Frank/ Kim Residence by B+U LLP

Frank/ Kim Residence - Click image to enlarge

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Project Details:
Client: John Frank and Diann Kim

Program:
▪ New Canopy and Gazebo
▪ Remodel of Interiors
▪ Implementation of sustainability concept

Size: 4,300 sqft
Location: Pasadena, California
Budget: Withheld at owners request
Completion Date: 2009

Material:
Gazebo & Canopy: Steel, translucent fabric
Interiors: Resin, polycarbonate, limestone, wood, glass
Architect: B+U, llp
Herwig Baumgartner, principal – Scott Uriu, principal
Team: Slavko Vukic – Sven Neumann
Engineer:
Structural Engineer: GMS, llp
Climat engineer: Transsolar
Lighting: LAM Partners
Landscape: EPT Design
Interior Designer: Rozalynn Woods
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Project Description:
“The Frank and Kim residence is located 9 miles north of downtown Los Angeles on a hillside property in Pasadena. The existing two story single family house is placed at the end of an elongated property, on the edge of the hillside with a large terrace and a pool overlooking San Marino. Besides some major remodeling inside the house we were asked to redesign the front property so it can be used for larger social gatherings and to create a new spatial continuity between the front yard, the entertainment areas of the house and the terrace, pool and garden in the rear.

click image to enlarge

As a main feature element for the front yard we designed a large canopy that will be used for receptions and social events, and articulates a new dynamic entrance to the house. The, 65 feet long cantilevering steel structures is clad with a white translucent fabric. The canopy is lit from the inside with a combination of white and colored LED light fixtures to illuminate the garden with a soft glow during the evening articulating a vibrant path to the building and mark a spatial continuity throughout the site.

As part of the design process we developed many iterative models using a continuous folded surface geometry that emerges from a single plane and through techniques of splitting (delaminating) and shifting creates a multi-layered volume with varying translucent qualities. We were interested in the effect this geometry had on the gradation of light. Without changing the material property we were able to produce the desired light quality from the inside utilizing white & colored LED’s as a light source.

The same had to work during daytime as sunlight passes trough the surfaces from the outside. As part of this process we built many prototypes with differentfabric materials and revisions to the geometry before finding the right relationship of material property to geometry to achieve the effect we were looking for. Finding the right material was a big part of the challenge.

Originally we were looking at thin sheets of Corian, a solid surface materialwith translucent qualities, but the material was too heavy and started sagging over the long spans. So we started researching fabric, which we have been interested in using as a building material for a long time. We were looking for a canvas like fabric with a flat finish that had the right amount of translucency and fulfills all the technical and quality requirements, like UV resistance, fire rating, durability, etc to last for the next 20+ years. Sail fabrics had the translucency qualities but aren’t resistant to UV and fall apart over years, while most architectural fabrics come in a glossy finish and look rather opaque during the daytime. It was the start of a design process where material properties and geometry wereclosely linked together. Issues of a gradient transparency and the use of fabric as a building material continue to play an important role in our work.”
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