Orum Residence

Orum rises two stories above ground with its third floor burrowed into the hill. The ground floor provides the entry and communal spaces for gathering, while the top floor is dedicated to the home’s private spaces.

The upper southwest and southeast wings of the home hold the master and mini-master suites, both of which are afforded 270-degree views of the city and ocean thanks to their slim profiles.

A dynamic glass and steel staircase stretching through the core of the structure serve two purposes: practically, it would provide a very straightforward answer to the vast home’s circulation; visually, it would join otherwise be disparate areas in one’s line of sight.

The basement level has been outfitted with a home theatre, gym, spa, cedar sauna, service kitchen, and a wine room big enough to hold a thousand bottles. Also accessible from this floor is The Cube, an attached guesthouse designed for family and staff. The Cube is outfitted with four bedrooms, four baths, a kitchenette, and dedicated access and garage.

The light in Los Angeles is very dynamic and can be both calming and energizing. As the site is positioned quite high above the city with almost no impediments, we wanted the house to capture the spirit of these qualities.

Orum’s huge panels of glass provide inhabitants with a strong connection to nature and the daily and seasonal arcs of light.

The glass curtain wall wrapping the third floor home is a highly sophisticated system custom developed in part with Schuco/Glasbox, a leading fenestration company based in Germany/Canada. The structure utilizes five different widths of four different opacities—reflective, opaque, translucent, and clear—that as an ensemble give the building an infinite, visually shifting, shimmering façade.

For the client's entertaining needs, the outdoor area includes a kitchen, two patios complete with fire pits, and an LED-lit pool1. The main garage also serves as an event space and can be completely opened on two sides for through views.

A highly custom residence steeped in intricacies, Orum took four years to construct.