PACIFIC HOUSE

This very special site is located in Los Angeles, on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The client sought to build a 24,000 sf house, on a 50,000 sf lot. A conventional approach would maximize the building envelope by stacking two floors to face the sea views. However, we chose a completely different approach.

By cutting the view exposures into the sizes of the main spaces and then “peeling up” the land, we not only created more surface area for views, but we created a building that is less bulky, that emerges from the land to meld landscape and architecture.

Small changes in topography work with interior modulations of cross-section and floor levels to create a unified building that fits a tremendous amount of house interior into the building lot without sacrificing the outdoor spaces. In fact, the outdoor spaces become some of the house’s most cherished areas, with a drive-in movie theater, a series of playful, grassy slopes, and a large hillside positioned for visitors to sit in the grass and watch the sun set over the sea.