Glenn Robert Lym Architect AIA/PhD

 

San Francisco Family House 2
This family was not interested in making an exterior public
statement. Rather they wanted their house reworked to create a set of household spaces that would be comfortable and responsive to themselves and their young children. We created a family entrance within the garage with a mudroom for quick pickup and drop off of outer clothes and gear.
Straight ahead lies the new family room, dug underground in
consideration for the neighbors. The father’s memories of his childhood basement led to formulating this room as play space and a movie theater. The ceiling accommodates curtains, hooks and flexible lighting for rope climbing, mirror balls and stage productions. The audio visual, drapery system is concealed and automated, and the space is acoustically isolated from the rest of the house.
The mudroom stairs ascend to a large kitchen centered space created out of the rear of the original home. Here the focus is on family conversation, homework and cooking conducted at the kitchen island. Sit down dining is nearby. A large, informal breakout area lies beyond with a new outside deck over the submerged family room overlooking the rear yard.
An indoor and outdoor, skylit trellis diffuses sunlight at the transition
from the inside to the outside, bringing sunlight into this part of the home even during hours in which the house would otherwise be in shade, given its dense San Francisco neighborhood.
At the front of the house, the previous living room has been reworked into a library for reading and intimate conversations.
Upstairs, the bedrooms have been remodeled and new bathrooms built for the parents and the children. Guest and home office spaces have been installed.
Though not originally designed as a green home, the house evolved to incorporate several important green elements - substantial thermal and acoustic insulation beyond California Title 24 requirements; high efficienty, radiant floor hot water heating; and roof mounted, photo-voltaic panels generating a substantial part of the home’s electrical power. A plug in the garage anticipates a future electric family vehicle.
Interior Design Consultant: Lotus Bleu San Francisco
Acoustic Consultant: Salter and Associates San Francisco
Structural Engineer: Citta Structural Engineering/Jeff Smith San Francisco
Contractor: Moroso Construction San Francisco