Laney LA

Describe the featured project.

This 1,400-square-foot residence began from a polemic place—exploring shared conviction regarding the concentrated power of living with a smaller footprint. From the gabled silhouette to passive ventilation, the home captures the nostalgia for the past with the sustainable practices of the future. While the exterior materials contrast a calm, minimal palette, the interior spaces embody a playful, artistic spirit. From the hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper in the primary bath to the rugged texture of the over-grouted limestone and Portuguese cobblestones, the home is an experience that encapsulates the unexpected and the timeless.

Tell us about your business.

We are an award-winning architecture firm driven by the conviction that the depth of meaning a home can evoke is limitless. We seek to craft exceptional architecture and approach each project as a blank slate. To each of our clients, “home” is a deeply personal expression of themselves, and our expertise revolves around designing homes that are intimately reflective of that personal journey. This requires an embrace of tensions between sustainability and affordability and rigorous design and artful service. It is this embrace and attention to the accumulation of barely detectable details that result in a home that transcends function and achieves a meaning that is intuited as much as it is perceived.

What are some ways that you integrate sustainability?

An example of a sustainable approach in this home is its passive ventilation. Leveraging an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), this passive system dehumidifies the air and pulls fresh air from the coolest rooms in the home. The result is a temperate home year-round. The owners were nervous about not having a traditional air conditioning system, but after a lengthy education process they decided to deploy a more holistic approach to the home’s performance.

How do you merge the natural with the built environment?

There is both great opportunity and responsibility to elevate the integration of nature into the design of every project. We approach each home and its natural environment without assumption. This residence, in particular, placed disproportionate emphasis on its yard due to its smaller footprint. Whether transforming the side yard into a whimsical journey to the front door or employing carpenters to protect the existing vegetation by scribing branches and roots through the fence, our goal was to craft a serene experience that blurs the boundaries between what is inside and outside.

Project photographed by Joe Fletcher | Team photographed by Fabien & Laura Castro