Olivares Residence

Manhattan Beach, CA, United States

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Olivares Residence

Manhattan Beach, CA, United States

Firm

Dean Nota Architect

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2015

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

Undisclosed

Statement:
This is a project for a new, 4 bedroom, single-family residence on a 40 by 128 ft. infill site in Manhattan Beach, California. The site is located in the “Tree Section”, a quiet, secluded enclave, located away from the beach, but with the benefits of a coastal climate and a family oriented atmosphere. Close, adjacent dwellings to the east, west, and south, border the site and, there are limited external views.

A solution evolved as a response to Owner needs and site conditions. The concept of an internal courtyard evolved as a strategy for opening the house to light and air, while creating an internal focus in the absence of external viewing opportunities.

Passage into the entry affords an immediate view into the courtyard and provides central access to the private and communal realms of the building. The spatial experience is orchestrated by a central, open stair that reveals an experience of interior and exterior spaces ultimately opening through glass doors onto terraces at all levels.

Design Features:
The massing of the structure begins with an outer layer of rigid, rectilinear elements that adjoin the site setback boundaries. This outer layer is strategically subtracted to create openings for skylights, roof terraces, and a central courtyard with sliding window walls that collect and direct light to the lower levels of the building. This subtractive process also reveals a contrasting, inner layer of perforated planes, glazed walls and a continuous folded metal roof vault. Additive structural steel decks visually extend interior to exterior the bedrooms on the second level.

The resulting exterior elevations are an assemblage of articulated stucco forms and glazed walls that seek to reduce the scale and massing of the new structure in an attempt to fit into the eclectic fabric of the surrounding neighborhood.