LOCATION: Venice Beach, California
TYPE: Residential, Ground-up Construction
STATUS: Completed (2022)
TEAM: Christopher Hatch McLean (Architect of Record, HATCH) / Quinlin Messenger & Matt Nichols (Designers), Bruce and Gigi Krysiak (Clients), Ivan and Fernanda Calvo (Smart Homes Building Construction), Kurt Fischer and Michael Goodenough (Kurt Fischer Structural Engineering), Ihab Elzeyadi (Sustainability / Net-Zero Consultant)
AREA: 2500sf
This Venice Beach residence is located in a vacant yard behind a 1920s beach bungalow acting as a second home on the lot; a site organization common to the area. In an attempt to respect the beach bungalow and to make the site feel as open as possible, the new residence has been designed to feel like a series of objects within a garden rather than a typical home. These garden objects are defined by an inner core called “The Rock”, which is then surrounded by one large three story wall named “Garden Wall”. What is left are spaces between these two objects that makes its occupants feel like they are living in outdoor spaces. Furthermore, this residence has been design to be net-zero energy with the aid of a sustainability consultant. To achieve this goal, the structure has utilized a three story stair space which will act as the “lungs” of the house by opening up to become a stack ventilation system in the summer and closing to retain/transmit heat in the winter. This passive stack ventilation system will then be sistered up with active high performance building systems to power the house off the grid.