Octothorpe House

Clients Mike and Katherine had been considering for years moving out of their San Francisco home, which the same firm designed for them in 2011. They wanted to enjoy living more outdoors. They had several requirements for their new house. In particular, the house had to be environmentally friendly. It should offer a high degree of flexibility while being able to adapt to the desert landscape. The architects were tasked with designing two bedrooms for the family, two bedrooms for visitors, and several flexible spaces both indoors and outdoors.

The architects chose to design a cross-laminated timber structure that is efficient in terms of material yield and construction time. All of the CLT panels for Octothorpe House were created from sustainably harvested timber that was bonded with a low VOC adhesive.

The interior walls of the house are made of pine, spruce and fir panels with a natural oiled finish. The only exception is the bathrooms, where the walls are lined with ceramic. The façade is made of Shou Sugi Ban tan cedar wood, which is rot-resistant and requires almost no maintenance.

The single-storey house is made up of four intersecting masses with a pitched roof. The intersections divide the spaces into public and private and define several courtyards richly planted with greenery. One of the courtyards is completely enclosed by the house and creates an intimate internal atrium. Thanks to the generous glazing of the opposite parts of the house, the interior is sufficiently illuminated and naturally blends with the exterior.

The cross-shaped floor plan also allows for cross ventilation of the spaces. External sun screens are integrated into the openings on the south façade.