This remodel of a 25’W residential building in Corona heights explores the design opportunities of cross sectional moments within the original building envelope. While the floor plan defines the overall connectedness of spaces, designing in cross section allows us to look at how each space should be designed to orchestrate the owner’s routine through space, light, finishes, and details. The architecture therefore becomes one cohesive sheet music that brings tunes to the owner’s daily use of the house.
The layout of the house begins with private bedrooms and progressively transcends into an entertaining space with a postcard view of the city’s skyline. While the bedrooms remain to be in their original configuration with street facing windows, linear skylight is then carved above the vanity sink to animate this compact size primary bathroom. A window opening was then introduced to the office space to both bring light from the entry lightwell and frames the view beyond the kitchen. The next section marks one’s arrival at the entry lightwell that illuminates the center of the house. Upon arrival at this living space with full height glass sliding doors towards the view, the section continues up to the roof deck with a retractable glass hatch, serving as another light source for the center of house. Section after section, the goal is to develop richness in space, light, details, experience in each cross sectional moment from front to end of the house.