Architecture
Modern Architecture
8 Gable Homes Reshaped for Modern Times
Updates on this very traditional form seem more popular than ever. See how architects are reenvisioning gables for today
Previously I've looked at how the traditional gable form has been used in modern residential architecture. The use of the traditional form — what is the most familiar expression of house and home from childhood to adulthood — in modern and contemporary residences seems to grow every year, so it seemed time to take another look at projects with gables. These examples run the gamut from the playful to the serious, from the abstract to the concrete, and just about everything in between.
Another attention-getting gable happens with Dutch firm MVRDV's design of the Balancing Barn, a holiday house near the Suffolk Coast, U.K., that is one of Alain de Botton's Living Architecture projects. From the driveway all one really sees is the gable form, with a reflective metal skin applied to it and two glass doors leading to the kitchen area and rooms beyond.
But walk around a little bit and the building's name starts to become apparent. The house is perched on a hillside, from which it cantilevers more than half of its length. The living room is situated at the far end, and a glass floor reminds guests just what is happening.
The project balances the conventional (gable form) and the daring (cantilever), two opposites of sorts that are treated with the metal skin on all sides.
The project balances the conventional (gable form) and the daring (cantilever), two opposites of sorts that are treated with the metal skin on all sides.
Sometimes a gable comes directly from an old building, as in this church converted into a residence in Melbourne, Australia. Bagnato Architects inserted new floors into the old building (floor slabs can be seen running across the narrow arched windows) and added a small volume to the side that echoes the original.
Not surprisingly, the most striking rooms are located under the gables in the former church. A circular window and skylight are great excuses for heading upstairs to catch some distant views and slices of sky.
This house in Napa, California, is composed of multiple gable volumes side by side. The door and the window above it hint at the open spaces inside — at 14 feet, the door is fairly tall, and a floor inserted between the door and the window would appear to make the top space too short.
Indeed, Remick Associates has exploited the spatial potential of gables inside. Not only is the space tall and bright, but the interior elevation is akin to a house exterior, with doors on the side and a window overhead.
This ski chalet in Ontario, Canada, designed by Atelier Kastelic Buffey, uses a gable form in an abstract manner, devoid of much detail. The cantilever may not reach the extent of the Balancing Barn's, but it creates an outdoor room that has the same shape as the space inside. The entrance is hidden behind the wood slats that sit below the terrace.
Outside is a fairly consistent treatment of wood, and the interior is treated like a seamless surface that wraps walls and ceiling. The tall windows bring plenty of sunlight into the open space, aided by the square windows on the side.
The weathered wood shingles give the Sea Ranch Residence by Nick Noyes a traditional appearance, but those large windows in dark frames hint at a modern interior. The chimney acts as a hinge between the two living and sleeping volumes, which are connected by a small hallway.
Here is a view toward the fireplace, which is bordered by a large window on one side and the hallway to the bedroom on the other. The open gable makes the space appear generous yet intimate.
Gable forms, particularly in linear buildings, also hark back to cabins, not just houses. So in the Camp Charlie Retreat outside Chicago, it seems appropriate that Wheeler Kearns Architects used the form for the two long bars that slide past each other slightly.
This sliding allows for windows on both sides of the rooms that project, such as in this open kitchen and living area. With windows on both sides, the roof structure has to do some double duty, since gable roofs want to push out. Walls can brace that tendency, but steel ties or some other means can also counteract that force. They also help to give a rhythm to a space, here alternating with pendant lights.
This lovely house in Utah, designed by Carney Logan Burke Architects, expresses the wood structure of the gable roof, recalling traditional architecture as far away as Japan. The large windows at the corner and selective metal cladding are modern pieces within the traditional form.
Not surprisingly, the interior is very open and light, thanks to the large windows. The beams are covered on the underside with a wood ceiling that accentuates the directionality of the gable and the spaces. As with the previous cabin, steel ties help to structure the gable.
The design seems to be a play on the childlike form of the house, stacking it in odd ways that require exposed columns between volumes and even external stairs connecting some apartments to the street.