Conceived as a house embedded in a 21st century winter garden, the Perched House examines how two architectural elements —a sole service core and a perimeter wall— can effectively organize a new model of live, work, and leisure, by giving spatial hierarchy through a single volume while simultaneously dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior. With an elastic and porous envelope, the house can at moments be part of the open landscape while at others construct its own interior winter garden, adapting effectively to shifting programs and weather. The core —conceived as a rectangular volume that contains all services— is placed as a bar that separates social areas facing the back garden from the office space that faces the street. Towards the street, the bar accommodates an office library space with enough privacy to hold business meetings or focus on an office task. The backyard edge accommodates the kitchen and a fireplace, defining the living and dining room areas of the house. A staircase, wedged in the center of the core takes you to the bedrooms perched above the open volume.
The southeastern and southwestern walls are made up of double layered glass functioning as a ventilated air buffer, moderating the climate of the house throughout the year. During the summer, the outermost enclosure blocks direct insolation through a system of applied ceramic enamel fritting, and in the winter the air space serves as a greenhouse, protecting living spaces from extreme cold temperatures. The inner glass layer has a secondary fretted pattern that increases and decreases in intensity to calibrate privacy.
