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Hawaiian Getaway Elevated with Shou Sugi Ban Inside and Out
When a Vancouver-based couple was planning their dream home in Hawaii, they sought to build a residence near their favorite surf break in Kauai‘s picturesque Hanalei Bay. Once they found and purchased a perfect parcel of land, they razed the existing home and tapped San Francisco-based architecture firm Walker Warner to create a simple but bespoke home. Completed in 2022 and dubbed Wahi Lani, or ‘heavenly place’ in Hawaiian, the low-slung, flat-roofed abode spans 2,384 square feet with three bedrooms and four bathrooms. The home isn’t located directly on the water (the ocean is just a short walk), nor does it have an ocean view, so Walker Warner turned inward…
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Japanese and Scandinavian Design Elements Combine in Wales
Artist Richard Zinon learned pottery in Japan, and carpentry, painting and sculpture in Italy; he’s also a trained chef who has worked in restaurants in different countries. Is it any wonder then that his little bungalow, nestled deep in Snowdonia National Park in Wales, would be a paean to artfulness and craftsmanship? Zinon and his partner, Nuria Maria, a fellow painter, treated the 1929 structure like a blank canvas, deftly filling it in with design references to their travels while showcasing the beauty of natural materials. At 689 square feet, the two-bedroom home is small, but it feels open and airy thanks to high ceilings and new picture windows that…
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Reverie Rises From the Ashes With a Striking New Shou Sugi Ban Look
Reverie, Georgetown’s treasured tasting room in Washington DC that was forced to go dark in August 2022 after suffering extensive fire damage, makes its long-awaited comeback to D.C.’s Michelin-starred dining scene later this month. Chef Johnny Spero’s resurrected flagship, hidden in a cobblestone alleyway since 2018 (3201 Cherry Hill Lane), maintains its same one-star status achieved just months before flames ravaged the fine dining destination. At the completely rebuilt restaurant, modernist meals stretching 16 courses long continue to draw culinary influences and techniques from Nordic countries, Japan, and Spero’s native Maryland. “We don’t want to start over; we want to continue where we left off,” he says, of the seafood-centric…
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Kebony brings Sustainable Shou Sugi Ban to UK
Located in the English countryside, a beautiful modern extension has recently transformed a mid-Victorian semi-detached home Purbeck House in Dorset, UK, while at the same time retaining the property’s quaint style and heritage. Featuring local Purbeck stone and sustainably sourced Kebony timber, owner Lewis Donoghue has more than delivered in marrying old with new. Designed in collaboration with Gruff Architects, the vision behind the new project in Furzebrook was to create a modern extension that would enlarge the Purbeck House for the owners and their growing family, at the same time connecting the building more intimately with its natural surroundings. The new extension to the side and rear has expansive…
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Shou Sugi Ban Music Studio Bangs
London-based studio, Unknown Works has designed Shou Sugi Bangers, a small music studio for an electronic music producer. The goal was to create a tuned environment to retreat from the hum of London, with the primary focus on acoustic isolation. To achieve the optimum acoustic environment, the building’s scale and dimensions were determined by 1:1.6:2.56, the Golden Ratio. The shou sugi ban charred timber-clad building looks outward, with a scalloped form providing a series of listening nooks. Along its longest edge, the team specified CNC-milled (digitally machined) Accoya surfaces, with curves designed to focus on specific ranges of sound mirroring the controlled acoustic environment inside. Reminiscent of grooves cut into…
