Four Houses Four Stories - Flipbook - Page 73
SECTIONS
C
B
D
LIVING ROOM
Courtyard
Gravel roof
2-ply vinyl roof
“S”-curve bamboo veneer ceiling
Metal shade fin
Window wall
Masonry screen wall
Front entry door
Rear patio
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
GARAGE
A
SECTION THROUGH LIVING ROOM, COURTYARD & GARAGE
E
E
LIVING ROOM
H
G
F
FAMILY ROOM
F
H
INTERIOR LIVING ROOM SECTION THROUGH WINDW WALL TO COURTYARD
Tree images reflected in glass
window wall and acute offsite
view into courtyard.
Imagine rediscovering a reflected exterior image in it’s unreflected state from
the interior while looking back out! That’s
the idea here. The front
courtyard alcove is for
sculpture—plant sculptures. Our first vision for
the space was focused on
a tight grove of black bamboo that would soften the
masonry “spin-down” garage
and drive court screen wall.
The Feng Shui Master said it
was spiritually unacceptable! We
substituted dwarf multi-trunk sweet
gum trees that could be sculpturally trimmed. This decorative grove of
trees was precisely chosen so that they
would reflect their own image back into
the narrow courtyard. In this way the exterior walls of the courtyard would not be what
they seem. The area would appear
more dense and lush without being
over planted. The mirrored glass
wall would also bounce the light
from the tree fixtures and spread
throughout the alcove for a more
expansive impact. But the surprise
really is discovered from the interior. The elegant curved ceiling and
a long interior living/dining room
gallery wall (which is on the internal
opposite side of the glass courtyard wall) face the courtyard and
trees. The serene exterior treescape becomes a foil—energizing
the living and dining rooms and
activating the color of the gallery
paintings. The eastern exposure
embraces the soft morning light
and the reflected and softened
western evening light inside the
living room the entire day. Looking
out and looking in is the same—it’s
double vision!
DESIGN
SOLUTION
