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#RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS

Manna House

This is a house for a client who has a particular obsession with color.

The house takes its inspiration from the abstract color field paintings of Kenneth Noland and Josef Albers. Various shades of blue connect the house, sited on the ridge of a hill, to the the sky that serve as its backdrop. Blue is also a reference to how the house “sails” along the top of the hill like a ship. Orange, as the complementary color, creates a dynamic contrast.

In plan, the house changes angles to capture different views of the city. This reinforces the feeling of a ship in motion. The house is divide into two structures, living and sleeping, and three decks. These elements are tied together by an undulating facade composed of a 12” horizontal grid that wraps its way into the interior where it defines the layout of all the details.

Since the client is a professor of environmental studies and the house became a teaching tool and example to his students of sustainable architecture. Leading by example, the house runs on solar power, recycles grey water, and captures rain water in cisterns. All of the interior doors were built out of recycled flooring from the old house.

Because the house sits in a special zoning area, we were not allowed to increase the square footage of the existing house. To solve this puzzle, we built a separate structure and connected it to the old house with a structurally independent deck

Manna House

Details

  • California, USA
  • Jeremy Levine Design