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125
University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301
650.321.6118 sa@studioatkinson.com
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Kearney-Okamoto House - Moody Road, Los Altos Hills, California (currently under construction)
contractor: Phillip Murray Construction, Campbell structural engineer: Mahmoud Sanatkhani, MS Engineers, Campbell civil engineer: Lea and Braze Engineering lighting designer: Pritchard-Peck Lighting, San Francisco landscape designer: Joni Janecki, Santa Cruz
View from entry drive at main living area balcony. The house faces South and the main property views to the right.
This is a still from the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest. Frank Lloyd Wright was approached to design the house, but didn't in the end. They obviously chose to have a "Wright-esque" design in its place. I've always been fascinated by this image because in the end it is such a pale imitation of Wright, and yet, it still has a very decent sense of dynamism. The clients and I have had this type of house design-- a house which has a balcony and overhang facing the view-- foremost in mind during the design of this project.
Rendering of house from similar 3/4 view as above. Wider angle lens for dramatic effect of jutting roof corner. This view shows where the sliding, patio doors meet at a columnless corner.
Main entry stair study. The entry stair is enclosed within a tall slot at the center of the house. Arrival at the top of the stairs to the front door is lit from an exterior skylight above. One rises toward the light.
Here is a view across the front facade of the house, largely showing the main entry stairs. The contrast between the lower, broad, almost-monumental stairs are meant to contrast with the far smaller set of stair which lead from the main landing to the main level above. Somewhat like the Appia stage set below.
1911 stage set for the opera Orpheus and Euridice, designed by Adophe Appia. To my eyes this is one of most beautiful architectural essays on stairs. In the opera Orpheus descends to Hades to retrieve his dead wife, so I presume the stairs are meant to represent the connection between earth and the underworld, not earth and heaven...
A construction view of the concrete foundations. The sloped, concrete area below will be largely inaccessible crawlspace beneath the house. This view is along the main axis of the house through the open living area.
This construction view of the open living space is along the diagonal axis from the courtyard to the view beyond
Floor plan of main living level. Thick red line represents the main axis through the open living area, and the thin one represents the diagonal axis through the corners. The house is relatively modest in size, with a square footage of only 2,000 s.f.
Client-generated sketch of floor plan that became the basis for the final house design. After being presented with a few conceptual house designs that laid out the pragmatics of the site, the client was able to sketch this above diagram that captured what they had, "in their mind's eye." They were a bit taken back when I enthusiastically embraced it as a very good backbone for the design. And the clients' basic diagram survived largely intact to the final house layout. Every good house project must find the sweet spot, balance between the deep experience and creativity of the architect and the intuitive (and practical) needs of the client.
The lower floor plan consists mainly of an open forecourt, garage, and entry stairs. Windows in a small, basement mechanical room help relieve the apparent height of the base at the front of the house.
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