Project Description
Builder’s Choice and Custom Home Awards Finalist
We designed this urban, contemporary passive solar home for a couple wishing to downsize without sacrificing the amenities of a larger home.
Although the setbacks, lot coverage and height limits of this urban lot severely restricted the building envelope, we found opportunity in the site topography and lot shape to design a side-facing garage positioned below the main level. This allowed us to elevate the house and open the upper floors to the sun and the views with corner windows.
Careful layout of the roofs and overhangs provides optimum solar shading in the summer, while allowing abundant access in the winter, balanced by three inches of radiant concrete flooring to thermal mass for heat storage and to mitigate temperature swings.
The exterior massing responds to the urban setting with flat roofs, subtle curves, and large outdoor balconies for entertaining guests, while the interior features include an open floor plan, an upper level Master Suite with home study, and a well-detailed staircase connecting the floors.