California, USA
Sarbonne is conceived as an architecture of calm. Natural materials, concealed systems, and a reduced visual field create an environment that supports stillness rather than distraction.
Spatially, the house responds to its hillside site through a concave geometry that embraces the landscape, framing layered views while prioritizing privacy and psychological comfort. The resulting condition is a home that feels both protected and open to its surroundings.
Sarbonne Residence by BA Collective, won a Future House Award 2026 from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and Global Design News.
Conceived as a one-of-one architectural work, the project reflects a collaborative process.
Working alongside a network of specialized artisans and fabricators, the design is carried through to its fullest potential, allowing for a level of precision and continuity rarely achieved in residential construction.
Each element is considered in relation to the whole, reinforcing a sense of cohesion across scales.
Every material and detail contributes to a cohesive architectural language where precision and continuity are paramount.
Custom-fabricated elements such as hand-cut travertine shingle cladding, flush frameless doors, and crisply mitered junctions are integrated seamlessly, reinforcing a sense of restraint and permanence.
These details are not isolated features but part of a larger discipline that privileges consistency and refinement.
The palette is grounded in natural tones and textures that recede rather than demand attention.
Subtle variations in stone, wood, and plaster introduce depth and tactility, while carefully controlled light conditions transform circulation spaces into quiet, light-filled moments of transition.
Interior and exterior are deliberately interconnected, allowing the landscape to become an extension of the living environment and reinforcing a continuous relationship between architecture and site.
For this home, wellness is not about equipment and amenities but rather an inherent quality embedded in the architecture itself through proportion, stillness, materiality, and light.
The result is a home defined not by excess but by clarity. It is an environment designed to support daily life with calm, focus, and enduring value.
Project Name: Sarbonne Residence
Architects: BA Collective
Design Team: Nick Katona, Jennifer Wu, Cory Taylor, Brock DeSmit, Hagy Belzberg, Alberto Djadjadah, Hugo Balderas, Ana Abarca, Salvador Daniel Kabbaz Zaga, Moises Szyller, Michelle Lei, Andrea Cadioli, Neil Maass, Pegah Koulaeian, Devon Montminy, Ben Sperry, Shen Li, Sarangan Sinnarajah, Steven Somers, and Anna Walley
Landscape Architects: Sosa Landscape Architecture
General Contractor: Tatum Construction, Inc.
Clients: Grupo Anima LA and BA Collective
Photographs Courtesy of the Architects
