CONNECTING TO LIGHT & NATURE

Three goals in this design:

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1. Change the crowded feel of small, tight spaces. Transparency both with materials and through layout by making one space flow into the adjacent space and thus making overlapping spaces that belong to both spaces and enhance the spaciousness of both areas. Glass as an ambiguous separator enhances this strategy.

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2. Enhance the connection to good views while reducing the impact of the proximity of the large volumes of adjacent houses on either side and a warehouse at the rear. Preserving usable yard space and making a more direct connection to the exterior. Our addition reaches out to the distant views of forested hills, previously barely visible, with a triangular addition and an attached deck at the third floor. With its proximity to a large tree, it becomes a tree house . Steel posts supporting the deck tray at the third floor are sloped so they do not interfere much with the usable yard space. Using steel rather than wood made this support system both more dynamic and light.

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3. Work within a limited budget. Minimal redesign for cost saving on the lower floors, but the expanded attic with its sculptural additions became the main living space.

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This is an addition/renovation to a builder’s house with a limited budget. Much better insulation envelopes the house and reduces energy costs. The siding make the volumes of the additions solid like the body of the house to match the existing siding form. This accentuates the sculpture of the staggered triangulated boxes.