© John Ellis

• Architects: Rios Clementi Hale Studios
• Location: United States, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: John Ellis

• Interior Designer: Waldo’s Designs

© John Ellis

From the architect. Rios Clementi Hale Studios renovated and expanded an eclectic, 1980s manor house into a contemporary “farmhouse” retreat for a film and television producer.  Since the original house was already well situated in its orientation to canyon views, the architects kept the building footprint in place and preserved the height and steep pitch of the roof to create a loft feeling inside.  They extensively remodeled and expanded the interiors to open the rooms, simplify the circulation, better capture views, and blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors.  The architects maximized the existing “bones” of the house and then focused on letting the landscape flow through.  

© John Ellis

Complementary slate roof tiles and tongue-and-groove siding of gray-painted cedar replace the original exterior materials.  New expanses of glass are screened from direct sunlight by a rhythmic pattern of vertical, aluminum fins forming a continuous, two-story brise soleil (that also deters nosy onlookers).  Large, cantilevered windows rimmed in steel project from gabled additions on the north and south sides of the house to engage the landscape.  Original masonry chimneys were rebuilt to current seismic standards and internal gutters hidden from view to maintain the home’s taut profile.  The resulting design reinterprets the traditional barn vernacular through modern simplicity and transparency.  

1st Floor Plan

The house is organized into a T-shape with rooms on each level accessed from the longer, horizontal bar, essentially a central, east-west circulation spine that extends the entire length of the house.  Staircases and less-used spaces—including guest rooms, home gym, garages, and screening room—occupy the perpendicular wing at the front of the property.  To highlight the owner’s extensive art collection, the architects designed the interiors as clean-lined, flowing spaces open to views through floor-to-ceiling windows.  New skylights funnel daylight into living spaces and bedrooms.  Banks of glass doors open the ground floor rooms to the outdoors.  Steel-framed windows on the second floor project into the landscape to create the feeling of being suspended in midair.  Connections to the outdoors are reinforced through floors of gray limestone extending from the entrance through the foyer, living area, and family porch to cover the rear patio.

© John Ellis

A staircase featuring full-height, gunmetal-finished metal railings at the center of the house leads to the middle of the spine, where a mezzanine office/den overlooks the living room on the west end, and bedroom suites sit at the east.  The original master suite was moved from the southwest corner of the house to the northeast side overlooking the pool view.  The master bedroom was enlarged and new his-and-her bathrooms added to the suite.

2nd Floor Plan

The interior furnishings selections—by Waldo’s Designs, which is known for its high-profile Hollywood clientele—complement the architecture in their soft contemporary style.  Natural textures, including dark-stained oak, rough-hewn stone, and high-grained woods, are balanced against the hard-edged, metal surfaces, glass walls, and stone floors throughout.

© John Ellis

An important component of the design is the estate’s park-like landscape that was refreshed and refined by the architects.  Old-growth trees, including redwoods, cedars, and palms, are preserved and surrounded by manicured lawns and hedges.  The lawn appears as an extension of the golf course below the property to reinforce the vistas from the estate.  Separating building from landscape is a strip of gravel encircling the base of the house to set off its modern architecture.  A new reflecting pool and illuminated bridge create a dramatic entrance to the front door, particularly at night when the glass-faced house glows like a lantern.

© John Ellis

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Courtesy of RIBA

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has elected Ben Derbyshire, chair of HTA Design, to become their next president. Beating out other candidates Alan Jones and Andrew Salter, Derbyshire will take over from current president Jane Duncan for a two-year term beginning on September 1, 2017.

Derbyshire has been a partner at HTA since 1987, where he has penned several essays including a recommendation on solutions to London’s Tall Building Boom, and has played an active role in RIBA activities for a number of years, including calling for an overhaul of the RIBA election process in 2014. He has held a number of Board positions throughout his career, including at RIBA Enterprises, and Design for Homes, and is a trustee of The London Society.

Courtesy of RIBA

“Once again we find ourselves in turbulent times. In winning this election I am conscious of a great sense of responsibility owed to architects everywhere, in all corners of the UK and overseas,” said Derbyshire following the announcement. “Jane Duncan has laid the foundations for change at the RIBA that I look forward to driving forward, when I take up the role of President. My primary goal is to champion architects so that they, our sister professions and clients, can advance architecture as the cornerstone of the well-designed and more sustainable built environment society desperately needs. All architects, wherever and however we practice, need an RIBA that works for us.”

“Congratulations to Ben Derbyshire on his successful election and to Alan Jones and Andrew Salter for putting themselves forward for this fantastic role,” said current RIBA President Jane Duncan. “During the next year of my Presidency, I will be playing my part in implementing the RIBA’s new five-year strategy which distilled the collective views of our membership. I look forward to passing this important baton on to Ben Derbyshire and ensuring that our profession has a strong voice and all our members, wherever they are, have the skills and support they need to thrive.”

Turnout for the election was 15.2%; Ben Derbyshire was elected with 53.8% of the votes after the exclusion and re-allocation of 1st preference votes. For the year leading up to his inauguration, Derbyshire will become the official RIBA President-Elect.

The position of RIBA President was established in 1835 and has been held by notable architects including Sir George Gilbert Scott, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Alfred Waterhouse and Sir Basil Spence.

News via RIBA.

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Initial study for internal street. Image Courtesy of Stanton Williams

University College London (UCL) has selected Stanton Williams and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands to design buildings for two sites as part of the first phase of the new UCL East campus. The campus will be constructed at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, adjacent to the London Olympics Stadium, Zaha Hadid’s London Aquatics Center and the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower by Anish Kapoor, and is anticipated to contain facilities for a major new school of design.

Courtesy of Stanton Williams

Stanton Williams will design “Marshgate”, a 33,500 square meter academic facility south of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, while Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands will realize a 16,500 square meter mixed-use facility containing university residential and academic space on Pool Street, just south of the Aquatics Center.

“This is a unique opportunity to create a distinctive place: a new kind of university quarter that captures the excitement and vitality that draws people to live, work and study in contemporary London,” said Gavin Henderson, Director, Stanton Williams. “Drawing on the energy of its East London setting, the Lee Valley’s legacy of industriousness and creativity, and the exceptional cultural and landscape setting of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, this will be a place for curiosity, learning and collaboration engaged with the culture of the surrounding city. We feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with UCL and LLDC to deliver the vision for UCL East.”

Courtesy of Stanton Williams

Courtesy of Stanton Williams

“This is a fascinating project for a building that combines many uses – residential as well as academic.” said Alex Lifschutz about the Pool Street project. “We very much wish it also to become a place that local people visit and enjoy, to make contact with UCL and to engage in many inspiring conversations. We hope that this building together with its neighbour on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park are as much of a catalyst for this new campus as the Wilkins Building on Gower Street was for this most prestigious university in 1825.”

Study model: building form and cast of social spaces. Image Courtesy of Stanton Williams

The complete East campus plan will accommodate 3,000 students and 625 staff members, including academics and researchers, and will cost an estimated £270 million. The scheme will also incorporate the Stratford Waterfront, which will include a new museum for the V&A, a theater for Sadler’s Wells, a new campus for the UAL’s London College of Fashion and a residential complex. The development is part of a larger £1.2 billion initiative to upgrade and expand university facilities, including at the school’s historic Bloomsbury campus, home to the acclaimed Bartlett School of Architecture.

News via Stanton Williams.

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