The East Windsor Residence is a thin home that gently follows the shape of the site and brings in abundant light situated on a 200-foot-long triangular site with a 40-foot setback of Austin Texas. This house designed by Alterstudio Architects and focused on the top floor, which boasts 270-degree views and which contains the master suite, kitchen, and main living area. But the other two levels have plenty of their own assets.

Those moments begin at the street, as you climb a gently rising path of concrete steps before coming to the over-scaled, pivoting glass front door that provides a fluid transition from rough limestone exterior to polished interior. Entering the house you face a stair with large ebonized oak treads hanging in a vertical space that connects all three stories. Past the stair, an etched glass wall reveals moving shadows from a stand of giant bamboo just outside, while a band of clear glass directs attention to a private garden. Rough shards of granite pass through the glass from outside to an interior granite fountain. Up the stairs to the second floor is a formal dining room (complete with catering kitchen and wine cellar), a guest suite at one end, and two bedrooms at the other (at least two of Fletcher’s five children stay with him much of the time). The rooms are well proportioned and have several eye-catching details (a punched window in one, an inverted one in another, built-ins including cabinetry and a bed in the guest suite), but the most notable feature has to be the rain screen.



Up the stairs again and the third floor delivers the views, enhanced by an uninterrupted ceiling plane in the living area. Those same windows are accentuated by monolithic corner glazing. The west side of the third floor has a strategic pattern of porthole windows to illuminate the interior and contribute to the house’s texture palette with patterns of light and shadow that change through the day.




From Alterstudio
“….Upstairs, efforts are made to embrace the expansive view with an unmitigated ceiling plane that provides a surface for reflected light, while the screen’s 18” extension above the floor level gently corrals the visitor. Adjacent power lines to the west are eschewed, although a constellation of portholes arrayed across this wall embrace the dramatic western light and enliven the facade from the high street beyond. Here, an open plan is accentuated by laminated low-e corner glazing, twin Akari lanterns and sliding panels. Exquisitely matched Lacewood veneer cabinetry and a marble bathing area punctuate the ensemble and add a sense of finesse and delicacy throughout.”

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 4:11 am and is filed under Contemporary House Design. Tags: Alterstudio, concrete steps, Contemporary House, Contemporary House Design, Dining Room Design, East Windsor Residence, formal dining room, glass wall, House Architectural Design, House Design, Interior Design Ideas, interior granite, private garden, Residential Design, stairs Design, Thin home, vertical space, windsor residence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.