St. Ives House / Common Office

closed

Programmatically, formally, and in response to site conditions, the scheme prioritizes the eastern volume, which houses the kitchen, living, and dining spaces program. The family places significant importance upon meals, eating, and spending time together – our architecture reflects this priority with a large, double-height space that enjoys solar gain from clerestory northern windows to one side and an 11.5m wide expanse of sliding glass panels opening to the national park on the other.Text description provided by the architects.The project resists the temptation to conform to a street presentation of private domestic architecture. Rather, the architecture favors a language of the civic and deploys motifs such as a faux colonnade, plain double-story volumes, and a cantilevered entry awning to the face of the building that can be enjoyed (seen) by the wider public.Rendered lightweight walls and brick are painted bright white to form a geometric composition which peeps out behind the greens and oranges and hint to the national park hidden behind the home.Bedrooms, garages, and home offices are stacked across two floors west of the site in a less expressive, more utilitarian volume served by the spiral staircase, which gives glimpses to the park beyond.