La Maida Addition
Valley Village, Los Angeles, CA
Residential / Renovation & Addition
Existing: 1,135 SF / Added: 305 SF
Private
Completed
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The La Maida project is a home for a young music industry couple and their two small children in the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. The project was designed to be built in phases, allowing the house to grow with the family.
In the first phase, we renovated the existing La Maida Residence. A 305-square-foot master suite was added in the second phase of the project. The addition is an independent volume that creates a sanctuary while maintaining connection to the rest of the house.
The exterior of the addition is clad in a dark standing seam metal that is continuous from the roof to the facade.
The exterior of the addition is almost entirely clad in standing seam metal panels that accentuate its monolithic form. Viewed from the east, the addition appears to have been split diagonally at the roof, creating a dramatic valley. Viewed from other angles the building has entirely different massing, giving the addition a dynamic presence in the rear yard. The master bathroom is covered in inexpensive tile in a bold pattern that was created by pixelating an image of a Sol LeWitt painting.
The standing seam metal is carefully detailed to give a crisp “tailored” appearance. The panels are bent around the building’s corners to eliminate the seam that typically occurs at the junction between the faces.
View from the patio into the primary suite.
View of the hall through the "core" that separates the bedrooms from the more public areas of the house.
The primary is focused inwardly on a shade garden and up toward the sky through two 17’ tall light wells. The natural light that fills the spaces creates a sense of calm. The shade garden, between the addition and house, is a large terrarium that brings nature into the bedroom.
View of the ceiling valley between the 17' high North and west facing vaults.
View of the north facing vault.
One light well faces north, gathering indirect light throughout the day, while the other faces west to the evening light.
Diagrams of the design process.
Plan showing the existing residence to the right, which was remodeled and added to in phase I, and the phase 2 addition which connects to the home with an enclosed walkway.
Section through addition looking towards the existing house
Isometric drawing showing primary framing.
Animation of the massing models that were built to study the addition’s proportions.