” One of the main elements we wanted to achieve with this development, was making sure the two floors and the stairwell would be visually linked and have a cohesive appearance.
Project Name: Emerald Lake Hills House
Studio Name: Arcadia Architecture Inc
This was actually a remodel-addition and we had to simplify the overall mass as much as possible to have a more modern appearance.
We had to capture the amazing views but also provide privacy for the homeowners, and so we devised two long and tall parapet walls that would separate the interiors from the street below them.
The stairwell becomes the unifying element, a light tower that has a large skylight at its roof intersection and that connects the two levels and it also becomes the new foyer.
Instead of using a typical and obvious central entry door, we have a huge pivoting custom door, mounted at an angle to the front facade that makes the entry feel like an experience in itself.
The house is on a hilly site and it has a rear elevated patio from which you can see the house roof.
Because of that, it was important to have a very clean design for it and in fact it is like a white sail, reflecting solar radiation and very simple in its geometry, just a slightly tilted plane.
The overall house employs very durable materials like machined steel for the stairs guardrails, ceramic tiles floors and IPE wood boards for the balconies. Even the exterior stucco is broken in panels with metal screeds to increase resistance to cracking.”
