A look into living the good life...
Originally a 500 sq.ft. cottage on an empty lot, the Atwater Village house has grown to include 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms as well as an office and several outdoor rooms. The intent has been to open up the house to the yard in a way that makes it feel much larger than its 1,150 sq.ft., avoiding dead-end spaces that feel removed from everyday use and the indoor/outdoors spaces.
The house and landscape are connected through the use of "hard" materials such as board-formed concrete walls and benches and a polished black slab floor, as well as "soft" materials including old fence boards, re-used for siding in the living room, and plywood as both flooring in the original house and paneling on the exterior of the addition.
"Completing the work ourselves has allowed for the inclusion of sustainable technologies like the green roof and a rainwater collection system. The house serves as a demonstration for a practical use of inexpensive and re-purposed materials as well as for the benefits of connecting indoor and outdoor living space."
"Everybody needs space.."
Situated near the apex of Beachwood Canyon, the 2800 sf Deronda Drive Residence, designed by Space International, is comprised of two main rectangular volumes, shifted off axis from one another to accentuate their programmatic difference.
The public, living areas of the house are situated on the ridge of the site, so as to take advantage of flanking outdoor spaces, designed as extensions of the living and dining areas when connected via a series of large sliding glass openings. The more private, sleeping and bathing areas, are housed in a cantilevered bar which hovers over a parking court and floats amidst the treetops at the perimeter of the property.
The exterior envelope wraps and swings around these functions creating different degrees of privacy and exposure to the picturesque surroundings and skyline views....yum!
