New Modern Concrete House in Madrid Resembles A Bunker. But What A Bunker!

One of the most popular posts ever featured on this blog was that of a large concrete home in Poland by kwk promes, whose sliding walls and ominous exterior resembled a modern fortress.

This recent project, Concrete House II, from Spain's architecture firm, Joaquin Torres' A-Cero, gives that sanctuary a run for its money with its wild bunker-like appearance. The modern residential home features giant angular planes inside and out.





Externally, the home has an austere appearance. Dark grey concrete angled walls replete with landscaping allude to an underground residence, although the home is above ground.





Inside, the home has a surprising amount of light and echoes the exterior with it's angular kitchen counters, desks and faceted furnishings. Along with a modern kitchen, a formal dining room, den and office, bedrooms and baths, the home has a screening room and ambient lit underground parking garage. Great attention is given to both the interior and exterior lighting, utilizing spot lighting and concealed ledge lighting.

The kitchen features very unusual counters, island, table, and range hood whose slopes and planes are reminiscent of the residence's exterior design:






The foyer showcases modern art and interior atriums:



The expansive living room has giant glass windows and illuminated marble coffee tables:


Formal Dining:


The screening room:

Bedrooms:



Bath:

The office and study feature an angular desk, floating stairs and a modern inset fireplace:


Driveway and parking garage entrance:

The garage entrance:

The home even features a parking garage with LED lighting to guide you into your spot:

The terraced backyard:


Details
The beautiful glowing illuminated marble coffee tables and built in ledges found in the home are by Albatros Designs and have been featured previously in this blog:


Designer Arik Levy's mirrored rock shaped coffee tables are a perfect compliment to the homes shape:


Unusual lighting treatments can be found throughout the home:

More images of the exterior and landscaping:




Architectural plans:





All images courtesy of A-Cero.

Kohler Numi, The High-Tech Luxury Toilet That Does Everything But Take The Crap For You.

Kohler introduces Numi, Kohler’s most advanced toilet. The Numi toilet is a state of the art, modern, automatic and motion-sensor, self-cleaning toilet combination bidet that also warms your feet, your tush, can play music with its built-in speakers, audio input jack and docking station and keeps itself odor-free.


above: the Numi remote in its magnetic docking station

That's not all, it has ambient lighting that gives it an inviting glow in the dark, the lid is hands-free and motion activated, the seat has adjustable heating options and it has a built in automatic charcoal filter deodorizer. It even cleans itself with your choice from three patterned water sprays. And everything can be controlled by a modern looking remote.




By the looks of the promotional lifestyle product shots, Kohler is marketing the Numi like a piece of modern luxury furniture. The stylized, and come on, let's face it.. over the top, images were shot in the famous Pierre Koenig Stahl House (also known as the Case Study House #22) in Los Angeles.



The Numi combines modern design, technology and engineering to bring you the finest in personal comfort and cleansing. From its striking form and features to its unrivaled water efficiency, the Numi toilet marks a new standard of excellence in the bathroom.



Features:

• Motion activated lid and seat:
Front sensors react to your movement when you enter the room for hands-free opening and closing of the cover. Motion at the floor-level engages sensors to raise and lower seat.

Side view of the hands-free, motion-sensor lid and seat activation:


Front view of the hands-free, motion-sensor lid and seat activation:



• Advanced Bidet Functionality:
Self-cleaning wand features multiple options for water spray pattern. Adjust wand position, water pressure and temperature to your preferences



• Integrated Air Dryer:
Located in the wand for more efficient drying.



• Deodorizer:
Air is pulled through a powerful deodorizing charcoal filter.

• Heated Seat:
Warms the seat to your comfort level.

• Feet Warming:
Warm air from floor-level vents, heats the floor surface and warms your feet.



• Numi Remote Interface Home Screen:
You can remotely control everything from the basic functions to the music, heating and lighting.


• Illuminated Panels:
Ambient lighting illuminates your space with a soft, inviting glow.




• Music:
Built-in speakers allow you to play a selection from the Numi toilet’s pre-programmed audio, FM radio or to connect your MP3 player through the audio input jack in the remote docking station.

The Kohler Numi has a retail price of $6,500 USD.

Learn more here