Yin Yang House
Capitalizing on southern California's climate, Brooks + Scarpa's house for a growing family gives the phrase 'Go outside!' new meaning, with seamless indoor-outdoor spaces.
Architects & Firms
Venice, California
Larry Scarpa grew up in Florida, where the heat and humidity kept him indoors. “In Southern California, however, living outside is easy to do,” says the architect, whose firm Brooks + Scarpa is based in Los Angeles. “Now I can’t get away from imposing my desire on others.” Recent beneficiaries of his imposition include a couple whose young children are friends with Scarpa’s son. The family was living on a cramped lot on one of the canals in nearby Venice, but they gave up this otherwise desirable waterfront location for a Scarpa-designed, net zero energy, 4,700-square-foot house and roomy backyard elsewhere in the seaside district.
The bedrooms exit onto a bamboo deck and bleacher stairs, allowing children to bypass the rest of the house on their way inside or out. “I know from having a young kid of my own that you’re always screaming, ‘Inside or outside!’” says Scarpa. To visually unify the house, the architect defined horizontal and vertical edges with a steel band that winds without interruption around the exterior. “It pulls all the pieces together, a continuous squiggle,” says Scarpa.
PeopleFormal name of building: Yin-Yang House Location: Venice, CA Completion Date: 2011 Gross square footage: 4,700 Total construction cost: 1.7 million Architect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Ching Luk, Emily Hodgdon Engineer(s): Consultant(s): General contractor: Glenn Lyons Construction
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ProductsStructural system Exterior cladding Metal Panels: Natural oxidized cold rolled recycled steel Concrete panels: Recycled Portland Cement Exterior Cement Plaster with integral finish Windows: Fleetwood, US Aluminum Corporation Concrete: Type ll Portland Cement with 25% flyash, LM Scofield Lithochrome stain Wood: Composite floor truss joists by Weyerhaeuser, Micro-lam and parallam composite beams by Truss Joist Corporation, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified bamboo flooring, cabinets, and structural wood. Roofing Flashing: Celotex, GAF corporation, Grefco, APOC Glazing Skylights: Bristolite, Solatube International, Inc. Doors Hardware Interior finishes Paneling: Recycled Formaldehyde free MDF, Recycled-Content Gypsum Board with 31% recycled content (26% post consumer waste), Dens-Glass Gold by Georgia-Pacific Floor and wall tile: Ecotile by Walker Zanger Resilient flooring: Ecotile by Walker Zanger, concrete and FSC certified bamboo Lighting Dimming System or other lighting controls: Lutron Plumbing |
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