Split Box House

The solution tackles a challenging steep site and inserts a sustainable minimalist house that works with the existing topography to create a tranquil indoor and outdoor living environment. Diagrammed as a series of logical steps, the buildings form is created as an understandable evolution of this process. Simplifying and codifying the complex consideration of each major design decision brings clarity to how the architecture is expressed. It is meant to bridge the instant consumability of the social media age with the architect’s deeper philosophical design decisions. By becoming something that is tangibly understood, the house resonates with a wider portion of the population. The solution is not about a grand gesture or historical reference, but instead is about communicating a series of solutions. Simple and clean in its form the house started as a twenty-two foot wide extruded box. That width was chosen based on the distance a reasonable size wood truss can span. This ensured that no interior support walls were required allowing for an open floor plan. Cut to the desired length based on the space requirements of the family, the box is subsequently split into public and private volumes allowing for a clear delineation between functions. The private portion is rotated ninety degrees around the sky-lit stair hall to maximize views to the woods behind the house. A series of site walls, carefully nestled into the steep lot cascade down the hill from the street creating a terraced entrance garden that becomes the houses exposed foundation.