Habitat

DECEMBER 2022
Trend, renovation and innovation in interior design.

GLASS HOUSE
FOR A GREAT
WRITER
Better in
black
Striking
beauty

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 TABLE OF
14
GLASS HOUSE FOR A GREAT WRITER
Contents
The Room 11 studio has created an
unusual glass house to house a writer
who wants to live immersed in nature. 07
THE LUXURY OF TROPEZ IN A WON-
DERFUL HOUSE
Carlo donati’s new project with the new
pieces of la dolce vita collection.

BETTER IN BLACK
08
Brave and transformative, there’s so-
mething magic about a black interior.
We step into three homes that have

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embraced the dark side.

LESS IS MORE A UNIQUE RENOVATION

OF A 1960'S NASHVILLE HOME
Renovation of an old English-style house
towards a simpler and more current

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decoration.

STRIKING BEAUTY
Interior designer Nerida Stewart of NCS
Interiors and her husband Andrew fell in
love with their Camberwell home in 2010
and give us a tour to get to know it better.

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A BRIGHT OASIS
We will see the design created by Eti
Buskila who presents us with an industrial

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and modern design.

TERRACE SIDEWALK CITIZEN

The Sidewalk Citizen Solarium seeks to
revitalize Central Memorial Park with a

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space that connects the park to the city.

HOUSE CLOSS
This house is located in the United States,
it needed some changes. Nature Humai-
ne was willing to accept the challenge.

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 EDITOR'S
letter
HABI TAT

O
Editor-In Chief
Pamela Choez ur home is the place where we spend most of
our lives and it reflects who we are, it gives us
Creative Director security and a feeling of warmth. It is an honor
Eduardo Martinez for HABITAT to expose the new trends, tips, and tricks
on how to reform, update and give new life to our
Art Director home, taking advantage of every space and corner to
Samantha Zevallos obtain a surprising finish.
You can also find interior designers from all over the
Production Director world, people who open their doors to us, show us
Jennifer Loor their home and tell us the story behind every detail.
With HABITAT you will learn to achieve impressive re-
Design Director sults with the resources you have at hand, in addition to
Marcia Gómez being up to date with current trends while preserving
the essence of your home.
Digital Director
Harvey Avalos Sincerely,

