It all started with the notion of creating a “modern engawa”. In its simplest description, an engawa is an exterior walkway, typically constructed of wood, that surrounds the perimeter of the house. Beyond the physical, the engawa represents a filter between the interior and the exterior. It reinforces connection to nature. This was the vision the family had for their new home. After dreaming of upgrading their house for years, the family, who set roots in the beautiful climate of Manhattan Beach, California decided to realize their dream.
The existing footprint of the house was “L-Shaped” with a good size backyard but the interior space did not take advantage of this seemingly obvious connection. The family’s connection to a modern engawa, and their love for modern architecture, was the crux to the concept of the house redesign. The footprint of the house was unchanged but the interior program was reorganized. A second story addition was designed for a true owners suite. Freeing up space on the ground floor allowed for a dedicated office and the ability to remove interior walls and create the heart of the home -a great room with high ceilings and impressive connection to the rear yard.
The living room, dining room and kitchen converge as one space at the elbow of the house. The 14 foot tall ceiling is finished with slatted wood that bridges through the clerestory windows to the exterior eave. An interior corner glazing system slides away to connect the inside of the home to the modern engawa on the outside. The large glass doors pocket and stack out of site, allowing a seamless connection to the outside - embracing nature. The wood deck / engawa is the outdoor entertaining area. A thin portion of it extends along the length of the house to connect to the new office paying homage to the traditional engawa.
The Architecture and Interiors of the house can be described as having a mid-century modern aesthetic, melded with a warm beachy palette. Wood is the main exterior material of the home. It appears on all axis and experienced in multiple ways - above (ceilings and eaves), in front (walls) and below (decks). Texture and depth are evident throughout all aspects of the design. From the composition of the shifting roof planes, to the varied color of the wood and down to the raked textured tiles in the kitchen.
The outside corner pocket sliding door system is the major component of the house. The original design did not have one of the panels opening, there simply was not enough room to pocket the doors inside of the existing wall. Since this was a Design Build project, during framing, with our Architect hat on, we came up with a concept to use the idea of a pocket door without building the pocket. With the concept hashed out, and now our Builder Hat on, we came up with a solution that we presented to the owners.They were ecstatic. They had given up on the idea that the entire corner could be opened and the news came as a mini gem / present in the middle of construction. It was very gratifying to be able to deliver this major moment of the design the way we did.
Team:
Architects: Colega Architects
Photographer: Manolo Langis
