UP interiors

Timeless architecture, interiors and home furnishings.

[upinteriors]

We Rural Country House by Archisbang redefines the essence of rural architecture. Situated within the historic Palazzo Valgorrera in Piedmont, this project transforms a portion of a traditional farmhouse into a modern sanctuary.

Floating wooden structures, wrapped in a translucent polycarbonate skin, merge past and present, creating a space that feels both grounded and ethereal. Exposed brickwork and weathered tiles preserve the charm of the original architecture, while sculptural iron staircases lead to serene guest rooms above.

A design that honors history while embracing innovation—an invitation to live, gather, and connect.

Photography by Aldo Amoretti.

[upinteriors]

Yucca Stand Tall by Sun at Six.

[upinteriors]

Les Abouts by Atelier Pierre Thibault.

[upinteriors]

Leaf Shelf 2×2 by Form & Refine.

[upinteriors]

Modern terrace with a tree. Baan FN by ANONYM. Photo by Sky|Ground.

[upinteriors]

Concrete Desk Set by Magnus Pettersen for Areaware.

[upinteriors]

GrowON Self-Watering Planter by Squarely Copenhagen.

[upinteriors]

Devil’s Glen by StudioAC

Devils Glen is located on the Bruce Peninsula a few hours north of Toronto. The design process began with a picnic on site where a discussion focused more on the natural elements of site rather than the building, and this inspired an ethic for the project to come. The design began with two fixations, one having the house sited true to a NSEW to take advantage of the solar path throughout the day, the view to the water and to avoid disturbing as much of the natural habitat as possible. The second fixation was to have the roofscape act as a device to shape light, levels of intimacy and vantage points to the treetops, water and sky beyond.

The house is organized in two linear bars, one with sleeping quarters and the other with open living. A modesty to the plan that uses a simple grid of 12’ x 16’ for living spaces and 12’ x 12’ for sleeping allows for unobstructed life to exist within. A simple shift of the two bars produces a covered terrace facing the water and a covered porch at the entry, while simultaneously increasing privacy for both the primary bedroom and the secondary bathroom facilities. This shift in the bars and the siting of the house also conceals the view to the water upon arrival to the site. Once you enter the house the landscape and water are revealed via vignette style windows facing the forest and an expansive glass wall facing the lake.

The plan is capped with a seemingly simple roof that structurally and formally responds to the extensive snowfalls that can happen in the area. A modesty is observed in the roof’s formal and structural concept using framed and clad trusses to increase lateral stability, but these have a dual purpose. While the exterior face of the roof is consistent, a freedom was observed with what could be done with the partition between the two bars above the height of primary walls. Within each bay this partition is allowed to sway from left to right sometimes producing an intimate gable, a grand shed, or a funnel of light. This tactic is played with further in the form a skygazing platform that brings you up into this roofscape to view the treetops, clouds and stars.

The choice of a singular metal building was inspired by farm buildings in the area and a robust galvanized spec free from finish colours increases the robustness and reflects the hues of the landscape and sky throughout the day. On the interior a simple application of white painted drywall and plywood on the roofscape diagrams the architectural device while producing an unfretted backdrop for art, views, and sunlight.

Design: StudioAC Location: Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada Year: 2022 Photography: Felix Michaud

[upinteriors]

Casa Vargem Grande by Juliana Ayako and Zebulun Arquitetura

Casa Vargem Grande deals with topography through the creation of a continuous spatiality that unfolds over the slope of the land.

The house is divided into 5 staggered slabs connected by a continuous and open staircase-corridor that guarantees the maintenance of the view that crosses the land from the front to the back, where there is the condominium's forest reserve. The views vary along the percouse throughout the staggering slabs, unfolding at times towards the base of the valley, at times towards the reserve, and at times towards the peak of the mountains.

The module of the BTC brick and the slope of the terrain determined the size of the slabs and the difference in elevation between them. In this way, the project was measured through rows and blocks instead of centimeters and meters.

The lateral facades are blind and structural in BTC brick - with the exception of a small window - creating an axis that connects the reserve at the back of the house to the valley located in front. These plans guarantee the creation of an interior courtyard which the house faces, closing off the dense context on its sides.

To generate the feeling of a single-story staggered house, a lightweight metal roof rests on the structural BTC walls of the side facades and the round metal pillars of the front and back facades. This continuous roof makes an inflection in the height of the third slab, opening the view towards the top of the valley and creating a mezzanine.

