Diamond ADU

Company:
S^A | Schwartz and Architecture
860 Rhode Island St
San Francisco, California 94107
(415) 550-0430
https://saasf.com
Contact:
Neal Schwartz
Business Phone: (415) 550-0430

Project Location: Sonoma, CA
Completion Date: 08/01/2022
Owner: WITHELD

Additional Team:
Contractor: Fairweather & Associates
Structural: Stranberg Engineering
Photographer: Bruce Damonte
Lighting Design: Loisos + Ubbelohde
Landscape: Huettl Landscape Architecture
Plaster: Mineral Concept

Project Description

This new accessory dwelling unit (ADU) takes inspiration from the dilapidated farm structures that dot the landscape of the Sonoma wine country –legally preserved from outright demolition and thus in a state of constant decay. These relics have their own strange elegance though; their original steeply sloped roofs now drooping into low slung structures, peeling apart allowing in unexpected puddles of natural light, and revealing fragments of their interior framing to the outside elements.

How might we use the qualities of these decaying, yet compelling utilitarian buildings as the jumping off point for a modern wine country design? The reference is of course strategic for this site as well.  The property already has several outbuildings and a main house, each competing for attention.  Relative to these, we lowered our structure into the landscape and compressed its visual impact with the low-pitched roofs.

Demure from many perspectives, we wanted the home to come alive as you approached. From the road the home appears relatively conventional. Yet from certain angles the conventional looking roof entirely disappears, and the structure takes on a lighter, more refined pavilion-like character. From the family’s main social space, the ADU seems to be hiding behind a tree. Inside, the space cleaves in two with a linear skylight the full length of the home.

Neither an unconsidered “modern farmhouse” nor the literal ruins of a de-constructing rural barn, we hope this modern country home feels alive –complete but always in process.

Design Challenge

Key to the project is the expansion of the feeling of space despite limited footprints. Each space has a direct relationship to a unique quality of the site. From the road the home appears relatively conventional. Yet from certain angles the conventional looking roof entirely disappears, and the structure takes on a lighter, more refined pavilion-like character. From the family’s main social space, the ADU seems to be hiding behind a tree. At the rear the ADU is carefully tucked within the existing oak groves. Inside, the space cleaves in two with a linear skylight the full length of the home. Capturing the quality of the site’s natural light is the prime design agenda here.

Physical Context

The property already has a number of outbuildings and a main house, each competing for attention. Relative to these, we lowered our structure into the landscape and compressed its visual impact with the low-pitched roofs. From the road the home appears relatively conventional. Yet from certain angles the conventional looking roof entirely disappears and the structure takes on a lighter, more refined pavilion-like character. From the family’s main social space, the ADU seems to be hiding behind a tree. At the rear the ADU is carefully tucked within the existing oak groves. Inside, the space cleaves in two with a linear skylight the full length of the home. Capturing the quality of the site’s natural light is the prime design agenda here. Neither an unconsidered “modern farmhouse” nor the literal ruins of a de-constructing rural barn, we hope this modern country home feels alive –complete but always in process.