Glen Park Residence

This Glen Park home was nearly doubled in size from 800 square feet with the addition of a new second floor to accommodate a growing family. The owners sought to enhance the desirable aspects of their current home while simultaneously integrating new features and spaces to produce an essentially new house that would include a master suite and a dining room. Previously divided into a number of small and dark rooms, the interior has been opened up through a series of interconnected spaces organized around a central stair. The new dinning room replaced the rear bedroom, and two new bedrooms were added upstairs.

Inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell, the primary spaces of the home were conceived of as a series of “Shadow Boxes.” Each room uses a set of materials and colors to define its extents, while leaving one or more of its sides open to the adjoining spaces. In this way, each of the major spaces of the house flow into the next across a series of invisible picture planes implied by the changes in finish materials.

The design extended the house’s existing facade, while adding large windows, sunshades, and a sculptural guardrail to unify the house with a consistent architectural expression. AAA managed the entitlements process for this project, which included the approval of a planning variance.

The project was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, and the 2008 edition of Small Firms, Great Projects.