The direct dialogue between the house and the topography and the use of concrete and BTC blocks reflect the weight of the work. The building is placed on the ground, rests on it and ensures that all bedrooms, living room and kitchen have access to the patio and external areas. At the bottom of each slab, the construction touches the ground where the continuous beams-columns meet. Its front, always elevated, guarantees the downward flow of water, avoids major cuts in the land and allows the passage of some small animals that move between the houses.

Design: Juliana Ayako, Zebulun Arquitetura Location: Teresópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Year: 2023 Photography: Federico Cairoli

[upinteriors]

Moreno 2681 by palca estudio is giving Buenos Aires mixed-use vibes! This Argentinian project combines offices & apartments in a sleek design. A central garden connects everything, creating a community feel.

[upinteriors]

White bedroom. Loft in Manhattan by Dieter Vander Velpen Architects. Photo by Patricia Goijens.

[upinteriors]

Double marble trough sink. Loft in Manhattan by Dieter Vander Velpen Architects. Photo by Tineke De Vos.

[upinteriors]

Moreno 2681 by palca estudio

The project is located in Balvanera, a central neighbourhood of Buenos Aires that presents a heterogeneous built profile with a strong commercial presence and an identity characterised by cultural diversity. This pattern is further consolidated when understanding its direct link with the building of the Argentine National Congress, with the large number of hotels distributed throughout the area or with the Miserere Square, that acts as a hub for trains, buses and subways. Balvanera could be interpreted as a neighbourhood of national identity.

Architecture as identity. The assignment originates from the clients' need to have administrative offices in new building that determines their identity as an institution. These offices had to be complemented by apartments to be used by people travelling from the provinces of Argentina to Buenos Aires for a certain period of time. Among the clients' initial demands was the use of a glass façade as an image towards the city, which for us was an essential part of the initial program.

The potential of mixed uses. The initial idea was to locate work and domesticity in the same block. This option was rapidly discarded after the first tests when the incompatibility of the circulation dynamics was verified. Taking advantage of the long proportion of the site (7.60 x 47.60 m) it was then decided to divide the uses into two independent blocks: the office one in the front, more exposed to the street and the domestic one in the back, more reserved in the centre of the block. In this way, a daily relationship is generated between all the people who inhabit the building while providing privacy in each of the parts.

Adapt to the given conditions. Both blocks adjust their buildable profile to the limits determined by the internal front line. This imaginary line is determined by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires to delimit a non-buildable area in the centre of the block. Instead of looking for alternatives to deal with this restriction, the project adapts to the resulting silhouette. In this way, two individual blocks are proposed to take advantage of all the possible footprint and are developed with the necessary height to deal with the proposal.

The void as a meeting place. Both building blocks are connected through a central void that works as a meeting point. This void is projected through a garden of organic shapes, white stones and growing vegetation that aims to generate meeting places for the people who work and inhabit the building.

Versatile and timeless from the beginning. The office block is planned on four levels with open spaces that allow to deal with the constant changes in today's work dynamics. Each level has outdoor spaces materialised by balconies on the lower floors and a terrace on the upper floor. The domestic block is also planned on four levels but made up of two stacked duplex apartments. Each one of them operates as an individual unit designed with the minimum elements necessary to be temporarily inhabited.

How to be efficient in the Argentine context. In an economic context as complex and variable as the Argentine one, it is necessary to be rational and efficient in the materialisation of architecture. In that sense, the construction of the building is proposed in a synthetic and traditional way through the implementation of few elements, but optimising their use. To do this, we proposed a reinforced concrete skeleton and lightweight masonry walls, textured white anodised aluminium frames in the windows and airtight double glazing for greater thermal efficiency. In this way, we make it easier to deal with suppliers while achieving efficiency and durability in the use of the elements.

A new way of perceiving the environment. Faced with a complex and heterogeneous urban context, the project is created from synthesis as contrast. Pure lines, geometric composition and white elements characterise a building that aims to communicate order and timelessness.

Design: palca estudio Location: Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Argentina Year: 2023 Photography: Javier Agustín Rojas

[upinteriors]

Renovation House V by Hans Verstuyft Architecten

A typical add construction, dark and cold, a not so clever intervention from the past to expand a classical house, was the starting point. Where extra surface area is usually regarded as luxury, the opposite was the way of thinking here. By exchanging living space for outdoor space, a larger garden was created with a kind of garden room. Moreover, the daylight could penetrate more deeply into the house. The outside room is a nice covered area with a bench and a fireplace. The “living” kitchen is now on full width. A characterless skylight was masked with small wooden beams, outside these function as a sunblind. The interior is simple and sober: an off-white colour palette, natural stone, oak. Concrete and Corten steel weather naturally outside.

