SALA Architects
salaarc.com

Marta Snow, AIA

Oak in Oaks

This project is part of our Small Projects Showcase, which demonstrates the value an architect brings to residential projects sized 600 square feet or smaller.

Project Type: Addition

Project Square Footage: 230 square feet | sunroom addition

Sponsors: Pella (windows & doors), Showcase Renovations (builder)

After house hunting for a near-retirement move, the homeowners realized they cherished their long-time location and backyard shade garden under formidable oaks. Their house already offered compact one-level living, and just needed a comfortable space to enjoy the garden year round.

Design goals included preserving the office’s view, keeping the outdoor kitchen in place, and allowing morning light to enter through new high windows. A prow-shaped form emerged, wrapped in built-in seating for reading and shelves inspired by the homeowner’s pottery collection.

Material choices echo the site’s oaks. The interior is lined with clear rift sawn white oak; the existing red-oak flooring was refinished to blend. Outside, cedar shakes weather naturally like bark, while copper shrouds and details will patinate, tying the addition to the owners’ established lives here.

AIA Framework for Design Excellence: Design for Well-being

A primary driver of this small sun-room addition was to improve the clients’ well-being through architectural moves such as natural daylight from all sides, acoustic separation from a nearby freeway, visual separate from a nearby neighbor, thermal comfort throughout the seasons, and direct visual and physical access to an existing lush backyard.Natural materials such as rift sawn white oak interiors, unstained cedar shakes and copper accents are used to connect the built form with its garden setting, with the expectation that the materials will weather and change over the years.

What is the AIA Framework for Design Excellence? Learn more »