screen house

location: Santa Monica, CA

architect: ba collective

status: Completed 2023

Winner of the Honor Award for Single Family Residences at the 2023 AIA Los Angeles Design Awards, this stunning house features long span floor plates arranged around a three-story atrium on the building’s south side. Framing was carefully integrated with the façade mullions to eliminate interior posts.

At the rear of the house, a cantilevered balcony extends beyond wide pocket doors, expressing the openness of the ground-floor family areas. The framing arrangement was optimized considering vibration sensitivity.

The front of the building is clad with a self-supporting screen wall tied back to the house at limited locations. The composite blocks rely on laser cut steel plates sandwiched between the courses to ensure accurate placement and to hold the blocks in place under wind or seismic loading.

Photo Credit: Mike Kelley

ba collective website

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