Feldman Architecture, Inc.

Butterfly House In United States

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

BUTTERFLY HOUSE IN UNITED STATES

Feldman Architecture

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Bernard Trainor + Associates

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Groza Construction

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Sheerline Structural Engineering

AUDIO VISUAL CONSULTANT
MetroEighteen

LIGHTING CONSULTANT
Kim Cladas Lighting Design

AREA
2900 ft²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Carmel, United states

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

The clients approached Feldman Architecture to design a retreat for eventual retirement and visits from their grown children – a retreat befitting the natural beauty of the location in the Santa Lucia Preserve, a 20,000 acre private development and land trust near Carmel, California.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

The clients were meticulous in the selection of the site, searching for two years for a spectacular piece of land which was flat enough to accommodate living on one level.

In an initial meeting with Feldman Architecture, the clients noted their vision of butterflies alighting on the meadow site which the architects took as inspiration.

They also expressed a desire to integrate indoor and outdoor spaces with a simple, modern aesthetic and to provide separate spaces for the growing family.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

Sitting lightly on the land, the house is divided into three smaller pavilions which are capped by expressive, butterfly roofs.

Each pavilion has a separate function: the central pavilion houses the main living, dining, and cooking spaces, while two other pavilions provide for sleeping, bathing, and relaxing.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

The structures are modest in square footage, yet each expands into an outdoor room that open up to dramatic views of the canyon below and hills beyond.

Beyond poetic gesture, the butterfly roofs bring in views of the surrounding hills, expand the main living spaces into the outdoors and also harvest rainwater.

Water, an increasingly limited resource, is celebrated throughout the design.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

Each roof funnels water to a rain chain fountain and into landscape collection pools, which then gather in cisterns where it is stored and used to irrigate the landscape. 

In addition, the pavilions were sited to allow water to flow under the office bridge during the rainy season and for storm water to seep slowly into the ground in the main courtyard.

The neutral palette of the house - concrete floors and walls, large glass openings, plywood ceilings, and steel structure – also flows from indoors to outdoors.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography

The use of concrete and large expanses on glass openings acts as a heat sink – absorbing heat from the sunlight all day and releasing that heat at night.

The energy costs for the house are very low, given that all the spaces are naturally lit throughout the day, but a solar array is also located out-of-sight and provides about half the home’s energy needs.

Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography


Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography
Butterfly House In United States
© Joe Fletcher Photography


Butterfly House In United States
Plan
Butterfly House In United States
Detail

Feldman Architecture, Inc.
T +1 415 2521441
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
1648 Pacific Ave suite b, San Francisco, CA 94109, United States