Wonderland houses

Project Details

Project Description

Our main objectives were to densify by building three houses on three lots where one house used to sit, and to create a sense of community with a variety of connected exterior spaces.

The project creates comfortable interior spaces within the limitations of 25’ wide lots and 16.5’ wide houses, and strives to provide as much exterior leisure area for residents. There is a small patio behind each house, a large terrace facing the street, and an exterior stair leads to a roof terrace and walkway that bridges to the adjacent hill, to a future seating area or orchard.

The structural systems range from rough shotcrete retaining walls, to poured-in-place concrete, to steel and wood framed construction.

The exterior finish material choices explore the juxtaposition of materials and challenge notions of materials perceived as ‘contemporary’ or ‘traditional and stylized’. The result is an interesting play between board-formed concrete, stucco and cedar wood shingles, where walls with different finishes cap and interlock each other, and where sometimes materials carefully transition at corners.