Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Stone Meets Steel: Location-Sensitive All-Season Retreat

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT

[ Filed under Contemporary & in the Architecture category ]

If winter is coming, this hybrid load-bearing + frame-and-cladding house may be the most brilliant way to weather those long cold nights. Likewise in summer, a combination of shade and openness provides the right balance of protection from and exposure to nature.

Dubbed Under the Moonlight by its designer Giovanni D'Ambrosio, this Australian home blends solid stone with blackened steel that combine to tie it into the landscape and capture incredible views at the same time.

Masonry elements directly connect inside and out, rising up from the ground but cantilevering into the primary first-floor living space as well.

Thin windows likewise run right from the intersection of structure and earth, breaking down the distinction between interior and exterior.

Ground-floor grandeur gives way, ultimately, to surprisingly cozy upstairs rooms including master bed and bath, lofted, tucked inside and sheltered by branch-like structural supports.