Ridge residence

SOLAR SCREENING

The street-facing façade creates privacy and filters the harsh Californian sun with a large timber-batten brise soleil — a screen of vertical wood blades that control the solar heat and sunlight that enters the home. Constructed from western red cedar, the screen's height matches that of neighbouring homes, making Ridge Residence appear of a piece with its surroundings.

Project Type: Renovation

Location: Los Angeles, United States

Architect: Hsu McCullough

Photographer: Mike Kelley & Joe Fletcher

A PLACE OF SANCTUARY

The house has a layered material palette of natural wood and stone, which flows across the threshold from the exterior to the interior of the house. The smooth, charcoal-coloured stucco cladding, reclaimed timber, and irregular flagstone floor create a dark backdrop that makes the home, in the words of the architects, “a cave-like cocoon” that provides sanctuary and is gently illuminated with diffused natural light.

DISAPPEARING ACT

Conceived as a “stage” for the living room, the kitchen is located at the rear of the home beneath a generous picture window. The textural, dark earth tones of the rest of the home flow through into its stained-black wood features and dark charcoal timber cabinetry, into which the architects integrated the fridge-freezer, and selected a minimalist black-glass induction cooktop that also all but disappears into the joinery. Behind it, they installed a retractable exhaust that is similarly invisible when not in use.