House Twisted by Kentaro Takeguchi + Asako Yamamoto / Alphaville won Hiše Award 09 for Innovative Excellence in Private Housing.
To avoid the adjacent house, the linear volume of twisted house is bent twice to create a courtyard and a front yard. The central volume moves along the north-south axis and slanted roofs create cracks and introduce a sense of flow inside.
The structure consists of 14 steel columns arranged like a birdcage so the walls become thin and flat to make the natural light simple and abstract, made possible by using a brace-less system of small beams at 45 deg. angles between two sheets of structural plywood. MORE…

Villa Röling by Architectenbureau Paul de Ruiter, Netherlands won Hiše Award 09 for Sustainable Excellence in Private Housing.
The villa consists of two contrasting volumes – a transparent glass volume overlooking the lake and garden; and a ‘floating’ wooden box on top, which the wind can blow through and easily dry when it has rained. Innovative, energy-saving active concrete throughout regulates temperature. Pipes in the concrete floors cool the floor in summer and heat it in winter, and are connected with a system of geothermal power. Outside, pits in the ground contain water with a constant temperature and is pumped into the villa. The water is cool enough in summer and only needs to be heated a few degrees in winter, saving huge amounts of energy. MORE…