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7 Designs That Don't Compromise Privacy for Sunlight and Views
January 29, 2016
It may the biggest discrepancy between seductive renderings and actual dwelling: glassy facades—especially on busy streets and dense neighborhoods—just become a constant showcase for a home's curtain selection. These seven projects found a more subtle approach.
An architect reimagined this outdated brick garage in New Zealand by designing a graceful new family home atop its foundation. Made from anodized aluminum, the mechanical louvers surrounding the master bedroom provide privacy while letting in light.
Photo by
Originally appeared in This Former Garage Is Clutter Free
Linden Hills, a leafy neighborhood in southwest Minneapolis abutting recreational Lake Calhoun, is a spot where few fences divide the ranch houses from the Cape Cods and the bungalows, most of them modest exercises in Midwestern economy. Architect Christian Dean and his wife Karie expanded and renovated their 1,000 square foot home to make space for a growing family.
Here Karie and her son Mason enjoy a playful loll on the bed in the Deans’ new master bedroom. The perforated wall facing the neighbors’ backyard offers a great deal of diffuse light while still managing to conceal the Deans’ boudoir from prying eyes.
Photo by
Originally appeared in Minneapolis, MN
Composed of 220 aluminum "light shelves," the solar reflector screen is the focal point of this Toronto home's front façade. The home takes advantage of its Southern exposure, using the reflector screen to funnel sunlight and warmth deep into the interior space.
The upper two levels of the home are set back from the street, increasing privacy and allowing light to flow uninhibited from the front clerestory window into the communal living spaces. On the top floor, the children's bedrooms are strategically veiled from the street by the slatted reflector screen.
Courtesy of
Ben Rahn
Originally appeared in A Modern Toronto House Covered by a Contemporary Solar Screen
The perforated steel panels of this renovated home in Ljubljana provide a contrasting sense of roughness and lightness, which architect Rok Oman of OFIS Architectsplayed with throughout the home's design. The skin adds transparency and graphic energy to the exterior, though Oman did worry about people fixating on the tic-tac-toe element. "It's like calling a rectangular building the Tetris house," he says.
In the master bathroom, wrapped in custom oak casework, plenty of natural light permeates the steel panels while privacy remains intact.
Courtesy of
Tomaz Gregoric
Originally appeared in Super Minimal Steel and Concrete Villa with an Unusual Facade
Unobtrusively distinct from its neighbors, this weekend house in Mexico assimilates the colors of the surrounding landscape on surfaces of glass, steel, and concrete. In the master bath, the architect managed to combine privacy and a view by adding a horizontal-line pattern to the glass wall.
Photo by
Originally appeared in Reflections on a Lake
Self-taught designer Tom Givone continues his practice of updating 19th-century farmhouses with unexpected details and salvaged materials with his latest creation—a torqued-volume addition to an 1850s family homestead in Pennsylvania.
A glass-lined shower with a Hudson Reed showerhead adds a modern touch to the second-floor bathroom. A pane of privacy glass lets natural light enter the room.
Photo by
Originally appeared in A Mind-Bending Renovation Brings a Bold, Modern Addition to an Old Farmhouse
A devastating accident could have made Murray Siple a bitter man. Instead, he decided to renovate a house. The result is a masterful achievement of modern design that has allowed the filmmaker to reclaim his life.
All the windows were designed to frame the mountains and trees without compromising privacy. Sunlight streams in through the window over the bedroom closet.
Photo by
Originally appeared in The Siple Life
An architect reimagined this outdated brick garage in New Zealand by designing a graceful new family home atop its foundation. Made from anodized aluminum, the mechanical louvers surrounding the master bedroom provide privacy while letting in light.
Photo by Simon Devitt.
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