Glass Home Exteriors Reflect Modern Tastes

Glass Home Exteriors Reflect Modern Tastes

Full-height glass partitions are not appropriate for everybody — they can make folks feel as they are on display, and ample window shades can be at odds with the architecture. Yet by using different kinds of eyeglasses and incorporating shading in front of the walls, as an instance, their shortages can be overcome. With the advanced technology of insulated eyeglasses and unique coatings, glass is becoming an increasingly sustainable way of wrapping a building.

This ideabook assembles four houses which use glass in some intriguing ways.

Thomas Roszak Architecture

This aptly called Glass House, made by Thomas Roszak, is at the north suburbs of Chicago and follows the town’s contemporary tradition embodied by Mies van der Rohe. The house, designed for your architect and his family, is composed of two-story glass cubes, modules which may be added to over time as the need for space increases.

Thomas Roszak Architecture, LLC

These outside photos show the way the cubes create an in-and-out stepping-in plan. They also hint at some of the color inside: Yellow beams can be found in this photo.

Thomas Roszak Architecture, LLC

This view over one of these notches reveals a skylight which brings light to a below-grade level. The construction is a mixture of concrete (slabs, columns, beams) and metal (vertical beams, slab borders ). The latter is painted an orange-yellow that combines with the crimson walls and timber floors to bring warmth to the interior.

Thomas Roszak Architecture

The yellowish beams direct the gaze within this photograph toward the view, the green environment that become an integral part of living in the Glass House.

Thomas Roszak Architecture, LLC

Some privacy and sun decrease come from the full-height horizontal louvers within the glass walls.

The construction zone, ltd..

This huge house in Phoenix, Arizona doubles, as a personal museum. The design, by Jones Studio, places the artwork on a lower floor defined by rammed-earth walls. Above that floor would be the living spaces.

The construction zone, ltd..

What the architects predict the”floating residential pavilion” is composed of clear glass partitions behind a translucent screen that matches daylight and can be a canvas for artificial lighting following sundown.

The construction zone, ltd..

This magnificent photo clearly shows the translucent screens, that can be hung from the roof by thin cables. The large terracelike space between these displays and the inner glass wall can also be evident.

The construction zone, ltd..

The house is quite slick inside, with much more reflections coming from walls perpendicular to the outside; it is almost officelike. Note the gap between the two outside walls as well as how in which the screen filters the daylight. The artwork from beneath poking its way into the house via a glass box is a great touch.

dSPACE Studio Ltd, AIA

This transformation along with a two-flat from the hip Wicker Park area of Chicago includes a large glass wall onto its rear elevation.

AIA, dSPACE Studio Ltd

The design, by dSPACE Studio, makes this glass wall operable, lifting like a garage door to open the double-height living space to your backyard.

dSPACE Studio Ltd, AIA

There are some windows on the sides, however this massive glass wall would be the most important source of light for your living room. Note how rooftop access happens next to the operable wall: A mezzanine walkway contributes to a doorway that opens to an outside spiral stair.

Martin Holub Architects

This little addition, made by Martin Holub, includes a laundry area, a bath, a spa, and a lounge area. The angle of the roof and the windows creates a jewel-like design.

Martin Holub Architects

Even with all the expansive glass wall comprising much of this addition, other openings are available: a window opposite, a grid of six skylights and some smaller openings cut from the timber walls next to the spa.

Martin Holub Architects

The combination of those openings creates a kaleidoscopic effect as light enters the space. This certainly would not happen with no tall glass wall to the right.

More:
Give Me a Wall, a Home or a Roof of Glass
Glamorous Modern Glass

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