Tag Archives: Charred Wood

This charred wood self-built tiny home executes all the dont’s of designing for a small space

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This beautiful 16-foot-long tiny home in Byron Bay, Australia was designed and is home to a lovely couple Samara and James. Frank Macchia, a holistic designer, and Samara’s father helped them to design the home. All the design ideas and moves you wouldn’t execute in a small space were implemented in this tiny home. For example – its interior and exterior feature a dark theme, and there aren’t a lot of windows in the home. Despite these details, the house manages to have an air of spaciousness and balance to it, while retaining a harmonious connection with the site it is situated on!

Designer: Samara and James

The wood-clad home is inspired by Japanese design, especially by shou sugi ban, a method of charring wood to make it more fire and pest resistant. The home was designed similarly to Samara’s parents’ home which is also located on the property. So, a theme of consistency and continuity was maintained. The house includes three modules, consisting of a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. They can be moved and reconfigured if the home ever needs to be expanded in the future. The home’s noteworthy modular configuration creates space for little interstitial decks. The home is surrounded by potted plants and greenery, adding a chunk of green to the space.

You enter the home through a screened alcove, which creates a connection between the bathroom and kitchen. The kitchen includes a sink and an induction stovetop, as well as cabinets and open shelving. LED lighting strips have been placed underneath the cabinets. There’s also a handy wooden frame installed to store James’ DIY cold brew coffee tower. Once you exit the kitchen, you enter a cozy transitional space, which holds Samara’s closet. The closet is hidden beneath a skinny door.

You enter the bedroom by sliding open a door of wooden slats. A comfy bed, a small nook, and James’ closet occupy the space in the bedroom. A huge window in the room allows natural light to stream in. The window can be covered with a roller blind, which enables it to transform into a movie screen, with the help of a projector that is placed in James’ closet. The home also features a cool outdoor shower. A door separates the outdoor shower from the rest of the bathroom where the toilet and sink are located.

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This beautiful gabled lake house in Lake Tahoe was built using charred wood

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Berkeley-based studio Alexander Jermyn Architecture built a beautiful lake house in Lake Tahoe, California, marked with blackened wood siding, and a steep gable form. Occupying 3200 square feet, the home is tucked away in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and was built to withstand the extreme climatic conditions of the region. It provides stunning views of the lake, via massive floor-to-roofline windows.

Designer: Alexander Jermyn Architecture

“We were curious how the architecture could have multiple readings. One example was the differentiation between exterior and interior. Although the exterior had to be tough to withstand sun, snowfall, and wildfires, we designed the interior to have a softness and warmth, enveloped in wood.” said the studio.

Named Hemlock, the home is a contemporary and modern twist on typical alpine residences. The exterior of the home features charred wooden walls, which are called Shou Sugi Ban. The walls are supported by a concrete base. Both materials were chosen for their ability to withstand extreme climatic conditions, and high heights. “Mockups of the charred accoya wood were buried over two seasons to test resiliency. The final brushed version of the Shou Sugi Ban was chosen for its preserved finish after the rigors of testing,” said the studio.

The dark charred wood creates an intriguing contrast against the surrounding environment, and also against the interiors which are light and minimal, accentuated by white walls, and bleached clear vertical grain hemlock “The intent was to find a consistent and economical material that could wrap the entirety of the interior envelope. The lightening of the wood was critical to obtain a more neutral palette that would brighten the space during the daytime hours,” said the architecture studio.

The home occupies a simple rectangular footprint and faces the beautiful lake. The ground floor houses a garage, ski-tuning station, laundry, media room, bunk room, and guest room, while the main floor features the bedrooms, kitchen, and living space that leads to a deck. The gable holds an artist studio mezzanine level, which is illuminated by skylights. The walls have been integrated with benches and nooks, to create a more compact and simple floor plan. The floors are connected via a staircase equipped with patinated steel pickets, and a railing. “The steel pickets disappear into the wood floor and treads to allow the plane of the floor to be continuous and uninterrupted,” the studio concluded.

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