EDITOR ' S CHOICE
VENICE HOUSE BY FINNE ARCHITECTS
The Venice House creates a garden sanctuary in the city .
Located on a long , narrow lot in the Venice neighbourhood of Los Angeles , the house comprises a dramatic series of folded roof planes and a collage of textured metal and wood exterior surfaces . The bulk of the house has been placed on the eastern side of the lot , making a linear garden on the western side .
The wood living pavilion projects into the garden space , with a soaring hyperbolic paraboloid roof formed by exposed Douglas fir beams . A pool has been placed directly outside the living area , allowing this prominent part of the house to be mirrored by water .
The bedroom wing of the house frames the triangular living pavilion , which projects into the long garden space on the west side of the property .
The living area is enclosed by a continuous glass wall , protected by a 6-ft roof overhang . Oversized 8-ft by 10-ft sliding glass panel doors open directly to the pool , creating a seamless indoor-outdoor environment . The living pavilion itself is constructed with wood , both exterior and interior , establishing a contrast of warm wood to the cool metal siding that wraps the bedroom wing . The living roof is a hyperbolic paraboloid composed of tightly-spaced Douglas Fir beams . The beams gradually reverse their slope from one end of the living space to the other end , creating a curving interior line where the beams frame into the wall of the bedroom wing . The curvature of the hyperbolic paraboloid is made entirely with straight beams .
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