On Grape by Sebastian Mariscal Studio
On Grape, San Diego, Merit Award, Sebastian Mariscal Studio – Two adjacent, privately owned residences built of identical materials - steel, stone, wood and glass - merge with the outdoors on secluded terraces and a roof deck. The homes offer unexpected spaciousness and tranquility on a busy city street, along with framed views of San Diego Bay.
The urban development of cities at an extremely accelerated pace and within the dominating context of full block projects makes Urban Infill Projects like “On Grape” highly important to the underlying character of the city.
Small urban infill projects bring diversity, contrast, and scale to our city environments. As micro-developers, designers, and builders, the challenge began with the small lot, busy streets, zero setbacks from property lines, and a complete lack of space for construction storage and scaffolding. By combining these roles, the development and construction are integrated into the architecture.
The initial decision to subdivide the land into 2 parcels produced two single-family residences with the inherent urban quality of narrow, linear space. As Architects, the main goal is to maintain an interior-exterior connection while creating a spacious and quiet living environment in the city. This was achieved by constructing continuous spaces from property line to property line and opening the interior void volume to the sky.
Within the urban context, the building exists as dual volumes separated by an interior courtyard of bamboo and light. The wood frame structure receives floating exterior skins of stone and corten steel. The interior and exterior skins are separated by an internal air chamber, providing thermal and acoustic insulation.
Spatially, the residences offer a quiet respite within the city core. Materially, the natural stone and wood accentuate the diverse urban fabric of San Diego.
March 4, 2008 - Category: Architecture - Posted by: Hans - Comments: 0