The building’s forms reference the valley below at three distinct scales: at the site scale, the home’s three staggered volumes extend the rhythm of the valley’s overlapping ‘spurs’; at the building scale, the lower garage and bedroom wings frame the monumental entry stair, creating a space reminiscent of a valley that has been carved by the forces of an unseen river; and at the interior scale, another canyon-like stairwell carves through the wings –pinning them together physically, spatially, and materially.

Building Organization
Environmental Analysis
Building Organization

The project nestles the occupants within the building in ways that recall the forest and valley spaces of nature. The concrete and wood forms accept the natural weathering of this highly exposed site, blasted by sun and afternoon howling winds. The project creates protected outdoor space and encourages meandering and exploratory movement. Please contact us for more detailed information.

Valley Formation Analysis: The formation of a valley often starts with pristine grassland.
A water source, such as a small upland river begins to carve into the land, deepening and widening it through erosion.
As the river entrenches its valley, it asymmetrically erodes the loosened and weaker zones within the bedrock, depositing the sediment along its meandering path.
Over millennium, the process forms zig-zagging interlocking landforms or 'spurs' that create the distinctive morphology of the California coastal valleys as they drop to the pacific.
Conceptually, the forms and circulation of the new home extends the morphology of the meandering river valley, with the three wings designed as separate islands, each with its own distinctive roof terrain: reservoir, grassland, rock-outcropping.
Valley Formation Analysis: The formation of a valley often starts with pristine grassland.