This project explores the freedoms and constraints of
working with the private seaside community of Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach,
California. The intimate scale of an existing, 1970’s beach cottage was
retained with this renovation and addition. While a new, dynamic spatial
configuration is created by the elimination of interior walls and some floor
areas. Exterior openings have been modified to maximize expansive ocean views,
breezes, natural light and privacy. A vacation home for a family of four
including two children, the design responds to the requirement of the owners
for flexibility of use. Traditional means of enclosure such as walls and doors
are replaced with sliding panels. Interior spaces are connected seamlessly to
exterior spaces by pocket doors and a continuity of materials. Travertine,
mahogany and Rhine-zinc, gently woven into the composition, root the structure
in the seaside terrain and provide spatial synthesis. The openness of the
interior spatial plan invites the magnificent play of light upon these
surfaces.