This artist's studio, which architecture firm FAR has added to a Los Angeles house, includes a large plastic door that folds in half and a rooftop covered in blue tiles.

The Mount Washington Studio was designed for Los Angeles artist Kim Schoen to accompany her home nestled into a steeply sloped site in Mount Washington.
FAR, which stands for Frohn and Rojas, added the workspace to adjoin the lower level of the two storey residence, which just contains storage. The main house occupies just the top floor, and so now links with the deck to allow for outdoor dining with views of the nearby Angeles National Forest.

"Taking advantage of the slope we located the studio a full level below the ground floor of the existing home so that its roof surface could double as a spacious deck," the architects said. A bi-folding garage-like door, made from an inner layer polycarbonate and an outer later of corrugated plastic, fronts the studio space.

The hatchway operates on a series of hinges that collapse the two pieces shut to form a canopy-like roof. When pulled fully down, the door's rigid texture distorts the view of scenery.
"Its corrugated and twin-wall layers offer a fine vertical linear pattern abstracting the silhouette of the landscape outside," the architects added. "Opened up the door folds into a canopy orienting the studio to the outside and framing a panoramic view of the surrounding hills."

Inside, the open space is topped by a series of sl...