Site size: 39,400 sf Project size: 1,200 sf

Program: In designing this multi-volume detached house, L.A.-based Struere Architecture sought to engage with both the expansive natural surroundings of the Hollywood site and with an existing modernist house on the same property, designed by Milton Caughey in the 1950s.

Location: Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA

Solution: The flat, overhanging roof of the new house echoes the horizontal composition of the original modernist house, meant to evoke the vast Los Angeles horizon. A sandy garden between the detached volumes is sparsely landscaped, apart from a tree rising through a void in the roof. Floor-to-ceiling windows open the house to the strikingly-designed grassy courtyard, which separate the new structure from the old house, creating a dialogue between nature and architecture all at once.

Construction and materials: The house employs design strategies common to modern houses in the Los Angeles area, but with an eye toward efficiency and sustainability. The highly transparent low-iron glazing of the floor-to-ceiling windows blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors. The use of steel made the walls and overhanging roof thinner while also increasing insulation efficiency.

Additional Information

Completion date: June 2015

Gross square footage: 1,200 SF


People

Architect:

Struere, 3324 Grand View Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066, (310) 748-7649

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:

Hraztan Zeitlian, Design Principal

Engineers:

Structural Engineer: David Reith and Associates, Inc.

Surveyor: Becker & Miyamoto, Inc.

Geotechnical Engineer: Grover Hollingsworth and Associates

CA Title 24 Compliance: Solargy

General contractor:

Dana Benson Construction

Photographer:

Jeff Ong, PostRAIN Productions

Landscape Consultant:

Little Tomato Landscapes

 

 

Products

Structural System

Steel Frame superstructure with wood framing.

Manufacturer of any structural components unique to this project:

Exterior Cladding

Masonry: Adobe brick veneer made on site from native soils

EIFS, ACM, or other: Exterior Stucco Plaster Steel Troweled Finish.

Moisture barrier: Tyvek.

Roofing

Elastomeric: Energy star class A torch down with title 24 membrane applied on top.

Windows

Metal frame: Cold rolled steel punched window frames

Glazing

Glass: floor to ceiling glass monolithic low iron 1/2" glass

Doors

Entrances: glass doors monolithic low iron 1/2" glass

Wood doors: All interior Doors Solid Core Wood Doors

Sliding doors: Metal Window Corp extruded aluminum

Hardware

Locksets: Exterior Door Hardware: CR Laurence
Interior Door Hardware: Emtek

Interior Finishes

Paints and stains: Benjamin Moore

Wall coverings: Diamond Drapery double recessed curtain tracks

Paneling: Walnut Paneling at Kitchen and Bedroom

Solid surfacing: Ceasar Stone Kitchen countertops

Floor and wall tile: Bathroom near Kitchen: Bisazza.
Master Bathroom Walls: Mosa 10thirty Collection.
Master Bathroom Ceiling and Floor at Shower Enclosure: Solistone Tile Decorative Pebbles

Raised flooring: Interior Flooring throughout: Terrazzo by El Verde Terrazzo inc.

Special interior finishes unique to this project: Interior Flooring throughout: Terrazzo by El Verde Terrazzo inc.

Lighting

Interior ambient lighting: Element by Tech Lighting

Downlights:Sconce at Bathroom: Halo Sconce by Paul Loebach through Twentieth