Your Very Own Eames

The Eames Pavilion System, created by the Eames Foundation in collaboration with Spanish manufacturer Kettal, might have you living it up in the style of Charles and Ray.

Unique as it may be, the Eames House in Pacific Palisades was meant to serve as an adaptable model. “People always talk about the Eames House like it’s a singularity, and then they’re a little bit shocked to see that Charles and Ray built some other structures,” says Eames Demetrios, who serves as director of the Eames Office and chairman of the board of directors for the Charles & Ray Eames Foundation. All the homes his grandparents envisioned were fodder for the Eames Pavilion System, which debuts at the Triennale di Milano during Milan Design Week. 

The prefab structure, manufactured by Kettal, can be ordered and constructed around the world. Its main component is a two-metre-wide module, which can be built up in height and across in depth to the customer’s specifications (an online configurator will be launched soon, and orders are expected to be fulfilled by 2027). “It can be a one-storey or two-storey building that’s also based on typological studies of other Eames houses, like the Billy Wilder House,” explains Eckart Maise, the Eames Office project lead for the Eames Pavilion System and author of the upcoming book The Eames Houses. It can also be anything from a main residence or ADU to an interior structure, such as an office within an office.

Kettal, a Spanish furniture brand known for its colourful outdoor collections and elegant outdoor pavilions, was chosen in lieu of a prefab home builder, which typically has a regional focus. “For our intent to bring Charles and Ray’s residential architecture to market today, we wanted a global perspective,” says Maise. “I saw the work Kettal did in closed pavilions and the quality they bring to managing the structure, the details, the glass, the ventilation, the air systems, the acoustics — everything. And then I learned that the company has a really global business model.” Antonio Navarro Campos, creative director at Kettal, explains that, since the company already assembles its pavilions internationally, “we have different teams that travel worldwide and have experience with logistics, deliveries and installation.” Kettal will work with a local architect to deal with permits and regulations in a collaborative process that combines the benefits of a prefab system with an individual plan.

For Demetrios, it was crucial to capture the quality of space within the Eames House without distorting it into a collector’s item for diehard mid-century modernism fans — an uncanny valley simulacrum. And he’s pleased with the results: “Seeing the assembled one for the first time, as opposed to a rendering, was magical. It was Eames, but it was its own animal.” For him, the project fulfills the original ethos of the Eames House “as a prototype rather than a complete punctuation mark.” — E.P.

Top image: Two-storey Eames Pavilion, 2026. Yosigo, Rocafort, courtesy of Kettal, 2025. 

Halifax Special

The founders of Nova Scotia architecture firm SUPRBLK bring their love for vibrant palettes to their own home in the capital’s north end.

Even in a city known for its playful, crayon-coloured dwellings, Being Turquoise stands out. Clad in silver and turquoise-painted corrugated metal, the gabled building with a yellow front door sits on a street populated by more traditional shingled or clapboard houses. “Our next-door neighbour was elated it wasn’t going to be a drab colour,” says owner Michael Putman, who designed the live-work space in Halifax’s north end with Sara L’Espérance, his partner and co-director at SUPRBLK Studio. “And one lady said it felt like it belonged here, but she didn’t know why.”

Putman and L’Espérance spent 10 years working in London and making a name for themselves as fearless colour advocates — of using colour as a material in itself. They had moved to London to work, further their studies, and explore their nearby German and Dutch roots after graduating from Carleton University. But a ski trip to Switzerland made them realize they missed the drama of the Canadian wilderness — and that it was time for a change. “In London, it’s easy to put your head down and be on London pace,” says L’Espérance. “But we realized maybe we wanted to be on ice-cream pace, where you slow down and stroll. We needed a contrast.” When they opted to return to Canada in 2019 and start a family, they chose Halifax for its gritty charm and proximity to nature, a decision made easier when Putman landed a tenure-track professor role at Dalhousie University’s School of Architecture. 

Completed in 2025, Being Turquoise is intended as SUPRBLK’s calling card in a province with an already robust contemporary architecture scene. “Our sign is in the front window, and we’ve gotten some lovely emails,” says L’Espérance. Living in a rental for a few years gave the couple the chance to discover both the urban and rural landscapes of the province, and to consider how their skills might relate to this new context. Quickly, they found the contrast they were seeking: Haligonians were humble and not too flashy, they learned, but were confident when it came to their houses. “Though the city can feel modest in some ways, visually, there are these incredibly bold uses of colour in vernacular forms,” says L’Espérance. “And we thought, ‘We don’t have to turn down the dial. We can respond to this.’ ”

The design for the family’s new home began to take shape after the arrival of Putman and L’Espérance’s daughter. They settled on a narrow double lot for their vision: a 33-square-metre studio with frontage on the street level that leads to a 230-square-metre main house. There’s also an attached one-bedroom townhouse for renting or hosting friends and family. 

To determine a colour for the corrugated metal exterior, Putman and L’Espérance went on long walks, taking photos to create a collage and design lexicon for the neighbourhood. “We started to notice recurring colours and themes, and turquoise appeared in different gradations,” says Putman. “We even documented some turquoise graffiti — so we knew it was speaking to different generations.” Finding the perfect shade of turquoise was another matter. Putman and L’Espérance generated dozens of samples and watched the way the colour responded to light and shadow before making a final selection.

And the turquoise exterior isn’t an arbitrary one-off. The same shade appears in subtle ways throughout the home, from the studio’s darker terrazzo floor tiles and powder room fixtures to the art in the “pavilion,” a peaked structure at the back containing the kitchen and living room. The siding makes its presence known inside, too; a large kitchen window frames the view of turquoise walls inside a light-filled courtyard. 

“Because of the material, there are shadows and highlights that change how turquoise behaves,” says Putman. “We’re very serious about colour evoking playful and joyful experiences. We all need that.” — B.H.

Playfulness and a sense of humour have punctuated SUPRBLK’s work since its inception in 2018. For The Green Machine (below), a tiny London flat, the duo defined the sleeping area with jade-hued paint and Valchromat, a material chosen for its durability and sustainability, but also its playfulness. “That client had a small space and small budget but was ambitious and open,” says Putman. “The only constraint we feel we can’t work within is a creative constraint.”

And at The Biscuit Factory, an 81-square-metre London loft conversion (below), Putman and L’Espérance used colour as a communication tool where bright yellow captain’s ladder stairs become an unexpected invitation to the upper volume. “The yellow stairs say, ‘It’s okay to come up this way,’ ” explains Putman. “It’s a moment of discovery.”