John Lum Architecture reimagines charming San Francisco home with modern extension

San Francisco studio John Lum Architecture has contrasted the look of this cottage-style house in the city with a steel-and-glass extension at the back.

John Lum Architecture renovated the dwelling on a sloping property in the city's Eureka Valley neighbourhood, which spans 19th Street and Thorp Lane. The project, called 19th Street, features a one-storey, gabled portion at the front and an addition in the rear that scales five levels.

The studio demolished a large portion of the rear of the existing residence and replaced it with a larger, flat-roofed addition. With steel cladding and floor-to-ceiling windows, it offers a stark contrast to the original home, as well as more natural light, larger floorplates and higher ceilings inside.

"We renovated this family house to maximise views while preserving the architectural integrity of the neighbourhood," said John Lum Architecture.

"Charming cottage style in the front. Cool modern multi-level design in the back."

The front facade has been refreshed with a recurved entry, new glass front door and windows. Its previous light blue exterior has been painted white with black trim to match the contemporary extension, while still reflecting the neighbourhood's vernacular.

The property joins a number of San Francisco houses updated with contemporary rear extensions to contrast with the original front facades.

Others include Jensen Architects' Alamo Square Residence, a Victorian home by Fougeron Architecture, 29th Street Residence by Schwartz and Architecture and Edmonds + Lee's Gable House.

"Known for its rows of charming houses, San Francisco is riddled with historic homes designed for a time gone by," John Lum Architecture added.

The 19th Street property features a garage on its lowest level and four storeys above. At the rear, two terraces provide outdoor living space and sliding glass doors on each level allow rooms to open to the outdoors.

The residence measures 4,500 square feet (418 square metres) and has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in total.

The entrance is located on the top floor and accessed from 19th Steet. Upon entering are a living room, dining area, kitchen and second sitting area. Three bedrooms are downstairs, and a bathroom features a bathtub enclosed by glass walls.

Above the garage is a level that also contains a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom.

John Lum Architecture inserted a new glazed staircase that allows for light to pass through the floors for an airy feel and replaces a stairwell that lacked natural light.

The decor is modern and includes a leather sectional, rattan chairs, grey cabinets, light wood floors and white countertops and walls.

It is close to San Francisco's Dolores Heights neighbourhood and Mission Dolores Park. Elda restaurant, Dolores Heights Residence by John Maniscalco and Ryan Leidner's Harrison Street House are among the projects nearby.

Photography is by Paul Dyer.

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Yangyang Ding designs metal tools to help Mandarin speakers pronounce English sounds

Rhode Island School of Design student Yangyang Ding has created a series of metal instruments to help Mandarin speakers pronounce difficult English sounds.

Yangyang Ding's pronunciation tools help Mandarin speakers with difficult English phonemes or units of sound

The 12 pronunciation tools, some of which are adapted from dental instruments, wrap around the jawline, press down the tongue or curl lips in various ways depending on the intended phonetic sound.

"This set of tools is designed to dissolve the difference between Chinese and English pronunciation," the industrial design student said.

Among the designs is a metal ring with a chin strap that prevents the mouth from opening wider than necessary

"The tools focus on dealing with the relationship between lips, tongue and the front side of the upper and lower jaws."

Each tool corresponds to a specific English phoneme, or unit of sound. When worn, it automatically correct the speaker's mistake.

Speakers can use this small rectangle with an ellipse cutout to pronounce words with short vowels sounds

"The difficulties of pronouncing individual English words, compounded by problems with intonation, result in the heavily accented English of many Chinese learners," Ding said.

Certain English phonetic and intonation patterns are particularly difficult for native Chinese speakers to pronounce because they don't exist in Chinese, according to Ding.

The designer said that one of the common difficulties is pronouncing the "v" sound, as there isn't a similar one in Mandarin. A curved piece of metal wedged between the upper teeth and lower lip align the mouth to create the correct mouth shape to produce the sound.

To correct errors in the pronunciation of middle central vowel sounds – as found in words like love – speakers wear a metalhead and chin strap. This locks the jaw into place to prevent the mouth from naturally opening wider than needed.

Ding adapted several of the objects from actual dental tools, including this one with a long handle and metal brace that fits over teeth

Another instrument helps to fix words with short vowels sounds, like the "I" sound in the word lit. The small rectangle has an ellipse cutout in its centre. The circular hole creates an outline or guide for the speaker's lips to form around, which results in the correct pronunciation.

One of the objects is adapted from a dentist tool. It comprises a long handle that inserts it into the mouth, while a curved metal brace covers the teeth.

