House 563

Project Details

Project Description

Builder's Choice and Custom Home Awards Finalist

For this new home in the Lakeshore district of New Orleans, the architect undertook an intense investigation into site context, local building techniques, and the owners' background. Instead of re-creating the past, the directive was instead to design a modern interpretation of the client’s previous historic homes.

The project is located in a fragmented neighborhood mixed with bland recent construction, 1970s spec homes, and several stunning mid-century modern houses. Directly across the street sits a Curtis & Davis designed home which became one of the springboards for the design. Specifically the treatment of brick walls as independent planes which enclose the perimeter of the structure, but never extend all the way to the roof-plane. These masonry walls are also dematerialized into screens as they separate from the enclosure; another common element of nearby homes. The three volumes of the house wrap a small inner courtyard and terrace down in height to meet the scale of the house next door and mimic the profile of the house across the street. A series of folded roof planes top the volumes and direct water into strategically hidden downspouts. A sculptural winding stair and tessellated metal balcony railing nostalgically reflect the owners' previous residence at the historic Pontalba apartment on Jackson square.