Mork-Ulnes Architects has accomplished the Silver Lining Home, a crisp, gabled house clad in black-stained cedar that was designed for an architectural photographer and inside designer.
Positioned on a sloped web site in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighbourhood, the home sits amongst Victorian and Edwardian houses that line the world’s hilly streets.
The mission was designed for architectural photographer Bruce Damonte and inside designer Alison Damonte, who’ve lengthy been buddies with architect Casper Mork-Ulnes, founding father of Mork-Ulnes Architects.
The couple, who’re avid collectors, desired a house that showcased their treasured belongings and supported their artistic work.
“We knew from the outset that this mission can be an fascinating collaboration, balancing our reductive tendencies with the extra exuberant and maximalist impulses of our consumer/buddies, whose model we had at all times admired and wished to have a good time,” mentioned Casper Mork-Ulnes.
The architect and his staff at Mork-Ulnes Architects – which has places of work in San Francisco and Oslo – conceived a house for the Damontes that “conceptually capabilities as a container for his or her furnishings and artwork collections and a laboratory for his or her work”.
Rectangular in plan, the house rises three ranges and encompasses a crisp, gabled kind. Facades are clad in strips of black-stained cedar and are punctured with openings of various sizes.
The architects took cues from the encircling context when deciding on key design parts akin to scale, massing and cladding – however in addition they strayed from the norm.
“Whereas replicating the roof types, entry portal/stoop and massing of the Victorian houses, the brand new home additionally breaks from custom with a black-painted facade and ribbon home windows that visually join the inside of the home to the neighbourhood,” the staff mentioned.
“Custom is reinterpreted right here with a decidedly modern perspective, the place formal analysis and development strategies are integral to creating an unique and modern final result that engages its environment whereas additionally prompting additional inquiry,” the staff added.
Totalling 2,818 sq. toes (261 sq. metres), the house has a “flipped ground plan”, by which non-public quarters are discovered on decrease ranges and communal areas are positioned up excessive.
The bottom degree holds a storage, major bed room suite, laundry room and sunken backyard. The principle entrance is discovered on the primary ground, the place the staff positioned a visitor suite, a house workplace, two loos and intimate areas for enjoyable and entertaining.
The highest degree – envisioned as a penthouse-type house – encompasses a kitchen, eating space, front room and powder room. A terrace provides sweeping views of town.
Flooring are linked by a curved staircase topped with a skylight. Half-polished chrome slats bounce reflections across the stairwell, an impact meant to “mimic the expertise of strolling by way of a disco ball”.
Mirrored surfaces are present in different components of the home, lending a sense of playfulness whereas additionally producing spacial and light-generating results, the staff mentioned.
General, the house’s inside design – overseen by Alison Damonte – provides a mixture of colors, textures and patterns that “replicate the homeowners’ collective artistic spirit”, the staff mentioned.
Sustainability was in thoughts all through the mission, resulting in the inclusion of parts akin to high-performance home windows, exterior photo voltaic shading and energy-efficient home equipment.
Rooftop photo voltaic panels generate electrical energy that may be saved in a Powerwall battery system, and unused electrical energy is shipped again to the facility grid.
The house’s completion marks the top of a journey spanning greater than a decade.
In 2010, the Damontes bought a modest residence in Bernal Heights relationship to the early 1900s.
A number of years later, they enlisted Mork-Ulnes to renovate the home, and simply when plans have been being finalized in 2017, the home caught fireplace and was partly destroyed.
The staff salvaged what they might and reworked the design.
“Whereas the incident pressured a reevaluation of scope and scale of the redesign, the couple’s purpose remained the identical – to create a house that acted as a capsule of artwork and inspiration,” the staff mentioned.
Different tasks by Mork-Ulnes embrace an eight-sided home in Oregon that was constructed utilizing cross-laminated timber and a California residence clad in Corten metal to guard the constructing from wildfire.
The images is by Bruce Damonte.
Mission credit:
Architect: Mork-Ulnes Architects
Mission design staff: Casper Mork-Ulnes, Lexie Mork-Ulnes, Phi Van Phan, Gregoriy Ladigin
Inside designer: Alison Damonte
Building supervisor: Raffi Nazarian
Panorama architect: Terremoto
Structural engineer: Santos & Urritia
Lighting design: PritchardPeck
Basic contractor: Rico’s Basic Building, Inc
Cabinetmaker: Hopebuilt
