丨美国丨Studio PHH Architects

Architects:Studio PHH Architects

Area:3200ft²

Year:2023

Photographs:Rafael Soldi Photography

Manufacturers:Pelle Design Store

Category:Residential Architecture,Houses

Lead Team:Pierre-Henri Hoppenot

Design Team:Studio PHH Architects

Landscape Architecture:ANR Landscape Architecture

General Contractor:Madrona Lloyd

Architecture Offices:Design Northwest

City:Camano

Country:United States

Text description provided by the architects. Loaded with history and on a fragile but dramatic site, the owner's dream of being stewards of the property while extending and renovating the home quickly became challenging. Hoppenot, founder of Studio PHH Architects, was brought onto the project after being recommended by a family friend who saw them struggle with preserving the site's beauty and the home's intentions as originally designed by Terry Hunziker.

Tasked with adding a large kitchen, new dining space, storage, and a bathroom while also re-thinking the entry sequence, Hoppenot gives deference to the history of the home and the site while redefining both.

The first challenge facing Studio PHH Architects was to maintain the poetry and spectacle of the site that the owners experienced on that first visit. The extension was carefully sited to avoid disturbing the existing trees to strengthen the connection between the horizontality of the house and the towering verticality of the ancient forest.

The dramatic experience of approaching the house was intentionally heightened and choreographed. The entrance is discovered slowly: after emerging through a forest of dense Fir and Ferns, the structure hides the view as you descend stone steps embedded in the landscape and cross a bridge to reach the front door. Here, you are invited to slip through two perpendicular Corten walls, which create a final moment of compression before the release.

The home opens up as you turn, and the long axis of the house reveals itself. The two large corner windows sit on the edge of the landscape and face each other as though in a quiet dialogue. The house disappears behind you as the horizon line blends with the architecture. The extension was planned through a process of "carving" in order to frame critical views of the water while reserving large blocks of programmed storage and counter space for cooking.

The 2,300 S.F. home feels intentionally connected, but the extension provides added nuance. Occupying two large corner windows on the edge of the landscape, the dining and living room face each other as though in a quiet dialogue - the old and the new inviting in the landscape and celebrating the breathtaking views the special site has to offer. The house feels both meditative and inspiring, a perfect space to share or occupy alone.

Hoppenot's work dovetails effortlessly with Hunziker's original design despite the years. Materials from the original, like the Corten steel and antiqued mirrors, were pulled into the extension, while new materials introduced, like leathered quartzite, white oak flooring, and blackened steel, were carefully woven into the existing house.

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