Brother Sister
Because of the small lot size (approx. 2,000 sq.ft each) the footprint of each house was very limited. After applying the required building setbacks the max footprint of each house was only around 600 sq.ft.
To overcome such a limited buildable area the designer conceived of adding bay windows which project out from the building envelope and into the setbacks. This is actually allowed by building code and adds an additional 100 sq.ft (around 10%) of usable square footage to each house. There are 5 bays per house and they can be used for seating in the dining room, additional couch space in the living room and even a place for guests to sleep in at the bedroom.
The two separate houses are unified together by covering them both with a fire treated cedar siding on the exterior. The white ‘picket fence’ also ties together the separate properties as it runs along the street frontage of both houses.
Date of completion: 2014
Address: 327 & 331 Crane Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90065
Photographer: Steve King
Architect: Simon Storey – Anonymous Architects – www.anonymousarchitects.com
Lot Area: lot 1: 1,900 & lot 2: 2,200 sq.ft downslope
Building Area: House 1: 1,050 & Houce 2: 1,175 sq.ft
Two story building, cantilevered structure. All wood construction
Building footprint: approx 600sq.ft each
Method of construction: Concrete pile foundation and column walls; composite wood (primary floor structure - cantilevers); 2x wood floor, walls and roof
Primary materials:
-
Cedar siding (fire treated, ignition resistant)
-
Aluminum dual glazed windows
-
White oak floors (bleached); White Oak kitchen, bathroom and storage cabinets
-
White Marble countertops
-
Matte white ceramic tile in bathrooms
-
White Oak doors