Executive Producer Pamela Choez

María Ortega
Pamela Choez
Senior Editor Editor in Chief
Martin Cordero

Design Editor
Niole Hidalgo

Designer
Steven Cardenas

Editorial Assistant
Renato Coronel

Email: www.habitat.com.ec
Address: Urdesa, Guayaquil-Ecuador

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the luxury of tropez in a
Wonderful house
CARLO DONATI’S NEW PROJECT WITH THE NEW PIECES OF LA DOLCE VITA COLLECTION.
arlo Donati, one of the world’s
most renowned designers
with a passion for interior de-
sign, has designed a house in Saint
Tropez in partnership with Essential
Home, brand of midcentury ins-
pired luxury furniture. His Italian
origin is seen in the smallest details,
his admiration for fine craftsmans-
hip made him choose this brand
of handmade furniture. In each of
his projects, regardless of style, his
approach is always minimalist, in-
fluenced by chromatic and graphic
cues inspired by the theme chosen
in the planning process: the best
results always came from a syner-
gy. "This friction can be a source of
creativity and can bring us to better
solutions.” – Carlo Donati.
Passionate about mid-century
design lines, Donati is inspired by
the time when elegance and light-
ness were benchmarks: I absolutely
believe that it will be a fundamental
‌
STYLE|Modern
By CARLO DONATI
Photographs By LAVISH INTERIORS
reference in the luxury design since
we’re talking about timeless elegan-
ce.”-Carlo Donati.
For this Italian designer it was
not difficult to combine Essential
Home products in this house in
Saint Tropez, as he considered it
the perfect opportunity to work the
best Portuguese craftsmanship in
a mid-century modern approach
to style.
HOUSE IN SAINT TROPEZ
Located on the beautiful coast of
Saint Tropez, in the Côte D’Azur
region, with a wonderful ocean view,
this house is the definition of luxury.
The predominance of golden, dark
tones contrasting with beige tones
gives us a feeling of comfort and,
at the same time, of refinement.
This residence is quite large, which
allowed the definition of several
areas in a single room.
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STYLE|Black
BETTER IN
Black
BRAVE AND TRANSFORMATIVE, THERE’S SOMETHING MAGIC ABOUT A
BLACK INTERIOR. WE STEP INTO THREE HOMES THAT HAVE EMBRACED
THE DARK SIDE.
By CASEY HUTTON
ositioned on an idyllic corner
block flanked by Noosa Natio-
nal Park, with views to the
sea through pandanus palms and
eucalypts, this dark home cocoons
its occupants as it frames the scenery
beyond its walls.
“When you look through a view-
finder of a camera, all you see is the
image,” says interior designer Katrina
Mair of CLO Studios, explaining that
the concept of shooting through
a camera lens was central to the
design, in which the landscape is
Photographs By CAITLIN MILLS
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given a starring role. “This is why it
works so well. The view takes your
focus, the black disappears, and
you feel embraced by the sounds,
textures and views of the canopies
along the ridge.”
The interior walls, ceilings and
external features are crafted from
blackbutt, stained with WOCA oil in
‘Anthracite’, and finished with wax.
CLO Studios founder and creati-
ve director Chloe Tozer says that
incorporating texture prevents black
rooms from appearing flat: “Light
reflects off surfaces, bouncing sha-
dows, and transforming a space into
a lively, warm room that encapsu-
lates you.”
Chloe also recommends sticking
to earthy tones if you’re looking to
blur the lines between indoor and
outdoor living. “In Queensland, we
are lucky to live most of our lives with
doors and windows open, feeling the
humidity and warmth of the sun,”
she says – so opt for hardwearing
natural fibres that have been tried
and tested in nature.
STRIKING BALANCE
Black kitchens are enduringly popu-
lar owing to their versatility. Depen-
ding on design choices, they can be
contemporary or traditional, and
they’re capable of creating an atmos-
phere of drama and luxury.
“Bring depth and texture to your
black kitchen,”advises design mana-
ger Olivia Cirocco of GIA Bathrooms
& Kitchens.“This might be through
adding a profile or texture to your
joinery doors instead of flat panels,
through other selections,such as
gloss handmade tiles or different
colour in your benctop.”
Colour balance is also crucial, says
Olivia. In this kitchen by GIA, flat
black joinery anchors the busyness
of ceiling-high terrazzo. Timber floors
and cabinets introduce warmth to
the room, and playful pops of teal
keep the look edgy.
“Fingerprintless is definitely worth
the investment for a dark kitchen,”
Olivia. She also cautions that the
paint finish on cupboards can chip,
so using a black board underneath
will make wear and tear less obvious.
“This is also a good idea if you want If you don't know
matching black internals, otherwise what color to take, take black.
you’ll have to spray both sides of
your door.” The client wanted to Pablo Picasso
elevate the space beyond a typical
home office.

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less is more a unique renovation of a
1960's Nashville home
T
here was no question that
this house, a 1960s abode in
Nashville’s Forest Hills neigh-
borhood, was alluring a sturdy, sto-
ne-walled grand dame still holding
her head up high. It was the sort of
house that does not reveal itself up
front but enchants slowly, room by
room, rather than all at once. Pre-
viously, it had belonged to an older
couple who’d spent years there lovin-
gly layering it with upholstered sur-
faces, patterned wallpaper and trim.
But the new owners a young family
were eager to embrace change. “It
needed a palate cleanser,” designer
recalls, comparing the process of
updating it to a makeunder.
The home’s hallmarks were rather
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Photographs By TIM LENZ
By KELLY PHILLIPS BADAL
unusual, too. Though Booth never
turned up any images of how the
structure appeared when first built,
he believes its architectural origins
were English-inspired. The floor plan
also had a rambling quality. And
although the dwelling’s interior de-
tailing was sound, years of redesig-
ns and renovations had begun to
cloud its original intentions. “There
were numerous extra spaces that we
needed to assign function to,” exp-
lains Booth, who was assisted on the
project by designer Perrin Mayne.
Working within the existing frame
rather than razing and rebuilding-
Booth notes, provided for discovery,
possibility and opportunity. The pri-
mary bedroom, for example, boasts
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STYLE|Simple

a sitting room with a door leading

directly into the kitchen, allowing
the owners to quickly dip inside.
Booth responded with an en suite
banquette for this space, envisioned
as a private mini dining nook. “The
owners already loved the residence
they bought,” he says. “So, much of
our task was maintaining the charm
while utilizing all of the interesting
spaces that had evolved out of its
journey as a house.”
The kitchen and bathrooms were
thoroughly upgraded during the
project, including all cabinetry, as
dated elements and appliances were
stripped away. Here and throughout
the house.
The gracious arched windows, in-
tricate millwork and exposed beams
were left mostly intact, although a

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STYLE|Simple

Quieting things
down became the home's definig theme,
Booth explains.

