A very light, airy, lantern-like double-height volume forms the heart of the home, held between two Cartesian bastions of black granite. These monolithic volumes contain the more private and utilitarian functions, kitchens, stores and sleeping spaces with their ensuite bathrooms, allowing the principal living space to remain open, luminous and continuous.
From the approach road, the house appears to be three storeys tall. Yet upon entering, the house unexpectedly unfolds around a precious garden at the living level, with the generosity and scale of two floors. The living volume is conceived almost as a lantern, drawing light deep into the house while opening itself to the garden.
The existing trees became an essential part of this composition. Their presence, position and canopy shaped the living volume and its openings, making the house a direct response to its tight site rather than an object imposed upon it.
Between the weight of the black granite bastions and the lightness of the lantern-like living space, the house finds its character, grounded yet porous, monumental yet intimate.
