Submitted by: Robin Monotti
Submitted by: Pedro Brito
Category: Residential Architectural Property Project Name: Foros Yacht House Location: Crimea, Ukraine Architect: Robin Monotti Architects Completion: Septmeber 2012
Category: Residential Architectural Property Project Name: House Halffloors Location: Espinho, Portugal Architect: Sousa e Lopes – Gabinete de Arquitectura e Urbanismo, Lda. (1 + 1 Arquitectos) Completion: April 2013
The 875 sq m contemporary building creates an outstanding feature on the Crimean shoreline. It houses four rental apartments arranged around tall yacht storage at ground level, and connected by a staircase tower. The client initially required winter storage space for his 13 metre yacht. The client then decided to add three rental apartments and captain’s accommodation to make the most of the outstanding site. The design commenced with a yacht room 7 metres wide, 15 metres deep and 6 metres high on the ground floor giving access via a 25’ door to a railed slipway in front. To balance the 25’ door and enable dramatic, unrestricted views across the Black Sea, Robin Monotti proposed three distinctive volumes above and beside the tall boat house. By offsetting the volumes, the design provided a variety of terraces at different levels, extensive views and outdoor access. The outside is brought inside by 9 metre wide floor to ceiling windows in the main apartments which provide almost seamless seascapes.
The house was built on a central city terrain with 80 square meters. Halffloors now has 277 square meters (useful), an architectural achievement using half-floors! The house has three bedrooms, one dining room, one living room, one office, three exterior accessible areas; one a complement to a bedroom, another on the dining/ kitchen level and which is made of glass and the other a rooftop where there exists a swimming pool and a two car garage with car lift. The house is simple. It is organised in a vertical and hierarchical way. The social areas are on the inferior floors and the private areas on the superior levels. To achieve great visual amplitudes and dynamic interconnections between spaces, the interior was structured in half-floors. The width of the plot decided the stair. In fact, it became the heart of the house. Positioned adjacent to those spaces is a courtyard that together with the half-floor structure induces a vertical continuity, creating a gentle horizontal connection.
The International Design & Architecture Awards 2013 73