few received fresh coats of paint

to unify the overall palette. “We re-
moved the context of, say, an ochre
checked fabric wall,” reveals Booth.
“Now, those elements have a
chance to stand on their own.” Gene-
ral contractor Matt Daniel, a frequent
collaborator of Booth’s, proved es-
sential during this stage, executing
details that meld imperceptibly with
the home’s original characteristics.
“Working beside someone you’ve
had a long-standing relationship
with takes so many questions out
of the process,” the designer notes.
“Matt is a vital partner in any pro-
ject’s success; there is a calmness
he brings to the process.” Together,
the duo’s efforts helped the succes-
sion of rooms unfold even more and
more harmoniously.
A high-ceilinged hallway lined
with arched windows, for instance,
marks the passageway between an
older and newer section of the house
so light-filled it reads as a sunroom.
The kitchen and family room mer-
ge into a generous volume with a
dining section and child-size sitting
area the latter of which leads to a
Dutch door and wraparound scree-
ned porch. There’s also an intimate
library near the entry, a welcoming
front sitting room adjacent to the
main family room, and a seating area
off the dining room that serves as
an inviting pre-dinner cocktail spot.
In every space, Booth explains, the
emphasis was on dialing back, “as
well as recoloring to provide some
calmness and modernity,” he says.
“Quieting things down became the
home’s defining theme.”

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 GLASS HOUSE FOR A
Great writer
Photography
Annette Adam Gibson

Interior design
Thomas Bailey

Words
Angels Manzano

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The Room 11 studio has created a verna-
cular interpretation of the glass houses
typical of rationalist architecture in Tas-
mania to house a writer who wishes to
live immersed in nature.

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 L
iving in a glass house is an experience that espe-
cially conditions daily life, it offers you a roof and a
refuge where the landscape is the center of daily
life, a constant presence that directs your spirit. This is
what the owner of this house, Jonathan Kneebone, a
writer who longed for a motivating place to unleash his
creativity, wanted. When he commissioned the architect
Thomas Bailey, head of the Australian studio Room 11,
a complicity immediately arose that has resulted in
this open and intuitive response from the architect to
the client's needs.
His design process was significantly influenced by
Thomas Bailey's knowledge of the microclimate of this
region of Tasmania: during the colder months a layer of
low cloud forms at night, keeping the heat in during the
day. This particular phenomenon gave him confidence
to be able to achieve thermal comfort. Bailey tells us of
its design: "Viewed from afar, the pavilion reads as two
parallel lines against the gently undulating landscape.
It is a definite architectural object that makes no pre-
tensions to naturalness, yet each of its design gestures
is imminently decipherable and logical, and rooted in
the experience it seeks to create. It does not take the
form of a glass pavilion simply to play at creating one of
the most daring typologies in architecture, nor does it
embrace minimalism as a purely aesthetic sensibility."
Its owner also describes, now with perspective, what
it is like to live in this house: "The Glass House is an

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extraordinary sensory experience that encompasses
everything. A connection with nature. For a creative
person like me, this space provides a wonderful sen-
sation of calm from which to dream, invent, think and
simply be yourself".
The beauty of this house lies in its frankness and
simplicity, something that is especially reflected in the
bare materiality. Added to the structural steel and glass
of the casing are the wood for the floor and panelling,
which convey warmth, and the concrete for the kitchen
island, which provides a tectonic feature.

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 Taking inspiration from Mies van der Rohe's Farnswor-
th House, the architects have placed a timber-clad
functional block at the center of the building. The only
closed room is the bathroom, which is partially hidden
within the central volume. This bathroom is accessed
through a robust frameless glass door.

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 STRIKING
Beauty
Photography
Annette O'Brien

Styling
Alana Langan

Interior design
NCS Interiors

Words
Nichola Davies

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 I
nterior designer Nerida Stewart of NCS Interiors
and her husband Andrew fell in love with their
Camberwell house in 2010. Situated across from a
beautiful park, the home’s location offered a great place
to raise a family. At the time, their son Hugh (now 11)
was just a toddler, and their younger daughter Ruby
hadn’t come along yet.
According to Nerida, the house lacked street appeal
and needed modernising, but it had a lovely light-filled
interior with a lot of potential.
After living in the home for four years, the family
had a good sense of what they needed to improve, and
they began their renovation, which took place over five
years in two stages. Nerida took charge of the interior
design and engaged Rod Hannah Design Group for
the drafting.

Our underlying principle was

to improve the house’s curbside

appeal, maximising the park views

and creating a street presence,

without being overbearing or

ostentatious.

