Nestled into a tree-covered hilltop in Fairfax CA this simple timber-framed house exploits what many have considered to be a very restrictive and constrained site too small to develop. The perimeter of the house follows exactly the site and its set back lines thus dictating the overall size and volume. The house was designed for a young couple as a starter home in this desirable area where they would normally be priced out. The strict budget influenced the design of standard off-the-shelf components and an easy and quick construction sequence minimalizing the build time. The house straddle’s a small brook in a ravine at the apex of a hairpin bend on an unincorporated road. Supported on eight concrete peers elevating the house to road level, the layout of the house is based on a simple twelve-foot grid, with an adjoining six-foot tapering sliver along the north-facing long edge, giving the overall footprint the shape of a blunt wedge. Accessed over a triangular bridge dictated by site lines, the entrance is via a covered porte cochere with a balcony above. The entranceway can be closed for security by means of a large sliding door of matching slatted wood. The entrance proper is via a stock sliding glass patio door to the main living space. The choice of sliding window is repeated throughout the building. In its current flexible configuration, the living space is a double-height experience, beyond which on the left centrally located is a spiral staircase leading to the bedroom and bathroom above. Both these rooms have built-in storage. Both bedrooms boast a double-height slopping ceiling; clerestory windows that give the building its distinctive character, and a balcony. On the ground floor beyond the spiral staircase is built-in and concealed fully equipped kitchen and open plan dining area, beyond which, externally and underneath one of the bedroom balconies is an outdoor bbq kitchen.

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

Photographer: Andrea Calo
Mid-sized transitional l-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen photo in Austin with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, turquoise cabinets, black backsplash, paneled appliances, an island and black countertops

DESIGN + INNOVATION: Award of Excellence PROJECT: RE_FAB Mobile Fabrication Lab CLIENT: Ford College Community Challenge and Project RE_ ARCHITECTURE FIRM: Urban Design Build Studio CONTRACTORS: Urban Design Build Studio PHOTOGRAPHER: Urban Design Build Studio DESCRIPTION: RE_FAB is a mobile fabrication lab that functions as an educational and digital fabrication tool with the capacity to serve schools, facilities, and communities. The project is designed to exploit and celebrate the potentials of the tools that it houses, and will house (full size CNC router, laser cutter, vacuum former, digital spatial scanner, and a 3D printer) and was funded by grants from two corporations interested in architecture community outreach projects. JURY COMMENTS: This is a project that every jury member unanimously loved. Every aspect of its problem-solving design seemed smart and responsive, and it is those responses that resulted in a design that is both innovative and legible to what its function is intended to serve. Why is there not one of these in my neighborhood?

In this living room we created a large storage space behind a pocket door with additional storage cabinets above and along side. Photo: Bjorg Magnea Furniture: AbbyElle Style

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

Nestled amidst a neighborhood of single story bungalows in Venice, California, the Solar Umbrella Residence boldly establishes a precedent for the next generation of California modernist architecture. Located on a 41’ wide x 100’-0” long through lot, the Solar Umbrella addition transforms the architects’ existing 650 square foot bungalow into a 1900 square foot residence equipped for responsible living in the twenty-first century. Inspired by Paul Rudolph’s Umbrella House of 1953, the Solar Umbrella provides a contemporary reinvention of the solar canopy—a strategy that provides thermal protection in climates with intense exposures. In establishing the program for their residence, which accommodates the couple and their one child chose to integrate into the design, principles of sustainability that they strive to achieve in their own practice. The architects carefully considered the entire site, taking advantage of as many opportunities for sustainable living as possible. Passive and active solar design strategies render the residence 100% energy neutral. Recycled, renewable, and high performance materials and products are specified throughout. Hardscape and landscape treatments are considered for their aesthetic and actual impact on the land. The Brooks Scarpa Residence elegantly crafts each of these strategies and materials, exploiting the potential for performance and sensibility while achieving a rich and interesting sensory and aesthetic experience.

Steve Lazar's newest project, a six-bedroom residence built on a hillside peak of 30th Street in Hermosa Beach for design+build by South Swell, is a study in the functional exploitation of lot size and surrounding beauty. That, and an evolution of the designer’s singular style. Modernist in its veins, the new home has the earmarks of a Lazar design inside and out. There’s a hint of lifeguard tower in its exterior, though more muted than visible in his past projects, mainly due to a ring of rusticated wood cladding swathed around its mid-section. Other signifiers are there, too, from a row of high-perched observation windows to a slightly raised metal hip roof of soft blue. Jutting out slightly over the home, its underside dressed in tidy shiplap, the roof contrasts smartly against the clean white stucco and earthy wood of the lower levels. In all, it’s still clean-cut Lazar, but more organic than sleek. “I use a lot of the same ideas,” says Lazar, standing outside the structure while craftsmen and workers buzz around, putting finishing touches on the place. “ “I have a signature vocabulary, but I adapt it with each custom home to meet a client’s needs and maximize the particulars of that space.” Thoughtfully designed by Steve Lazar design+build by South Swell. designbuildbysouthswell.com Photography by Laura Hull

