1951 BEVERLY GLEN, LOS ANGELES
SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE OF 3000 SF WITH 4 BEDROOMS, 5 BATH, ROOF TOP TERRRACE
The design presents an alternative take on the typical houses constructed on a high-traffic street, like Beverly Glen Drive, on a narrow lot in a hillside area.
The building is comprised of simple volumes and characterized by the use of translucent “double channel glass” window walls interposed with floor-to-ceiling clear glass windows composed like a music score in a vertical pattern on all elevations. The play of natural light with the translucency and transparency of the punctures is the defining characteristic of the architecture. The large roof top terrace is like a “ship deck” on the hills.
The translucent double channel glass (4” thick assembly) is also a response to the need of limiting traffic noise and keeping privacy while creating a natural light-filled interior.
The main staircase volume is expressed on the front of the house and becomes a “light tower” leading to the roof top.
The structural support rising from a reflective shallow pool in the front is designed as a minimal sculptural element that plays with the pure volumes facing the street. It supports and stabilizes the double-height glass vertical box of the staircase. It aims to blend the boundaries between structural sincerity vs. sculptural expression.
The water feature becomes the building number sign; all in exposed boardform concrete, flanking the entrance with the distinctive blue door.
In the middle of the house there is a triple-height light well that brings natural light to the core of the building and is designed as a contrasting composition between a curved wall and the straight vertical volume of the light well.
The roof terrace tilts up, creating a slope for lying in the sun and capturing the natural light at the double-height space connecting master bedroom and living area.
The interior is conceived as white monochromatic spaces with the accent of the blue sliding doors and the light filtered through the channel glass that washes all rooms.
Materials: boardform concrete for the entry stairs and building base, s/s mesh railings, smooth white stucco, painted white steel, grey wood flooring, porcelain pavers for the terrace, glass and light.