In 2016 we were asked by the new owners of a home that we had completed in 2008 to design a new, detached home office structure, remote from the main house. The original home was an award-winning ‘off the grid’ 2-story structure on a beautiful 9-acre rural site, overlooking a dense forest of Douglas fir, madrone and oak trees, in Healdsburg, California.
The new home office structure is carefully sited directly over a pre-existing exposed concrete water storage tank west of the main house, partially above a narrow level pad, and partially over a steep decline. Supported by two cast-in-place concrete core elements, the new structure is a crisp steel and wood-framed glass box that hovers just above the water storage tank and the flat portion of the site while it soars above the down-sloping topography on the south-west corner of the building. The floating floor and roof planes are clad in Western Red Cedar horizontal boards. With the exception of the concrete vertical elements, all walls are constructed of floor-to-ceiling glass.
An existing solar photovoltaic system has been increased to 21.6 kw with battery backup, making the house and home office net zero, as well as off the grid. The project also includes beautiful new landscape improvements, including a new infinity edge pool, a new spa located down the hillside to the north west, decks, terraces and multiple rustic water features. Taken together, the new home office and landscaping, combined with the original house, form an idyllic compound of beautiful architecture set in a spectacular garden environment in the Northern California wine country.
Category:Residential AdditionsYear:2019Location:Healdsburg, California, USA Architects: Swatt + PartnersLead Architect: Robert SwattLandscape Architects:Ground Studio Landscape ArchitectureContractor: Jamba Construction Inc.Client: PrivatePhotographer: Jason Liske
