Located on a quiet street just above the Ravenna ravine, Z House creates a private and calming refuge for a fast paced family of four. The clients came with a few simple ideas and an elevated lot that housed an existing garage to remain. They desired a home that would withstand the climate and lifespan through low maintenance and honest materials, zero unoccupied space within home and a solution to having two young and energetic boys on the same plan level as the master bedroom, yet somehow disconnected for privacy.
The solution was to design a modest home with a simple and environmentally conscious material pallet. The raw minerit base and radiant concrete floors flowing from interior to exterior, provide a strong connection with structure and site, enhanced by the large expanse of thermal glass doors that open the living level to a protected internal grass courtyard for the children’s play.
The bedroom level, contained within the aluminum band, breaks plane in two directions, once horizontally, and once vertically, to create the shape of the floating Z. By breaking plane, the clients are able to live on the same level in plan with their children as they are young, yet with the bend, they are disconnected enough to feel the privacy they desire as the children age. The void created by this move allows the Z to float above the grounded base of the house while providing natural light to the high ceilings of the kitchen and protected entry.