Siri Birting
Tuscan white two-story exterior home photo in Los Angeles

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

Through the combination of modest topographic manipulations and the layering of high-performing native plant communities, the landscape was designed to fully exploit the site’s 270 degree ocean-front exposure. A selection of strategically placed mature native trees and shrubs were integrated within this expanded landscape fabric to improve and visually anchor the scale of the architecture to its landscape context. With the landscape viewed and experienced from multiple levels and points of view, its composition and spatial structure required a unique visual and functional resiliency.

Built in the early ’60’s, the original ranch-style home contained two bedrooms and one bath. In the mid 90’s, a master bath and laundry were added, and a two-car garage was built behind the home. Views of the river were available, but never exploited. In 2007, its new owners approached JRML with a design program requiring major revisions to the first floor, and a second floor that maximized river views from the master bedroom and bath. A screened porch, balcony and outside shower were also desired. For style, the owners chose Contemporary Island for its white exterior and louver-shutters. To access the garage, we designed a porte-cochere, and perched the master bedroom above for river views. An overhead door was added for security. Deep overhangs and louvered shutters provide shade. The white roof and siding reflect the sun. The west-facing rear features large windows, a pergola balcony with river views, and an outside shower. A screened porch provides insect-free enjoyment. Hip roofs, tile, lap and board and batten siding add visual interest to the exterior. Abundant landscape and hard-scape features provide a respite from the nearby city.

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

Bathroom - small transitional white tile and stone tile marble floor bathroom idea in Milwaukee with an undermount sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, a one-piece toilet and yellow walls

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

This custom residence exploits its southern exposure with a daylight basement that opens out to unencumbered mountain views. Interior finishes such as inlaid wood ceilings, Oklahoma sandstone masonry, and log wrapped steel columns, carry the ubiquitous natural tones of the site into the interior with a refined touch. Designed by Ward+Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Douglas Kahn

Located on a marsh in the upper reaches of the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, the existing house was well-sited and well-built, but the design failed to exploit the views and more importantly was a confused combination of contemporary and traditional elements. The new homeowners, a successful businesswoman and an accomplished artist and photographer, were interested in creating a fully-contemporary environment to open up space, connect indoors with outdoors, display artwork and showcase the husband’s distinctive photographs. One glaring deficiency was the curb appeal and approach sequence: the grade sloped down and the path to the house followed, but this led to an uncomfortable dip and abrupt rise to the front door. By creating a virtual “moat,” occupied by a grid of raised-bed grasses contained in aluminum-clad boxes, and spanning the moat with an ipe bridge, the approach becomes level and engaging. The façade of the existing house was blank and bland, and with no cover. Adding a deep overhang with a wide porch creates a welcoming, covered condition, accentuated by a 6’ wide pivoting front door that feels more like a moving piece of wall. Another deficiency was the connection to the outdoors. By adding glass to the front and back of the house, and removing interior walls selectively, the house takes on a diaphanous quality that allows one to see through to the marsh beyond, even when in the driveway. The raised-bed grasses act as abstract, geometric versions of the marsh beyond. A large, pyramidal skylight establishes a spatial hierarchy around which the rooms revolve. The house featured several tray-ceilinged spaces – living room, kitchen, and master bedroom – that were poorly-proportioned and with panels at the top that resembled inset flat panel doors. The solution was to use a different strategy for each: the bedroom turns the ceiling into an eggshell through the use of a creative trim detail; the living room has an oversized sculptural, backlit lighting element; and the kitchen has a collage of painted rectangular forms that support or include lighting pieces. A palette of concrete, blackened steel, stainless steel and colors carefully chosen by homeowner and architect create an interior and exterior environment punctuated by moments that are as artistic as the featured works in the black-ceilinged gallery.

Example of a trendy home design design in Los Angeles

Designed as a country retreat for a young couple from New York City, this compact project plays with the idea of a modern cabin. Containing 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms in under 2,000 sqft, the house exploits the use of glass and outdoors rooms to expand its virtual space and connection to nature. The aesthetics of the house reflect the nature of its owners; while very modest and private on the outside, it is full of light and openness on the inside. The project's interior design creates a youthful and relaxed atmosphere, while maintaining a timelessness and simplicity appropriate to its New England heritage. http://chattmanphotography.com/