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Vision Magazine
That jewel-like glimmer of glass is often
underestimated. How critical is the right glass
to such a project.
Absolutely critical. There are so many different glass
types with subtle variations in color. Clear toughened
was incredibly important because it has to wrap
the entire building and allow the eye to see through,
rather than simply at, say a wall. It was critica
l to choose the right product for appearance and
performance.
Glass is much more than an inert object here that
fills a space. You give it this flexibility where walls
slide like traditional rice paper Japanese shoji
screens. There’s that moveable feast element to
these glass walls, isn’t there?
Because the structure is set in from the glass and
the glass is external, you don’t actually read the
structure. All you see is the floor plan, roof bed, steel
roof and steel floor. Glass wraps the middle. During
the day with the right quality of light in reflection
you don’t see any structure. It is quite a surreal thing
to witness, to see two floating planes in the
landscape with glass reflecting in between.
The pavilion is a radical departure from the existing
family residence. It’s not entirely sympathetic with
the architecture your father commissioned what
was it, 15 years ago?
That’s a farm-style cottage appropriate for that point
in time. No, he was happy to do something entirely
different. This was an opportunity to integrate a
more modern piece of architecture, a free-standing
piece of architecture, in the landscape which had
a different purpose. It wasn’t about a family home
for five people, it was more about a private, remote
retreat which could be used to allow a place
for solitude and contemplation.
Right Influenced by California’s Case
Study