Design: Hans Verstuyft Architecten Location: Antwerp, Belgium Year: 2017 Photography: The Fresh Light

[upinteriors]

Jan Juc Studio by Eldridge Anderson

The Jan Juc Studio is a new house and studio, conceived as a large deck beneath a canopy of eucalypts, the project is described as being marked by its simplicity of form and clarity of intent.

A veil of operable, permeable timber screens sheltering the spaces while admitting sea breezes and dappled light that shifts according to the time of day and position of the screen, the building is alive to the elemental qualities of the site.

With a sense of living on a platform among the bush, the house is experienced as a single space that can be separated into zones as needed, with function interpreted according to the task at hand. Creating a building that is intrinsically flexible and supports many modes of occupation.

The central core provides privacy and utility while allowing movement to circulate freely around the edge. The screens are simultaneously surface and aperture, encouraging engagement between building and inhabitation, transparency and animation are introduced, allowing the richer finish of the timber main structure and lining to become evident and light to gently radiate forth at night.

Design: Eldridge Anderson Location: Great Ocean Road, Torquay, Victoria, Australia Area: 200 m² Year: 2021 Photography: Ben Hosking

[upinteriors]

Ingarö by Arrhov Frick

From the beginning of the design process, the site conditions significantly informed the building's principles and formal expression. The plot itself is relatively steep and difficult to accommodate outdoor areas; therefore an integrated terrace was created to form a liveable outdoor space. The open air terrace is the same form and area as the enclosed house — two equal parts meeting each other to create a central garden.

To emphasise the continuity between outdoor and indoor, the timber structure is visible throughout. Sitting perched on the slope — the rear of the house rests close to the ground while the living room and terrace project toward the water. To avoid blasting onsite, the house stands on a grid of wooden posts. Both the post and the wood panelled facade are treated with a carbon black pigment, giving a darker tint while retaining the wood's lustre and character.

Design: Arrhov Frick Location: Ingarö, Värmdö SV, Stockholm County, Sweden Area: 160 m² Year: 2014 Photography: Mikael Olsson

[upinteriors]

Autobarn by Bindloss Dawes

The Autobarn is the realisation of our client's long-term dream to house his collection of classic German cars. The project is composed of two volumes: a clean, five-bay garage for everyday use and a taller workshop for repairs and future restoration projects.

Beyond satisfying this initial use, the project ambition was to create a flexible, 'long-life, loose-fit' building that could be used for a range of different uses. Currently it doubles up as event space, however the ambition is that the Autobarn could one day become a low-energy house.

Located on the outskirts of a small Somerset village, the project is set within the grounds of an eighteenth-century Grade 2 listed house. It replaces several haphazard outbuildings and consolidates their amenity into an elegant architectural proposal, nestled within a glade of mature trees.

The project's design references the language of neighbouring agricultural barns. As a practice we are interested in reassessing the rural vernacular, both for its contextual appropriateness and its lessons in low-cost, pragmatic design. As such, the Autobarn re-interprets simple forms and methods of construction, adapting more temporary, rudimentary methods into a robust and elegant paradigm for low-cost, rural architecture. Composed of a concrete base and steel framed structure, intermittent timber cladding and zinc metal roof, the Autobarn adapts barn typologies with varying levels of refinement. Consideration was also given to its weathering, with the natural zinc roof dulling to complement the silver patination of the sweet chestnut cladding.

Like many barns, permeability to light and air is controlled through a series of movable layers. First experienced as a closed solid mass, the barn walls open up via a number of doors, including an heroic 7m sliding timber screen. The intermittent timber slats of the screens create internal dappled light during the day, which is reversed at night as interior lighting illuminates the surrounding landscape. Internally the steel structure is expressed in an array of simple portal frames, with sustainably-sourced wood-fibre acoustic board forming internal wall and ceiling. The garage space is calm and gallery-like, while the workshop space presents a tougher, taller workshop, surrounded with concrete wainscotting and designed to accommodate a car lift.

The building's 'long-life/loose-fit' ambitions have meant that the insulation and energy performance exceed residential standards. Although thermostats are currently turned down for its current use, the building includes underfloor heating powered by an Air Source Heat Pump, as well as additional first fix services hidden behind the internal wall paneling for future conversion.

Construction started in November 2020 and was completed at the end of 2021, with the project effected by the global pandemic and building material inflation. Despite these challenges, and the inclusion of some one-off expensive items (such as the electric garage doors), the Autobarn was built for under £2,300 / m2. In tandem with high energy performance and the use of natural materials, it combines our studio's goal to combine beauty, affordability, and sustainability.

Design: Bindloss Dawes Location: Frome, United Kingdom Area: 165 m² Year: 2022 Photography: Building Narratives