A piece of metal wedged between the upper teeth and lower lip makes it easier to pronounce the"v" sound, which doesn't exist in Mandarin

This form keeps lips in an elongated ellipse shape to make it easier to say the "eI" sound used in words like strange.

Other projects that experiment with sound and voice include a gadget by Royal College of Art graduate George Philip Wright that transform the user's voice into musical instruments and a wearable headset for blind people that sends three-dimensional sound information to make cities easier to navigate.

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Daytrip digs beneath east London townhouse to create contemporary living spaces

White-washed walls, Douglas fir joinery and creamy furnishings appear inside this east London home, which design studio Daytrip has renovated and expanded by excavating its basement.

The five-storey Powerscroft Road townhouse is situated in the neighbourhood of Clapton and had previously been host to several "unloved" living spaces.

A majority of the rooms were plastered in dated 1970s wallpaper and had worn, deep-pile carpet across the floor.

Beneath the ground-floor kitchen there was also a dark and damp basement, with an inconveniently low ceiling.

The owners of the house, a married couple who had purchased the property with the hope to resell, approached Daytrip to carry out a complete overhaul.

While there was no particular buyer lined up, the studio still wanted the house to appear as though "every element had been considered and detailed for the homeowner".

"[The clients] trusted us to do what we felt was right," Iwan Halstead, co-founder of the studio, told Dezeen.

"We knew we wanted a calm and serene home, away from the hustle of inner city, but we also wanted it to have the quality and craftsmanship we adhere to in all our projects."

To begin, the studio further excavated the existing basement to create an expansive, light-filled kitchen. The space is now fronted by full-height glass panels that offer views of a newly landscaped garden.

The cabinetry and the base of the central breakfast island have been crafted from Douglas fir wood, while countertops are made from pale Evora marble.

Surrounding surfaces have been loosely lime-washed to leave an almost "painterly" surface finish, while the floors are polished concrete.

"A muted and pale palette of off-whites are paired with honest materials which promote their inherent patterns and textures without feeling 'over-designed' or mass-produced," Halstead explained.

At the rear of the kitchen lies a dining area, which boasts a veiny stone table and tubular steel-frame rattan chairs. There is also a cosy sitting room with low-lying cream sofas and a wood burner.

In the upper levels of the home, the studio set out to revive original details such as the ornate ceiling cornicing and wooden floorboards.

Walls have been freshened up with a coat of eggshell-coloured paint, apart from in the bathrooms, where Calcatta marble tiles have been introduced.

Some of the openings between rooms have been widened or fitted with crittall doors. Three skylights punctuate the roof of the home to let more sunlight into the attic.

Furnishings used to style the home – including those in the basement – were picked out by Modern Art Hire, which worked to accrue an array of antique, mid-century and modern pieces.

Daytrip is based in Hackney, east London, and led by Iwan Halstead and Emily Potter.

It isn't the only studio that's dug down below ground level to provide additional room for living. In 2018, Gianni Botsford Architects excavated the ground beneath a home in London's Notting Hill to create a subterranean swimming pool and gallery-style sitting room.

In Hackney, David Adjaye renovated the Mole House, which was undermined by secret tunnels.

Photography is by Jake Curtis and Elliot Sheppard.

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Urban Cabin is a micro apartment in Italy with custom seating and storage

Architect Francesca Perani has transformed the porch of an Italian villa into a 25-square-metre micro apartment with plenty of hidden storage.

Designed for a local couple, Urban Cabin replaces the porch of a house in Albino, a small town in the Italian province of Bergamo.

Perani's renovation, completed with the help of interior designer Ilenia Perlotti, turns the former storage space into a separate, self-contained residence that can be used for a number of purposes.

The clients can use it as a workspace, invite guests to stay or, one day, let their grown-up children move in. Recently, because of the coronavirus crisis, one of the pair has been using it as a self-isolation space.

To suit all these purposes, the designers planned the micro apartment to be as flexible as possible, with plenty of storage. But they also designed it to have a sense of fun, filled with graphical shapes and vibrant colours.

"I am very interested in experimenting and pushing myself towards risky options," explained Perani.

"I believe can make spaces more emotionally involving," she told Dezeen. "Since the beginning of my practice, I have always battled against straight lines and the minimalist approach. I am curious about exploring a pop architecture."

Perani worked on the renovation of the main house back in 2008. Externally, this new addition is designed in the same spirit, with a red earth-coloured facade and details that reference the clients' Persian heritage.

Folded sheets of perforated metal create a series of arches in front of the home, acting a sun shade. This made it possible for Perani to design large windows, even though the home faces directly south.

Inside, the layout is kept open to make it feel spacious. Apart from the bathroom, all activities take place in a single room.

