Buoyant House

The existing residence is sited near a hot spring at the base of a sacred mountain on the northeast coast of Taiwan. The design of its renovation proposes to integrate gardens into all four quadrants of the house by means of material buoyancy, as a response to the rising and falling of natural elements on the site: water, wind, waves, and clouds. 
Horizontal surfaces of wood and plaster wall organize the internal mass of the house while cleft-split local stone held by steel frames accentuated with teak wood doors and windows organizing the external mass. Wood shutters designed to be integrated to the openings can be dropped down when a typhoon approaches.