Russian Hill Residences

Exterior corner view of the Russian Hill Residence contemporary single-family home in San Francisco

In San Francisco, it is unusual to build from the ground up. Even more rare, in the established and historic area of Russian Hill. This project works in scale with the urban landscape and topography of the west slope. Its mass and formal modulation conform with the texture, while at the same time creating a distinct identity. 

The historical context is embraced by creating vistas and juxtapositions inside and out that underscore the relationship between old and new, adorned but reduced. These moments define a new role for the modern in the space of the original and both benefit.

In order to enjoy the views of the Golden Gate Bridge and bay, our client requested we incorporate as much uninterrupted West- and North-facing glass as possible.  With this as a starting point, we begin to shape the programmatic needs around this framed view.  The structural language was developed around carving away at the mass and the northwest corner of the building became a dematerialized mitered glass expression. 

Ross and his team did a terrific job in marrying the modern sustainable design aesthetic we had with the practical aspects of urban family living. He was involved from start to finish in an entire house rebuild and created a spectacular gem of a home for us! Highly recommended!

While the West face required maximum transparency, the South and East sides needed to provide privacy and thermal control. We created a bipartite composition of forms and a masonry base that anchors the volume to the site.

The upper level is a continuous band of clerestory glass, further lightening its presence.  The lower floors are is clad in white reinforced concrete panels.   This volume was modeled as a continuous surface, small apertures were treated as penetrations within the regular, horizontal grid. Each opening is lined with protruding stainless steel jambs that accentuate the punctuation of the skin. Larger openings were delineated as interruptions in the horizontal panel grid.  The edges here being concealed as the skin wraps back toward the structure.  In total, we imposed a single system that could be adapted to each orientations reach condition.

Concerned with passive performance, we offset the ample Western exposure with heavily insulated wall and roof cavities.  The vertical volume was designed to draw the occupants up the stair from terrace level and to serve as a heat chimney, providing naturally driven ventilation up to the penthouse. This shaft serves the dual purpose of organizing space and flows, and conditioning the space and is the primary gesture that brings visitors up the front stair. Conceived as a semi- outdoor experience, it transitions a weather protected passage from grade level to the elevated foyer. 

The view is introduced in a look through an informal den, which is closable by a series of folding panels: a public space with private potential.  By aligning these two spaces and borrowing the vista, each space was enhanced, the overall horizontal projection at the second floor entry has an equivalent relationship with the vertical volume of the stairwell. 

The vertical flow of space continues to the main living space on the third level and ultimately to the pavilion and roof terrace, creating an elevated ground that is essentially replaced atop the structure.  The living space takes advantage of the framed vistas using floor to ceiling glass, presenting an internal horizon to offer a variety of views — both framed and unframed. 

The ceiling plane is modulated with large coffer, which provides definition for the distinct functions of the space and allows for seamless integration of cove and direct lighting. Linear skylights above the fireplace and across the mid line of the level, combine with the stairwell to even the natural lighting in the space that is dominated by West-facing glass. 

The open plan is organized where the spaces are only defined by turning a corner, offering hidden places that offer a different experience of place. A breakfast nook enjoys the south sun and looks towards the downtown skyline, a media room is closed by a sliding wall, and a half bath is located discreetly at the rear of the space made more private by a vestibule — a place to pause before re-entering the social space. 

All of this is capped by a roof terrace that covers almost the entire footprint of the structure.  Here, the view is unobstructed and breathtaking.  It is also a place for growing herbs and riding bikes; it’s the urban oasis envisioned and championed by Gropius and Corbusier.

Architect: Levy Art + Architecture
General Contractor: Saturn Construction
Structural Engineer: SEMCO
Land Use Consultant: Jeremy Paul
Photographer: Matthew Millman

Publications:

25th Street

Levy 4372 25th St 14 SEP 14 203173 1

Blue Victorian Gets Modern Addition With Window Walls

We designed and re-imagined  this ‘pioneer’ flat Victorian for a couple and their two daughters by stripping away the interior entirely, and preserving only the timber framing and the facade. We opened up the main level and created an open plan, creating an open and airy space. The a loft-style living space spans the entire length of the house, and opens up to a deck to a wall of glass.

The original wood siding defines the historic form while vertical, corrugated steel panels clad the new forms. The home is a nesting of the old and the new, embedding the old house in a contemporary structure and interiors.  On the interior the lofty, open volumes are detailed minimally, but informed by references to period treatments.  Large glass doors, which are essentially open movable walls, connect the house to the view and the garden.  The three levels are joined by a spiral staircase at the rear. On the roof, an 8 KW solar system powers and heats the entire house, employing state of the art air to water heat exchangers and control systems.

The project is an example of an “informed aesthetic” — one that results from the mutual consideration of: client vision, historic context, architectural form, space, light, structure, environment and material. The new structure is streamlined, refined and massed to maintain the neighborhood context while still developing a presence of its own.

Publications:

  • San Francisco Magazine, October 29, 2015, pp. 68, 81: “The Shape of The City” by Lauren Murrow

Cesar Rubio, Photography

Clay St.

ClaySt 10

This three-story addition to an historic property in Nob Hill in San Francisco is more a new building than a renovation.  The original property was dark and narrow.  By introducing a large light-well on the West side of the mass, we were able to bring natural light deep into the building, even the lower levels.  A four-car garage sits at the base on the Clay Street side.  On the level above there is a single level flat, its large living and dining areas open directly to a deck and south facing garden that increase the sense of space.  The glass light-well forms a hallway that leads to two bedrooms.  The owners unit has five bedrooms and four and half baths.  The highlight is a two-story living room that looks to the south through a two story window wall that is inspired by Mondrian.  This wall contrasts with the symmetry and history of the front façade, designed along the lines of early nineteenth century skyscrapers, visually ordered by neoclassical architectural concepts.  This dichotomy of front to back, historical to expressive is typical of our work in San Francisco, where the street wall and historic facades are protected by the California Environmental Quality Act.