EXHIBITIONS & TRADESHOWS
RESIDENTIAL
Design process sketches & renderings (above)
Project images (below & right)
Sited above The Long Island Sound, this home required careful detailing around nearly every component to achieve its swooping lines and thoughtful expression. An expansive interior space connects the wide view along the bluff with a more intimate perch in the woods, which culminates as a bridge resting on a sixty ton boulder.
Drawings and images showing the various glazing elements' integration with the structural systems (above and left).
With few orthagonal walls, compound angle connections, and a gently curving footprint, careful and clear documentation was critical. Since so much of the building's design focuses.on experiencing the spectacular waterfront, the project architect took great strides to orient many of the building elements around this view.
Detailing the exterior balconies and interior handrails to utilize 1" thick translucent acrylic - and determining how the skewed windows meet with the rain-screen cladding at the walls and subtly sloping roof - proved particularly challenging.
Image and details of the interior balcony's translucent handrails (above and right)
Elevation (above)
Aerial view (right)
This project involved nestling a linear pool and poolhouse into the rear yard embankment along Mulholland Drive. A vegetated roof was proposed adjacent to the new patio configuration, further adding to the yard's inhabitable area.
The project architect relied on careful detailing to align the elevations of the new pavers, pool coping and poolhouse parapet. The stair was oriented to provide separation for these primary elements, lengthwise. The placement of the poolhouse allowed for a proper retreat: invisible from the main house yet - due to the steep slope - itself situated among the treetops that rise from the hillside below.
Image, detail, elevation and renderings of pool & poolhouse (above & left)
The program for this project is enlarging the residential area above a gallery space originally designed by Irata Isozaki. The colorful geometric language is maintained in the multiple design offerings, which vary considerably in their massing, circulation and articulation.
The proposition to add vertically to the front-most section of the building inherently means altering the composition of original design. Drawing from the original architect's previous projects and archived drawings, the addition follows an understanding of the site as a collection of assembled blocks, connected through architectural features such as fenestration, railings, fascias, and landscape elements.
Original axon (above), and site image (below)
One major consideration for expanding upwards is the likely elimination of the existing canted skylight. While one design retains it as a clerestory, the other proposals find alternate methods for bringing light into the lower gallery space.
The stair also remains a key feature in the designs, with schemes developing a number of different configurations. The most expansive of these extends an extra flight upwards, to reach a rooftop deck overlooking the hills of Hollywood.
Renderings and composite plan (right),
showing various design proposals
This addition became an exercise in space planning and code navigation to optimize the potential for the property. The effort yielded a southern-facing shed roof, allowing for solar panels and a rain collection system. The balcony level houses sleeping quarters, while clerestory glazing permits additional ambient light to the ground floor.
During the schematic stage, numerous configurations and formal elements were explored. Ultimately, site orientation relative to the sun, prevailing winds, and neighboring yards took precedence over other programmatic inclusions such as a roof deck or breezeway. While some schemes referenced specific slopes and datums from the site, the final design relied primarily on color and cladding to unify the ground plane, and differentiate the addition's elevated level. The ground floor studio was conceived as an extension of outdoor space, aligning the addition with the nearby master bedroom.
Under tight site constraints and a the need for a two-phase construction sequence, creating a logical circulation to the balcony level proved challenging. Beyond the visual and spatial connection between levels, breaking the upper floor-plate allows hot summer air entering at the lower southern end to be vented at the upper northern windows. Cooling from the split AC system can then reach the lower space with assistance from ceiling fans placed strategically above the entry - whose motors can also be reversed to distribute heat upwards during the colder months. This double-height area provided an ideal location to display the owner's vintage toaster collection.
Details of the glazing and rain collection (above)
Building section and elevation (right)
