Balcones House
Photography: Leonid Furmansky & Caitlin Atkinson
Project Team: Mell Lawrence, Hector Martell, & Megan Mowry
From the street, the house appears as a wide-brimmed glass pavilion rising from a solid concrete base. Its lantern-like face is complemented by the solid form of the guest house. The main house is comfortably tucked into the hill, its openings oriented toward lightly choreographed scenes of respite and nature.
The main house’s ground floor expands horizontally outward through the large sliding glass doors of the living room and kitchen. The ground floor contains a utilitarian box wrapped in fir boards that is positioned to organize the otherwise open plan. A ceiling of steel beams with structural fir decking engages the southern length of the space, creating subtle material shifts above to frame the views to the outdoors.
Upstairs, perimeter floor-to-ceiling glass connects interiors to the tree canopy, sky, and distant views of the downtown skyline. The entire western facing end is devoted to a 15-foot-deep screened porch looking out over the treetops.