Vertical Courtyard Residence, Santa Monica Real Estate, California Architecture Photos, USA Family Residence
Vertical Courtyard Residence in Santa Monica
Oct 20, 2020
Vertical Courtyard Residence
Design: Montalba Architects
Location: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Southern California, United States of America

Montalba Architects completed construction on Founding Principal David Montalba?s personal residence thoughtfully designed around a Vertical Courtyard concept. The 5,450 square-foot, three-story home seamlessly merges the indoors and outdoors while vertically expanding to create a coexisting structure with the surrounding neighborhood.

The project combines two initial design concepts: an enclosed courtyard sliced by circulation and landscape, and two volumes comprised of horizontal planes and landscaped balconies divided by lush landscaping and sutured with a connective bridge. The resulting form is an L-shaped plan centered around the vertical courtyard that locks into the site and isolates high-traffic areas to the first floor while the floating ?box? second floor hovers in place above the poured concrete footing and ground-level living quarters.
?Given the lot?s size and the neighborhood, the biggest challenge was making sure we didn?t overbuild and maintained some degree of privacy with our immediate neighbors,? says Founding Principal David Montalba. ?This was achieved by creating a basement level and vertical courtyard in which the house is organized. Los Angele...