Robert Swatt, FAIA, Partner at SWATT+PARTNERS, on collaborating with landscape designers Ground Studio to seamlessly blend architecture and landscape.
Nestled amongst the trees and overlooking an idyllic Californian landscape is a home office project that involved a dedicated collaboration between architect and landscape designer. It makes a great case study of how working together and supporting a shared vision can result in beautiful architecture that seamlessly blends with the landscape.
California-based architects SWATT + PARTNERS were commissioned to design the new home office structure – remote from the main house, which the firm had previously designed. The original home was an award-winning ‘off the grid’ two-storey structure on a beautiful nine-acre rural site, overlooking a dense forest of Douglas fir madrone and oak trees in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley in California.
The new home office structure was placed west of the main house, partially above a narrow level pad, and partially over a steep decline. Supported by two cast-in-place concrete core elements, the new structure is a crisp wood-framed glass box that hovers just above the flat portion while it soars above the down-sloping topography on the south west corner of the building. The floating floor and roof planes are clad in Western Red Cedar horizontal boards. With the exception of the concrete vertical elements, all walls are constructed of floor-to-ceiling glass.
The project also includes beautiful new landscape improvements,including a new infinity edge pool, a new spa located down the hillside to the north-west, decks, terraces and multiple rustic water features.
Here, Robert Swatt, FAIA, Partner at SWATT+PARTNERS discusses collaborating with landscape designers Ground Studio on the project, bringing together the landscape and architecture to form one cohesive design.
Where did the conversation begin with the clients? How did you reach the final brief?
I first met the owners in mid-2014. They had recently purchased the Healdsburg house that I had designed for another family about seven years before. The owners wanted to make a few upgrades to the house and surrounding landscape. They also wanted to add a small remote office to the property. They had seen an earlier project of mine – the ‘Tea Houses’ – and wanted something in a similar spirit.
Having previously completed work on the main house, how did you approach the design for the home office?
The site has a narrow linear ridge that runs east and west, with steep downslopes to the north and south. Respecting the topography, the original house is a linear design that follows the ridge. The new home office is also located on the ridge, but far to the west of the main house, where the topography dramatically shifts – leaving the new structure half on flat land, and half soaring above a steep decline. Lifted off the ground, supported by two concrete vertical core elements, the studio gracefully hovers over the changing topography.
At what stage did the landscape architects Ground Studio come on-board and how did that come about?
At the time we started this project, we were working with Ground Studio on the Retrospect Vineyards House in Windsor, California, not far from Moss Rock. They were doing a beautiful job on Retrospect, so when the project was just starting and the new owners asked for my recommendations for landscape design, the choice was easy.
How did you work with Ground Studio on the elements for the external works to ensure that the project was cohesive?
The earliest design decision was the placement of the home office structure to the west of the original house. With the location of the new structure known, Ground Studio made a bold move of removing the pre-existing swimming pool, and locating a new pool to the north. This allowed for access to the home office to be through beautiful gardens instead of around the previous pool. The pool is also one of the coveted views from inside the office structure.
How important was the landscape architecture to the project?
In the best of projects, landscape and architecture work together to become one composition. Moss Rock is one of those projects where architecture and landscape work so well together that it’s hard to imagine one without the other.
How can architects and designers best support each when collaborating on projects?
I think in some ways we are all playing supporting roles. The architecture supports the landscape, and the landscape supports the architecture. We can all benefit by imagining how our design strategies can not only strengthen our own design concepts, but also the design concepts of our collaborators.
www.swattpartners.com | IG: @swattpartners
Photography by Jason Liske Photography
