NEW HOUSE
This new house is designed around an immense decades-old Coastal Oak. The L-shaped plan frames the tree and creates a stepped volume by placing a taller volume in the rear, and a lower one in the front towards the street. The resulting courtyard functions both as an entry space and as a place for entertaining large groups. Although only 3000sf this house contains 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 2 studies. The spaces of the rooms are composed to create a range of different spatial experiences. The two-story volume of the entry abuts the low horizontal space for the dining area, which in turn abuts an expansive living room. Many green building principals are employed throughout this structure including: passive cooling, FSC lumber, high-efficiency radiant heating, low carbon admixtures in the concrete floors and cellulose insulation. This design was started before the institution of the LEED rating system, but is the equivalent of a LEED Gold rating.