The Cube

The Cube (completed in 2020) is the guest house to our “Las Cumbres Residence” which was completed in 2012. As the Architects and Builders, our goal was to not only create a house that would give guests a private retreat from the main house, but to also immerse them in the beauty of the redwoods in a simple yet sophisticated space. The plan was to create a simple “Cube,” with shared outdoor communal space with the Main Residence. From this shared outdoor living space, the “Cube” would serve as an artistic backdrop to this gathering place. We created illuminated acrylic bars in an abstract pattern within the Corten steel to mimic the organic layers of the nearby redwood grove. We hid the entry door/wall within the structure to allow the focus to be the architecture as art, blurring the distinction of a building. Once inside the focus then turns to the outside, with a large unobstructed corner view of the Santa Cruz Mountains. We designed a large floor to ceiling art wall/door to separate the living space from the sleeping quarters, with the design of inlaid mild steel as an abstract interpretation of the local madrone trees.