Venice, California, USA
“With this home, the clients were open to us guiding them toward the larger ideas, and given Southern California’s temperate climate it was important to make spaces where they could enjoy the outdoors from anywhere within the home,” said Founding Principal David Montalba.
“It’s been particularly rewarding to see the home become part of the family’s framework, and to see them enjoying its modern warmth and landscape.”
The Los Angeles-based architectural firm Montalba Architects have completed a Southern California single-family residence designed to meld together indoor and outdoor spaces by tethered courtyards and gardens, located in Los Angeles’ coastal Venice neighborhood.
The project has been awarded a 2021 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The scale of the gardens is varied; one larger garden creates drama, while two smaller gardens allow for intimacy and moments of pause.
Almost every space is connected with a sister outdoor space to blur the distinction between in and out further.
A series of parallel datum walls constructed of concrete blocks anchor the gardens and organize the interior spaces around the exterior space.
The materiality of the concrete block walls evokes a sense of heaviness and provides a visual, monolithic mass between floors while anchoring the horizontal planes of the home in the landscape.
Wood siding wraps the perimeter and sits atop the massive walls, lifting and lightening the massing.
Full height sliding glass doors open the main living space to the exterior, while the exterior gardens punctuate the interior spaces, extending sight-lines and bringing in ample natural light.
Roll-down Lutron shades custom-designed by the architects manage natural light throughout the home for optimal exposure and privacy.
Project: Venice Beach House
Architects: Montalba Architects, Inc.
Client: Private
General Contractor: Sarlan Builders
Photographer: Kevin Scott
