ames

Working with a one-story post-WWII concrete-block house with little room for horizontal expansion, we adhered mostly to the original footprint and focused on reshaping the volumes. 

ALTADENA CA
2006
1,800 SF
Photo:
JOSE MANDOJANO

An existing one-car garage is deployed as an office/music niche. Its front wall is brought forward to setback and laps over the living area to introduce an entry foyer. 

Angled and offset from the existing house, the wall wraps into the curve of an ascending spiral stair.

An asymmetric, diagonally oriented butterfly roof hovers over a new mezzanine and doubles the height of the existing living room.

Light, planar materials of glass, lexan, perforated aluminum and corrugated steel play off of the solidity of the original concrete block, transforming this dwelling into a collision of loftiness and gravity.