— Nerida Stewart

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A BRIGHT
Oasis
Photography
Amit Geron

Lightting
Orly Avron Alkabes

Styling
Eti Buskila

Words
N2 House

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 S
even furlongs of passage are
established between the front
door and the backyard of this
house, designed in Israel by Pitsou
Kedem architects. The first stage is
situated under a lattice that floats
over the entrance. Inspired by the
oriental tradition, its geometric com-
position is revisited in a contem-
porary key. To its left rises a huge
concrete wall at the base of which
emerges, wrapped in vegetation, a
pond with a dark surface that clearly
reflects the contours of the house.
Going through the door we find
the entrance hall, the second stage.
It reveals the interior of the house,
and yet it is separated from it by a
glass wall. The third stage is a second
door from which two corridors emer-
ge: the main one crosses the house
while the second leads to the guest
bathroom. The fourth stage occurs
when the resident moves along the
main room, which to his left is an
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internal patio that rises three stories
high through an ethereal staircase,
at the base of which is a rest area.
Walking down the corridor reveals
the fifth stage, when the kitchen
and the living room are glimpsed
through the cracks in the corridor
wall. The last stages are at the end of
this, where the living room is located
and, finally, the open courtyard above
which, as an echo of the entrance,
floats a latticework latticework. The
corridor has two windows. One is
long and narrow and is at eye level.
It is situated between the two private
cubes of the house, which are sepa-
rated by the public spaces. Another
window opens onto the corridor, illu-
minating it with a light that softens
as it falls on the inclined wall of the
second floor. The lattice pattern of
the grille also appears here, since it
filters the light that enters through
the roof window.
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REMODELING|Restaurant

terrace sidewalk
Citizen
By STUDIO NORTH

Photographs By HAYDEN PATTULLO

escription sent by the project

team. Calgary's Central Me-
morial Park was developed
during Calgary's first great boom
in the early 20th century to display
the confidence and optimism of a
young city, a spirit that continues
to this day. In the century since its
creation, following major changes
to the area, the elaborate gardens
and geometric pathways of the
Victorian formal gardens have lost
their luster. The Sidewalk Citizen
Solarium's ambition is to revitalize
Central Memorial Park with a year-
round dining and event space that
connects the park to the city and
the city to the park.
The new lobby of the building
serves as the main door and direct
link with the city. Reminiscent of
the park's character, the lobby is
clad in a variable opening pattern
inspired by façade details of the
historic Memorial Park Library. The
abundant natural light and the con-
trolled climate favor the growth of
several species of plants, such as a fig
tree, a lemon tree and many other
subtropical plants. From the first

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light of the morning, the translucent
cladding floods the space with soft,
diffused natural light, bathing the
restaurant's customers and plants
throughout the day.
The structure was designed and
modeled parametrically to ensure
a high level of iterability, maintain
precise tolerances and accuracy, and
transition seamlessly from design to
fabrication and on-site assembly. The
entire truss structure required 160
sheets of plywood (or 5,000 square
feet of material) milled during 150
hours of CNC , as well as 450 linear
feet of dowels to connect the pieces.
The size limitations of the plywood
panels and the CNC cutting table
required the laminated panels to be
composed of multiple pieces, which
are staggered to avoid intersecting
joints and weak points in the structu-
re, and then laminated with dowels.
of wood. The wood truss structure
that forms the roof and walls of the
sun room is made entirely of 3/4"
spruce plywood, prototyped and
milled by Studio North. The plywood
components are laminated with
wood dowels to form continuous
structural members that function
as columns and beams throughout
the structure.
Rigid frames are simply snapped
together using transversal joints that
facilitate assembly on site. In the
large openings, such as the garage
door and the entrance, the exposed
laminated wood complements the
structure of the roof. When shadows
are cast on the roof of the building,
the cathedral-like space is enlivened
by dappled light, which constantly
changes throughout the day. As you
sit and look up, the sinuous structural
lines of the roof and walls invite the
eye to wander from one side of the
space to the other. At night, light
from the wooden lattice structure,
illuminating the surrounding park.
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 ‌
REMODELING|Home

house
Closse
T
By NATURE HUMAINE

This house is located in the

south shore suburbs of Mon-
treal in the United States
and was built by our client's father
in the 1960's. After more than fifty
years without renovations, some
changes were needed. The original
house lacked natural light and had
a series of enclosed spaces that su-
rrounded a central stairway.
The first step was to open the
south wall with large glass doors.
Removing the original partitions
allows sunlight to penetrate deep
into the house. A new sculptural
staircase of steel, maple veneer, and
frosted glass becomes the home's
new focal point. The immense stone
fireplace was preserved and restored.
Its texture and materiality contrasts
with the purity of the new elements. Photographs By ADRIEN WILLIAMS
The exterior of the house was
restored and painted, while the win-
dows were replaced. A contemporary The science of lighting
loft was also included, containing the is an art. And the art of lighting is a
two bathrooms on the second floor. science.
Carlos Lazlo.

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