The Openhouse, Hollywood Hills, California by XTEN Architecture

XTEN Architecture has projected this Openhouse design that is located in Hollywood Hills, California. A challenging and dramatic site that led to the creation of a house both integrated into the landscape and open to the city below. Retaining walls are configured to extend the first level living area into the landscape and to create garden terraces on the second level. The front, side and rear facades of the house slide away, opening the interiors to gardens, views and the hillside landscape.

Glass, in various renditions, is the primary wall enclosure material. There are forty-four sliding glass panels designed to disappear into hidden pockets and allow for uninterrupted views and access to exterior terraces and gardens. There are also fixed glass walls, mirror glass walls, and light gray mirror glass panels which lend lightness to the interior spaces.

The glass walls are visually counterweighted by sculptural, solid elements in the house rendered in stone, dark stained oak and plaster. The use of quartz flooring throughout the house, decks and terraces continues the indoor-outdoor materiality. Building finishes are few in number but applied in a multiplicity of ways throughout the project, furthering the experience of continuous open space from interior to exterior. With all the glass walls completely open the house becomes a platform, open to hillside gardens and cinematic views over Los Angeles.

About the Architects:
XTEN Architecture is an award winning architecture firm located in Los Angeles, California, with satellite offices near Basel, Switzerland. Founded in 2000 by partners Monika Häfelfinger and Austin Kelly, XTEN Architecture is a full service architecture and design firm specializing in cultural buildings, office and commercial facilities, large-scale residential projects and custom single family residences. Buildings are developed using the most innovative green technologies and materials available and guided efficiently from design through construction.

openhouse-xten-01

openhouse-xten-02

openhouse-xten-03

openhouse-xten-04

openhouse-xten-05

openhouse-xten-06

openhouse-xten-architecture

Related posts:

1. Hollywood Hills Residence by Griffin Enright Architects This Hollywood Hills Residence site has a great views over Hollywood, California and to the ocean. Designed by the Los...
2. Small Concrete House in California by Public Architects Public Architects have designed Baltazar Residence, a small concrete house design located in La Jolla, California. The house was designed...
3. Contemporary House in California by KAA Design This Monterey Boulevard house is a contemporary house in the Hermosa Beach area, Los Angeles California that was designed by...
4. 1098 Wolfe Avenue Residence by Measured Architecture The 1098 Wolfe house is the first major project to be completed in Vancouver Canada by Measured Architecture Inc. The...