Home of the Big “O”

Origami, of course — what did you think I meant?? ;-)

Origami is the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. The word origami comes from Oru meaning “folding” and kami meaning “paper”. I’m sure you’ve seen origami cranes like this:

And maybe an origami swan like this:

Perhaps an elephant?

Yoda, have you seen??

But I’m betting you’ve probably ever seen origami like this!!

This is the Origami House, located in the village of Kells in Northern Ireland. It was designed by Jane D Burnside Architects, contemporary architects in Northern Ireland. They design exclusive residential houses in Ireland and across the UK. The firm blends the character of traditional rural buildings with contemporary design. The final result is a contemporary home that home that blends in perfectly with its rural landscape setting.

As you can see, the Origami House fits beautifully into its surroundings. The house consists of eight pavilions—including a separate carport—that  nestle in amongst the existing dam and beech trees. In fact, only one tree was cut down to build the house.

This is the side of the house that faces the road. These views are from the carport, which is joined to the main house by this large footbridge.

Carport to the left, main house on the right. The footbridge spans across the water between the two.

The windows on the side of the house away from the road provide a wonderful view of the surrounding landscape and bring lots of light into the house.

The staggered roofline outside creates this intriguing ceiling inside — which looks like folded origami. Looks like there’s a musician in the house who enjoys playing and gazing out the window at the same time :-)

Wonder whose job it is to wash all those windows!!

Besides being sensitive to the landscape surrounding the house, the design of the house is also sensitive to the homeowner’s potential future needs — the entire house is built at ground level, making it easily accessible if mobility ever becomes an issue.

So what do you think of the Origami House??

Source and pictures: Karmatrendz