ROOFLESS HOUSE
Craig Steely Architecture
ARCHITECTS
Craig Steely Architecture
LOCATION
Atherton, United States
CATEGORY
Houses, House Interiors
AREA
2900 ft²
YEAR
2018
PHOTOGRAPHS
Darren Bradley
MANUFACTURERS
Hansgrohe, COLOMBO DESIGN, Duravit, Fleetwood, western red cedar
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Strandberg Engineering
CONTRACTOR
Drew Maran Construction
LEAD ARCHITECT
Craig Steely
PROJECT TEAM
Luigi Silverman, Ryan Leidner, Tune Kantharoup, Anastasia Victor
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Elias Gonzalez
Text description provided by architect.
Atherton California, just down El Camino Real from Stanford University, is in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is a suburban city characterized by mature trees and homes on large plots hidden behind fences.
The climate is temperate, almost Mediterranean and the owner of this house wanted a home where she could live outdoors as much as possible.
Complicating this desire was that the lot is long and narrow and her view on all sides was of the backs of the neighboring houses which (like most typical suburban houses) are huge and blank.
But above these neighboring houses, the mature tree canopy and sky were alive, constantly changing and breathtaking.
Focusing on this view “up” rather than horizontally “out” we created a seemingly roofless house that surrounds the living spaces by huge outdoor courtyards that direct the view up.
The living spaces are open planned and blur the connection between indoor/outdoor with retractable sliding doors and continuous materials like travertine on the floors and cedar on the walls.
But what sets this building apart is the continuous curving wall that surrounds it.
It fully encloses the house, blocking out the less desirable views, focusing on the more meaningful views and creating interest as the sunlight and shadows move through the day along it’s surfaces.
At it’s most elemental, the curving wooden wall creates a visual backdrop seen through the interior landscape of plants and birch trees, animated by the shadows moving across it all day.
Unlike it’s neighbors, this house is not fenced off at it’s street perimeter.
A meadow of native grasses flow from the sidewalk with existing oaks, redwoods and newly planted birch trees flowing inside and outside of the curving wooden wall.
