STUDY AND ENLARGEMENT OF THE WWEKEND HOUSE, by Craig Ellwood, located in California, United States (1964, 1967-1968).

The Weekend House is situated on a natural canyon area by the West Coast of the United States. The project consists on a roofed bridge spanning 60 feet, built of a steel structure devided in 6 modules of 10 feet each and a glass enclosure, placed over a river, facing the sea. It was originally developed to solve the scarcity and high costs of beach front land in California. It is important to underline the fact that the house leaves all its surroundings undisturbed, as if it had just 'landed' on the location.

To create a first idea of what was going to be the enlargment, I came up with several aspects that make the house unique. Its remote location made me think there would not be any lighting pollution, which made it the perfect place to watch the sky at night. I also thought that anyone living in the house would feel like having a shade to relax with the breeze and the sound of the sea. A negative aspect I came up with was the high temperature there might be inside of the house during the day, as a consequence of its materials and the hot dry climate.
Developing these initial ideas I came to the final project, which consists of two new volumes, built from the same module as the previous house, placed orthogonally over it. Between them, there are horizontal planes, designed to protect the house from direct sunlight and high temperatures of a warm and dry climate such as California's during the warmest hours of the day. These planes are upheld by steel structures and they also generate outdoor, both covered or uncovered, spaces. The two volumes have two big sliding doors that turn them into intermediate spaces that can be openned and ventilated.