Solar House 1 + 2
This is a project where we own two down slope 35'-40' wide x 120' long 4600sf vacant lots and for which we have developed designs for both lots. They are located in the Mount Washington area about 3 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles and which overlooks a valley which the Los Angeles River runs through. One can actually see the lights of Dodger Stadium, and with a telescope you can see the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign.
The Mount washington area has a design review board and there are criteria which requires that adjacent houses must be designed such that they do not look the same. They also require that the maximum area that can be built is 50% of the lot area. The allowable buildable area includes the required covered parking area making the house a total of 2300gsf.
The two houses are approximately 1900sf of living space each and provide a 400sf two car garage. The lot slopes at a 2.5:1 ratio. Both lots require widening of the adjacent street by about 10' in order to meet city hillside development requirements. The height limit is 45' from the lowest point of the house to the highest point on the roof.
The dimensions of the lot and the required setbacks of 10% of the lot width + 1'/every story or 10' above 20' above grade which adds 3 additional feet on each side and thereby requires the width of the house to be no more than 20' wide.
With most small hillside lot houses, the struggle is to get at least a reasonable sized main floor, about 800sf, for the living, dining, kitchen areas. This led the design to push out 44' from front to back providing about 880sf for the main floor. Below the main floor are two bedroom floors sized 20' x 24' built with 12" thick concrete block or poured in place concrete which are cut into the hillside and form the structural base of the front of the house. Above the main floor is the parking garage at street level and a roof terrace overlooking the beautiful valley below.
The front of the house faces west where the views are and yet also the toughest sunlight conditions to control.