FAR adds artist's studio clad in translucent folding façade to los angeles house

FAR , the international architectural practice founded by marc frohn and mario rojas, has extended an existing 1930s house located on a steeply sloping site in the mount washington neighborhood of los angeles with a newly added studio and spacious deck. designed for LA-based artist kim schoen, the studio incorporates a north-facing façade comprising a large-scale bi-fold door with translucent cladding, whose corrugated and twin-wall layers offer a fine vertical linear pattern abstracting the silhouette of the landscape outside.all images by brica wilcox

taking advantage of the sloping site, FAR has placed the studio extension a a full level below the ground floor of the existing home, so that its roof can double as a spacious deck. a large tree overhanging the deck offers shade and privacy to the outdoor living and dining area, which benefits from views of the angeles national forest. all surfaces of the deck and the exterior stair connecting it to the lower level are clad in tile, creating a three-dimensional grid that sets the addition apart from the existing house, while the color of the tiles matching that of the existing facades synchronizes the two.

located one level lower than the artist’s house, the studio is characterized by a north-facing façade, whose large-scale bi-fold door is clad in corrugated and twin-wall translucent layers. once open, the door folds into a canopy, orienting the studio to the outside and framing a panoramic view of the surrounding hills of the angeles national forest.

project info:

name: mount washington studio

architect: FAR frohn & rojas

team: marc frohn, mario rojas toledo, max koch, maria martinez, wendy gilmartin

structural engineer: idg structural engineering (farshid behshid)

landscape architect: barbara kennedy design

general contractor: el castillo construction