ames
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ames_ext_horiz-72.jpg)
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
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ames_floor1-plan-72.jpg)
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.
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ames-stair-cat-72-1024x804.jpg)
Angled and offset from the existing house, the wall wraps into the curve of an ascending spiral stair.
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/amescats-72-1024x768.jpg)
An asymmetric, diagonally oriented butterfly roof hovers over a new mezzanine and doubles the height of the existing living room.
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/amesclg-72-1007x1024.jpg)
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ames_int-72-760x1024.jpg)
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.
![](https://fungandblatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ames-bowl-crop-72-874x1024.jpg)