When Annie and Dylan, a hairstylist and landscape designer in Austin, Texas, decided they needed more space for guests and hobbies, they faced a familiar problem: where to put it? Their two-bungalow compound in East Austin, although large enough on paper, was full to the brim with Dylan’s design firm in one small house and living space in the other.

Building out wasn’t an option, as the couple wanted to preserve both the mature landscaping on-site and existing outdoor work and living areas. The couple wanted privacy, and they also wanted to keep occupying the existing house during construction. Meanwhile, a new upper unit would be subject to Austin’s McMansion ordinance, which limits construction to an angled setback “tent” of dimensional constraints.

Fortunately, their architect, Nicole Blair, was unfazed by these constraints. She proposed not building out, and not building up—but rather constructing a new unit off-site and craning it into place on top of one existing bungalow. The new unit, a steel trapezoid, would fit perfectly within the city’s prescribed setback tent.

Blair built a paper model to illustrate to the clients how it would work: the bottom slope of the trapezoid would follow the slope of the existing roof, but hover above it, supported by steel columns that punctured the building envelope at only two locations, both along an existing wall line. This approach would allow construction to take place with only minimal disruption to the bungalow. (In fact, the construction crew only touched one room on the ground floor, using a window as an entrance—they lifted a portion of flooring to set the foundation for the two interior columns, then sealed it up and disappearing upstairs.)

Blair (who also acted as the general contractor on the project) worked with a local steel fabrication company, Drophouse, to translate that paper model into steel. The Drophouse crew fabricated the frame off-site and craned it into place in a day.

Now atop the bungalow is a jewel-shaped split-level apartment with a living area and kitchen on the lower level and two bedrooms and a bathroom a few steps above. The “leftover” space of the trapezoid hides storage and mechanical systems, and the southeast steel column screens three pipes that carry gas, power, water, and sewer lines down to the bungalow’s mechanical closet below. A stacked washer/dryer fits neatly behind closed doors in the hall storage.

The unit is clad in Cor-Ten steel, echoing the material language already in play on the site, and a steel staircase stops inches above the existing porch to emphasize the floating character of the addition.

Inside, the space feels soft and airy, with a minimal, texture-rich material palette. Materials were selected for economy, durability, and efficiency, says Blair, but her pairings of off-the-shelf materials—like pine wall boards, butcher block countertops, Ikea cabinets, and a gentle pink paint—with more luxe finishes like white oak flooring (salvaged from another, larger project), large-scale terrazzo tiles, and copper plumbing fixtures convey elegance as much as practicality.

"One of the things I really love about this space is that there’s just a little bit of a sway to it,” says Blair. “When someone’s walking up the stair, you can feel it.” Visitors coming up the stairs may feel a corresponding flutter of excitement. The Perch, with its carefully placed views of the treetops and the surrounding neighborhood, has both the thrill and the serenity of a treehouse. It’s connected to its context while offering a new perspective on it. And as homeowners look for a little extra space and cities like Austin look for ways to add density in existing neighborhoods, the Perch also offers a playful way to look at how and where we build.

Related Reading:

A Whimsical Guest House Leans Out to Maximize Space

This Tiny $11K Apartment Adds Affordable Housing to High-Rise Rooftops

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Nicole Blair / @nicoleblair.architect

Builder: Nicole Blair

Structural Engineers: Ryan Stoltz, Amanda Dees, Jerry Garcia, Structures PE

Landscape Design: Dylan Robertson, D Crain

Cabinetry Design: Oleksandr Geller, A Plus Cabinetry

Structural Steel Fabrication: Drophouse Design

Metal Stair Fabrication: Tim Schmidt

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A Tiny, Jewel-Shaped Studio Perches Atop an Austin Bungalow