Extension | 01

Our client tasked us with designing an addition to a suburban ranch house that would contain a swim spa and home gym.

Their single directive: Nothing else on or in the house was to be touched.

Our solution was inspired by modernist extensions to centuries-old historic buildings in Europe. We created a dramatic angular glass volume clad in weathered cedar, riffing off the imagery of yard fences commonly found in Los Altos.

The cedar vertical siding served as a rainscreen, as a cladding system, and as a privacy screen covering the windows facing a neighboring residence. The street-facing horizontal window was specifically designed to be parallel to the clients’ eye level when on the indoor treadmill.

The addition's interiors are clad with marine-grade Douglas Fir plywood, with linear LED lighting recessed along the perimeter to wash the walls with illumination and highlight the plywood grain.