Long Beach Home
Project Description
This single-family residence occupies an infill site near Los Angeles, located along a navigable lagoon leading to the Pacific Ocean, which is visible from the rear of the home. The program called for living/dining/kitchen space, 3 bedrooms with bathrooms, a study, 2 car garage, swimming pool, and outdoor porch and terrace.
The site is deep and narrow, fronting a busy residential street characterized by minimal setbacks and narrow gaps between each house. Densely configured houses along the street strive to maximize their waterfront property, enjoying proximity to private docks along the lagoon, which typically is busy with recreational water traffic– sailboats, crew, and kayaks. The Pacific Ocean is visible beyond a beach isthmus and causeway to the west.
The design objective was to create a house that insured privacy and security from the street and sides, while capitalizing on the ocean breezes and nautical views to the west. In the resulting composition, the spaces of the house on both levels wrap around a swimming pool on three sides (east, north, and west). A wall of translucent panels along the south side of the long, narrow pool courtyard provides privacy without diminishing available natural light. At night, the translucent wall is backlit, providing diffused light to the courtyard. Private spaces are located on the upper level, leaving the public areas to encircle the pool on the main level, maximizing the opportunity for open space.
The mild climate allows for open-air living, with interior spaces opened to the outside for most of the year. Retractable glass door systems allow the interior and exterior to merge with the terraces along the waterfront, as well as into the pool courtyard, capturing breezes throughout for natural ventilation.
Solar panels on the roof allow the owner to reduce energy consumption. This system is so efficient that occasionally, he sells electricity back to the power company.
Construction materials and systems:
The structure is a hybrid of seismic-resistant steel frame with wood framing infill. Solar panels are arrayed on the flat roof to provide for a portion of the electrical needs.
Exterior materials include integrally tinted stucco, clear western cedar, and some structural steel members that are exposed. The interior palette includes wenge wood floors, sheetrock, stucco, and wenge paneled walls. This palette of predominantly natural and textured materials provides a warm, humane counterpoint to the modern geometrical abstraction of the forms.