The open-plan living space includes a distinct kitchen, along with various multifunctional furniture pieces. Storage areas are slotted in and around these elements, to make the most of space.

"The limited dimensions and extreme narrowness of the existing building suggested a full custom-designed interior, where flexibility and multi-usage became key factors," explained Perani.

"Diagonal lines are deliberately used in order to deliver more functionality and movement."

Surfaces and objects in this space are built from oriented strand board, or OSB, a type of engineered board featuring large wood strands. This includes window boxes that double as seats and a long daybed/storage chest.

There are also wardrobes beside the entrance, which conceal the heating system and washing machine, but also accommodate a study desk.

"I wanted to give the space a sense of warm comfort," said Perani. "I wanted a fluid continuous pattern that could make the space feel bigger, one texture for floor, paving, walls and soffit."

"I have always seen OSB used on building sites and I love its textural irregularity, random organic composure and recycled properties," she added.

Details are picked out in royal blue, the same colour used in the bathroom, while the kitchen worktop features a monochrome print designed to resemble marble.

Despite the home's small size, the bathroom is designed to feel generous. A window fronts the shower, so that residents can look out over the garden but without fear of losing their privacy.

As well as being an architect, Perani is also a graphic designer and an activist.

She leads RebelArchitette, a campaign group that fights for women's rights in architecture, while her side project Cutout Mix offers resources for architectural illustrations.

Photography is by the architect, with styling by Chiara Birolini.

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Project credits:

Project leader: Francesca Perani
Interior designer: Ilenia Perlotti
Junior architect: Ilaria Odoli
Engineer: Roberto Belotti
Heat engineer: Luca Noris – Progterm
Builder: Gherardi Giuseppe
Metal shadings: Valoti Giovanni
Decorator: Diego Armellini
Carpenter: DueMMe
Lighting: Due Effe Illuminazione

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Muller Van Severen constructs Alltubes furniture series from rows of aluminium pipes

Belgian design duo Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen aimed to explore the possibilities of aluminium tubing in their latest furniture collection, which sees metal pipes lined up in welded rows.

Consisting of a chair, a bench and a variety of cabinets – including freestanding and wall-mounted versions – the Alltubes collection is named for its primary material.

Using different diameters, Muller and Van Severen developed a way to make standardised pieces of aluminium tubing both decorative and structural.

By lining the tubes up in welded rows, they created walls and surfaces. Bending sections of tubing allowed them to form legs and rails that extend seamlessly from the body of each piece.

"At the metalman's we saw a series of tubes next to each other, we were immediately surprised by the beautiful wavy surface and how the light reacted to it," Muller and Van Severen told Dezeen.

"One element becomes a strong surface by multiplying it, hinges and doorways can be hidden in the tubes, and by extending or bending, legs or railings are created," the duo continued.

"Everything can flow naturally into each other in this way. We only had to work with one profile and yet we could create a whole world with it."

The cabinets feature flat tops, shelves and bottoms, each with a scalloped edge that matches the profile of the tubes that form the walls of the designs.

Two of the cabinets are the same size, but use different diameters of tubing – five centimetres and three centimetres – to create a different effect.

The chair uses a smaller diameter of tubing – 2.5 centimetres – than other pieces in the collection. "We found that this proportion fits better," explained the designers.

The seat of the chair is made from 15 pieces of tubing. Two of these bend down at the front to create legs. The back is formed of three pieces of tubing – two that extend up from the seat and one that extends down to create the back legs.

The bench, which is 175 centimetres long and features a blue finish, uses 11 lengths of five-centimetre diameter tubing for the main body, with an additional three pieces on each side that are bent to create the double-width legs.

"In the case of the cabinets, the repetitive rhythm of the pipes placed next to each other – causing undulations – makes you forget the coldness of the material," said the duo. "In the bench and the chair, bending the material softens its hardness."

Originally both artists, Muller and Van Severen founded their furniture studio in 2011. Based in Evergem, Belgium, they use materials as the starting point for their designs.

Previous examples include curving loungers made from wire netting, polyethylene cabinet hacks for IKEA kitchens, suspended leather seats and colourful, intersecting tables and shelving.

"We almost always start from a standard material with its standard dimensions in its naked form, which is composed in a seemingly simple way," the duo told Dezeen.

"The strength of the material itself is also expressed [in Alltubes]. The simplicity of the idea and then creating a whole world with it. Thinking as far as possible from one material. And going as far as possible."

Alltubes was launched at this year's Collectible design fair in Brussels, which took place from 5-8 March.

The fair also saw Dutch startup Plasticiet create a series of furniture from monolithic slabs of recycled polycarbonate, which feature a swirling, shiny finish reminiscent of mother of pearl.

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