photograph is by Werner Feiersinger

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Click for larger image

Click for larger image

See also:

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Science Centre by Wolfgang Tschapeller	Office Building VDAB by BOB361	Casa Doble by María Langarita & Víctor Navarro

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by Wolfgang Tschapeller appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Robert Gaukroger has completed three wooden classrooms on stilts in a forest clearing in the Lake District, UK.

Designed for the Elleray Preparatory School in Windermere, the three pod-like structures are clad in wooden shingles made of English chestnut.

The structures comprise a ribbed timber frame, elevated on Douglas-fir stilts.

The structures comprise a ribbed timber frame, elevated on Douglas-fir stilts.

A deck connecting the three rooms is made of recycled plastic milk bottles and wood shavings, and will be used as an outdoor classroom in summer.

The structure is meant to be used as a gallery and event venue outside term time.

Photographs are by Sean Conboy.

Here's some more information from the architect:

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Rob Gaukroger's design practice has just completed the Forest School project at 'Elleray Prep School' in Windermere, in the Lake District National Park and this is just the start of a new wave of low impact, upcyled and architecturally aware project’s he has designed.

Made chiefly from timber and other materials such as the deck board made from a composite of recycled plastic milk bottles and wood shavings, this is low tech architecture at it best.

Rob Gaukroger tells us how it all came about "it wasn’t a state funded project and the budget has been tight from day one, I didn’t charge a design fee for the three years it took to take this project from an idea, through the planning process to the built solution today. I have constructed a lot of the building myself with a small team of joiners on site. The bursar at the school has kept a tight hold on the purse strings and he has got good value for money."

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Rob Gaukroger has worked closely with the ‘Lake District National Park’ planning authority, who were once seen as a stuffy authority with no appetite for modern architecture, but they are now beginning a new architectural era in the’ Lake District National Park’.

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With a number of current projects on the drawing board and with the blend of form and materials in Rob Gaukroger's work, will make exciting viewing in the future. " I am working on a group of interesting project at the moment, I have just up-cycled part of a 1970's private house, which is now clad in shingles, Thermowood and cedar, by highly insulating the building externally and reducing some of the window opening's this building now has a new lease of life and is architecturally unrecognisable from its existing white rendered concrete walls and felt roof ".

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”Up-cycling is the way forward, there are many 1960's, 70's and 80's building made of concrete, which are not considered worth saving, but with some careful thought, a lot of insulation and some designer flair, these building can be saved from land fill and given a new beginning, by insulating the existing concrete buildings on the outside, this then creates a thermal mass from the existing concrete structure, recreating how they react and perform thermally".

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Rob Gaukroger’s practice is based in Windermere and he is anticipating his principles will become the way ahead as part of this process he is setting up a larger studio in the Lake District,” I will be appointing a design team with in the next 12 months, concentrating on up-cycled, re-cycled and low impact Architecture and design”.

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Hong Kong architects Cheungvogl have designed a research studio on stilts for Chicago, Illinois

The studio will be elevated to preserve secrecy for the research carried out, while a reception area and administration office will be below ground level, overlooking the lake.

Located on the outskirts of the city on the edge of Lake Michigan, the project includes a public space surrounding the 50,000 square metre building.

More about Cheungvogl on Dezeen: Two Houses in Tokyo. 

Here's some more information from Cheungvogl:

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Nunnmps, Chicago, Illinois

From the days when we first visited the campus site in Chicago, sitting in the grass, discussing the concept for the Nunnmps project, our connection with the site developed. These are the moments we preserved in our minds.

Nunnmps is located on the outskirts of Chicago bordering Lake Michigan; close enough to the city center, in an undeveloped site with stunning views across the distant skyline. The design development grew as naturally as the terrain overtook the site in the absence of human inhabitation over the years. Through uninterrupted silence, the site is covered with layers of shimmering grass and matured trees. We want to retain and capture the natural quality of silence.

The Client's brief was summed up in a hand scribbled facsimile stating:  '...develop the site to maximize its potential ... providing privacy for the design studio is crucial - and the rest, see what the lack of brief takes you! ...'.

This became our starting point to experiment every possibility within the constraints of its intricate building regulations. Uncommon for a commercial development, the project contributes to its community on a multi-faceted level. It redefines the notion of 'work and place', 'city and landscape' and integrated culture and community.

The ambiguous threshold between 'work' and 'place' is idealized by its location within the city. The design consists of a 50,000 square meter design and research studio in addition to surrounding public open space and nature. One third of the building encompasses the design and research studios and support areas.

Since the studio projects are of a strategic nature and highly confidential, the building is lifted above ground, high above the crowns of trees, floating like clouds, overlooking the distant skyline. The remaining two thirds of the office space exist within its sub terrain. It accommodates a reception area and a large open administration office with mushroom-like cores penetrating the ground to connect both parts of the Nunnmps.

'The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.'  Henry Miller project diaries Nunnmps, August 2009

The architects

Cheungvogl is a young international architectural practice founded in 2008. The design studio is based in Hong Kong and led by Chinese-Canadian architect Judy Cheung and German architect Christoph Vogl.

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