glass house by manser practice architects

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glass house by manser practice architects

Jan 20, 2013

first image
'glass house' by manser practice architects
all images © morley von sternberg

approached from a generally suburban and unremarkable road down gravel drive through a wood, the initial
view of the 'glass house' by manser practice architects is deliberately unclear. a long sinuous reflective black
wall sitting amongst the trees conceals the presence of the building and beyond. views of the sea are also only
hinted at with glimpses.

entering through a huge rough sawn timber door, the visitor is lead along a broad sweeping curved corridor
down which the main living space, the internal and external living areas and the stunning views beyond slowly
become apparent. the utter and almost seemly structure-less transparency of the living area is offset by the
timber clad density of the bedroom block the two sections being held together by the black screen wall running
north south on the east side of the house. bedrooms generally have corner locations with micro views within
the property but the main living space with terraces both to the north and south has long views to the north and west.

entrance approach

broad sweeping curved corridor down toward the main living space

glazed living space with views overlooking the solent

views from the bedroom terrace

heated using a ground source heat pump running off a series of 40 meter bore holes, the heat pump also provides
the hot water and heating to the swimming pool and in summer provides cooling to the floors: - replenishing the
borehole in the process. rainwater is harvested for flushing WCs and for external taps.

in the pavilion, glare is countered by the deep overhangs of the roof

main terrace

kitchen space

floor plan

site plan

project information:

contractor: john peck construction ltd
glazing: fineline aluminium
steel frame: DMR engineering limited
structural engineer: elliot wood partnership
ground substructure: stability & malcolm woodruff associates
landscape architect: john brookes
timber cladding: alan bright

designboom has received this project from our 'DIY submissions' feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication.
see more project submissions from our readers here

ManserPractice

01.20.13

The panoramic view is excellent, especially for secluded locations like this. At first I thought it was a Mies van der Rohe rip off, but it has a lot of organic elements which balance out the modern design.

LincolnHo says:

Jan 24, 2013

Reply
Very nice design. Wondering how living room gets lateral bracing in case of earth movement as well as verticle load support. Is there an antigravity device hidden somewhere?

mArkW says:

Jan 29, 2013

Reply

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