The house scales well with the surroundings and features passive and active sustainable systems. The composition considers a substantial drop at street edge to incorporate a small garage bridge, while pedestrian approach is at the higher part of the property line. Balancing the City required building envelope, the roof line creates a shielded space for the building systems, accessible via exterior ladder. An ample terrace at entry level offers unobstructed views of the Santa Monica Bay and Malibu, while built-in sun shades and privacy screens shelter the living room space. Controlled transparency remains throughout, allowing maximum view and minimum interior exposure. The positioning of the living room level allows for a near perfect terrain fit and on-ground fire access under the garage bridge, which continues to the lower bedroom floor. A trellis shade divides the tall storefront visually and functionally, while allowing aeration, cross ventilation and shading to blend in the overall visual presence of the building - all hot air escape is naturally directed to the highest point of the open staircase, where operable vents allow unforced escape. A natural SoCal feature, the exterior BBQ is to the South of the LR, adjacent to kitchen and dining areas. A single retaining wall at the lower level provides an outdoor garden and creates the necessary cut | fill balance within the allowed quantities. The lower basement level features an indoor salt water pool and recreation area, along with a sauna and equipment rooms.
The material selection is within the earthy sustainable palette of PAAstudio; the home promotes use of natural, easy, yet elegant materials and finishes: steel trowel plaster, sustainably harvested hardwood siding, flooring and ceilings, and light ceramic tile flooring. Smooth cast concrete walls and clear anodized aluminum doors and windows accent the exterior and tie aesthetically with overall color scheme. The existing road rail is appropriately clad with red balau lattice, which ties visually with the other two PAA-designed homes just a 100' away. In combination with the rest, this color palette provides an elegant, yet lively environment, with high sustainability and low impact. The landscaping takes into consideration the local and CCC requirements and is 100% drought tolerant, non-invasive, slope failure resistive and fire retardant. The lower 6' retaining wall is fully covered in creeping vegetation, practically invisible from PCH. The landscaping complements the home in harmony with the building materials and color palette, as well as reestablishes native California vegetation with high aesthetics and low level maintenance. Overall, the home showcases an open modern approach to coastal living, climate coordinated accommodations and a warm environment with direct sustainable features, full indoor-outdoor integration, while fitting perfectly into the delicate environment of a small lot on the coastal bluffs.