An existing house is recycled to create 5 apartments. To comply with zoning laws, the project is developed with three levels: 3 large apartments are interwoven on the first two levels, and two smaller apartments share the third level.

Our primary challenge is to preserve privacy while creating visual interest with the facade. After analyzing the design of neighboring buildings, we propose a volumetric solution that promotes visual harmony with a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines. At the building’s highest point, the pattern “folds” onto itself, disolving into the pattern of the pavers in the roof garden. A dome over the main staircase continues the pattern of lines featured on the facade, illuminating the common spaces from above. A mural along the main pedestrian access to the building invites the visitor in, and carries him or her along the path and up the main staircase.