Joanne Hain Architect
beautiful places deserve beautiful spaces
- Making the most of a beautiful view -
Our wonderful valley has the most incredible vistas. In some of the older cottage style homes, the small windows don't allow for the sweeping views to be fully appreciated from the inside spaces. One clear advantage of modern technology and style in architecture is large windows. In the context of this area, this can allow for maximum appreciation of our surroundings from interior spaces and blurring the line between indoors and outdoors. In this renovation project the main living space was transformed to capitalize on a spectacular view and make the space more functional and beautiful.
A large glass gable window allows for beautiful views out from the kitchen as well as allowing lots of light in. It creates a more modern look but the house retains the feel of a mountain cottage with the thatch roof.
A more traditional cottage look, which is beautiful in itself, but the small openings do not allow much light in or the opportunity to make the most of views.
The house has an incredible view of the mountains. The wall facing the view is now completely glazed and able to open up, this blurs the line between the interior and the exterior of the house and there is no obstruction of the incredible view.
Although there originally was a glass gable in the lounge area, the massive beam above the doors ended up blocking the best portion of the view
With such incredible light and space created by the gable windows it was a challenge to hide the messy section of the kitchen (the sink, dishwasher etc) without enclosing the space. This was resolved by creating a low wall behind the island which hides these spaces.
The clients were very hands-on during the construction of the project and they made many ingenious decisions to add to the design. One of these was to give the thatch loft space a plaster board ceiling. It gives the space a much lighter, clean feel and it is much more allergy friendly.
Beautiful new finishes and fixtures give this new bathroom a modern feel
Taking windows down to floor level creates a much more open feel and gives great views from bed.