Project Data:

Completion Date:     10/15/2021

Square Footage:      4560

Building Use:           Single Family Residence

Project Description:

Nestled among the few remaining post-war houses that pepper the streets of Newport Heights, this home for a graphic designer and his family embraces a care-free beach lifestyle that incorporates the crisp architectural language of the mid-century, becoming a link from the past to the future.

Organized in three distinct layers, the house offers a separation of public and private program by connecting vertical layers through shared light and space. At the center of the home the two-story entry courtyard acts as a lantern filled with tempered light from above that reflects off the rippling koi pond, and traces around the home as the sun passes overhead.

Southern sunlight penetrates deep within the home through clerestory light shelves that trace along the south-west side of the home, outlining the main living space. Below the light shelves, a series of pocketing doors extend the home outwardly to embrace the Newport harbor vista and bustling traffic below. Beyond, a glistening pool borders the outdoor space and defines the edges of an alfresco living room. The outdoor living area is protected by rotating screens that shield the homeowners from the street below and the neighbor’s eyes to the north.

Perched above the dining room and kitchen the master bedroom faces west, across the axis of the pool below, to the distant harbor and Pacific Ocean beyond. Elevated, transparent, but yet screened from view by the roof canopies below the master suite is a perfect place to watch the sun dip into on the shimmering horizon as the warm glow of day’s end fills the space.

Offering an afternoon of socializing, or an evening of quiet repose in the fading light of sunset, the house in Newport Heights embraces the duality of modern living through the architectural language and spatial relationships of the Mid-Century era that are interpreted into today’s lifestyle and sensibility.

Firm Name:              Anders Lasater Architects

Completion Date:     10/15/2021

Square Footage:      4560

Building Use:           Single Family Residence

Location:                 Newport Beach, CA

Project Description:
• Designing for Energy by using several passive solar design features including recessed windows and architectural shading to promote day lighting while also limiting the sun’s heat infiltration into the home. Automatic window and skylight shading is tied to a central system to help regulate heat gain.

• Designing for Economy by minimizing the footprint of the project and designing an efficient plan that maximizes the operational aspects of the program for the user. The design also employs a restrained material palette of hardy finishes that are meant to last many years of exposure in the difficult marine environment.

• Designing for Integration by employing the central design concept of “light voids” that organize the architectural program, provide opportunity for day light and natural ventilation, and offer a strong connection to the exterior spaces of the home. This central concept exploits opportunities for beauty and delight, and helps create a building that lifts the spirits of the owners while also delighting the senses on a daily basis.

• Designing for Well-being by providing ample opportunity for user-tuned thermal comfort thorough operable windows, doors, and interior courtyard spaces that promote natural air circulation. The design employs several natural lighting strategies bringing light from all sides of the home, from clerestory windows, and from skylights above. Indoor air quality, biophilia and a strong connection to nature is promoted through the window and door configuration based on the central design concept of the “light voids”. At the same time the design actively mitigates views to adjacent neighbors thereby promoting a sense of privacy while also offering a sense of openness.

Design Architect:
Anders Lasater Architects, Inc

Associate Architect or Firm:

Landscape Architect:
LA Studio

Owner / Developer:

Engineer:
Fady Hakeem

General Contractor:
Gallo Builders, Chris Gallo

Consultant:
Benedict August Interior Design
Erin Benedict

Photographer:
Chad Mellon Photography