SUN HOUSE
Project:
House Addition, Venice Beach, Florida
Client: Gus
and Stephanie Koven
Architect:
Francois Perrin, Air Architecture, Los Angeles, California
Engineer:
Gordon Polon, Santa Monica
Contractor:
Dante Cacace, Venice Beach
Size: 700
square feet total
Completion:
Summer 2005
Project Description
The house extension was designed according
to the specific climatic conditions of its location, Coastal Southern
California, and responding to a limited construction budget. The original
structure, a 1913 California Bungalow, is located on a west facing lot a couple
of blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Venice Beach. It had almost no connection
to the large and lush backyard and remained cold and dark during the winter
months. The owners wanted to expand their living space towards the garden using
mostly green technologies (they operate a biodiesel operation for a network of
friends in their backyard). A new volume designed following the solar envelope
theory, in order to use passive solar heating and minimizing the cast shadows
on the neighbors, intersects with the existing house creating a transitional
space between the bungalow and the garden. The new volume hosts the bedroom
which is extended by a new work out space on the garden’s edge, a new open-air
bathroom with a sunken tub at the level of the outdoor deck and a large kitchen
space with a central island. A radiant heated concrete floor is the new
foundation for the house addition and is augmented by a redwood deck which
associated with a set of large west facing sliding doors contributes to merge
the indoor space with the outdoor area. A wooden frame structure creates the
new volume and is left exposed on both sides through the use of steel x braces.
This was done in order to bring more light in the new space. A plastic skin of
thermal polycarbonate is cladding the structure and interacts with the sun,
letting the low light of winter and reflecting the high sun of summer. The
operable skylights on the roof are acting like wind chimneys, catching the afternoon
breeze and releasing the summer heat. Built in furniture made of maple plywood
are used throughout the extension adding to the integrated aspect of the house
environment.
Ecological Features
The volume designed for the house extension responds to
the site conditions: the solar envelope is the geometric shape that takes
advantage of the sun path for a natural energy gain through the use of passive
solar heating. A concrete floor helps moderate the heat through its own thermal
mass. The plastic skin of thermal polycarbonate interacts with the sun (rays go
through during the winter and are reflected in the summer). A system of sliding
doors, operable skylights and windows creates a natural cross ventilation
taking advantage of the ocean’s breeze.
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