Architecture, at its core, is all about innovation. By innovation, we don’t necessarily mean groundbreaking engineering or unusual materials. Innovation can just as easily come in the form of effective layouts and beautiful materials. As you might expect, with an ever-changing industry, home design competes in a constant race with itself. The pursuit? An Influential and practical building.
It will come as no surprise then that over the past year, there have been a wide variety of stand-out homes, but what are the buildings that took the industry toward a new frontier? In this blog, we will walk through some of the most striking architectural designs and explain how you can make your architectural dream a reality.
Sea Breeze
Nestled within the sand dunes of the famous East Sussex coast lies the first house on this illustrious list. While surrounded by a small collection of traditional beach houses, Sea Breeze manages to both complement these structures and forge its own striking narrative. The challenges with building this home will be clear to many as the harsh conditions of the coast have thwarted many a self-build project in the past.
To combat the dilemma of sand and wind, the home has no gutters and the windows are all built completely flush with the smooth trowelled concrete. Certainly, this home is one of the most beautiful and practical designs of the past year.
Surbiton Springs
Exceptional design hinges mostly on balance. Can the building feel both progressive and grounded or will it end up lost and disjointed? This conundrum is a scenario the modern architect is all too familiar with and finding the balance can be incredibly challenging. Though with one look at Surbiton Springs, you will notice instantly that the home achieves this perfectly.
The traditional a-frame roof and timber frame style patterns harp back to historical buildings, though the home is an all-white personification of contemporary architecture. The house features a widely open-planned layout with stunning metalwork details throughout.
Leyton House
While we understand that all of our readers may not hold the same opinion about the buildings we have mentioned so far, we are sure that they agree on one thing. The UK’s bureaucratic approach to architectural design can be a suffocating wall for innovation. For many, this hardline position on artistic structural design can be the nail in the coffin for their self-build dreams. Though with Leyton House, both the architects and the client used this as a springboard of creativity and inspiration.
The home merges seamlessly with its terraced Victorian neighbours while teasing onlookers with glimpses of design brilliance. Though, once you step through the wooden gate, the true magnitude of the building’s innovation reveals itself and the house takes you on a journey of discovery.
Feeling inspired? If you want to get the wheels moving on your very own standout home, then make sure to contact us today! We can’t wait to hear about your vision and start putting your ideas on paper.
