EWING ARCHITECTS

Jan 2011

This new house is on a one acre gently sloping lot in the foothills of Pasadena. A heritage oak tree and 8 other oaks presented obstructions to design around as well as developing distant view channels. The special challenge of this project was to convince the client to build a contemporary house when they wanted a Spanish eclectic style. They love this house. They also wanted an efficient sustainable house to include a 11.34 KW solar electrical system, and use sustainable sourced building materials. The open courtyard floor plan acknowledges 2 oak trees and articulates its way around the site exposing interior spaces to views in every direction. The house is completely transparent. The entry foyer separates the guest wing from the residents wing creating privacy. The Great Room opens into the site and the entertainment courtyard. The Dining Room and Wine Cellar open to a private dining patio with fireplace and views of the San Gabriel Mountains. The Childrens Rooms and the Sports Room open to a paddle court that can be active and private when adults are entertaining in the courtyard. The Sports Room completely opens to the west and east yards with sliding glass wall systems. The Master Suite, Office, and adjoining Gym/ Ballet Studio occupy the second floor and offer 360 degree views of the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles and the Coastline. The design is an exposed structural post and beam concept where all structural elements are visible. Exposed steel tube bracing was designed for shear, eliminating conventional shear walls and increasing windows and views. Vertical wall planes of plaster, wood, and concrete block segment the floor plan uses. The courtyard with fireplace is the exterior entertainment space that the house opens onto and includes a barbeque, bar, and a Jacuzzi that is backlit from the Great Rooms glass-walled fireplace. The roof framing was constructed from the inside up starting with major beams, secondary beams, 4x8 rafters and Douglas fir ceiling planks placed in order, and then 2x14 insulated ceiling cavity and rigid foam sloped roof last. The stacked ceiling framing and beam geometry of various heights define the different uses of the open plan design. This is a different contemporary house it is not all white. Day or night this house radiates warmth. The house uses the same building materials on the interior and exterior creating transparency between inside and outside. Materials used in and out are black transparent stained structural Douglas fir posts and beams, oiled Douglas fir ceilings, oiled Western red cedar walls, 4x16 concrete block, poured-in-place concrete walls, galvanized panels, aluminum grating, steel windows in black and red, concrete tiles and fossil stone from Turkey. Unique Feature This complex house was constructed by the owner-builder process with the architect guiding the owner and construction process, and supplying key subs, saving the owners over $600,000.00.

$3.2m

Pasadena, CA

Jan 2009

THE SITE The site is situated in a grove of eucalyptus and pines trees and cascades down an east-facing slope with spectacular views of the Rose Bowl and Pasadena. There was an existing 1300 SF, single level house on the site built in 1956. THE CHALLENGES: This design honors the Post & Beam Case Study houses of the 1950s. The original house was too decayed to save, but the same 12 degree angled floor plan shape and carport view channel were maintained in the design. Challenges: conform to new, restrictive hillside ordinances and strict fire codes, capture the character of the site and maximize the indoor/outdoor connection difficult to do on a steep slope, design the west facing entry elevation for privacy and security while maximizing view channels to the east, and control light and heat from the sun. SOLUTION: Design a two-story structure with three terraced levels of aluminum grating decks extending down the slope. The west entry is private from the street with western red cedar walls and high clearstory windows that allow light and great sunset views. The east side is all glass with 6' x 8' posts at 8' on center with aluminum grating sun screens. The decks take full advantage of the terrain and every room opens up to views. Aluminum grating decks allow plants to grow below and also meet the strict fire code. The closets and storage systems are assembled along the west wall with clearstory windows above at the top floor and on the lower floor, built in to the Xypex foundation system. Major materials used were: formed concrete walls, VGDF posts and #1 DF beams, solar glass, all exposed steel bracing and plate system, aluminum decking, Honduras mahogany cabinets, bamboo plywood shelving, wenge counters, and custom stainless steel detailing. Indigenous grasses and succulents were used in the landscaping

$2.1m

Pasadena, CA

Jan 2014

The City of La Habra Heights held a Grand Opening for its newly renovated City Hall on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Their doors were opened to all their community members with tours to have a personal architectural experience point of view. Councilman Michael Higgins expressed that "Everybody was impressed with the building..." in the Whittier Daily News (By Mike Sprague, Whittier Daily News). To read the complete article, please see the link below. "The City of La Habra Heights hired Ewing Architects, Inc., to rehabilitate our 1950's city hall. It was a $2.5 million project that turn out beautiful. Ewing took a nondescript government building and turned it into a work of art. The compliments keep coming in. I recommend Ewing Architects very highly." - Shauna Clark, La Habra Heights City Manager Grand opening held for renovated La Habra Heights City Hall by Mike Sprague, Whittier Daily News

La Habra Heights, CA

Jan 2011

The "Green House" concept signifies a nurturing environment for the elderly. This 7,000 SF skilled nursing facility is a prototype for the State of California and will help to de-institutionalize skilled nursing facilities in the State. Rather than the typical institutional facility, the "Green House" concept is based on a family-like residence for 10 people. The floor plan utilizes a great room concept with open kitchen and dining alcoves. Each resident has their own bedroom.The buildings are all wood in an Arts & Crafts-inspired style with a contemporary twist. This is a sustainable project that was awarded LEED Silver Certification Rating.

Pomona, CA

Jan 2011

The ranch has 27,000 acres of spectacular peaks, aspen groves, streams and meadows on the western side of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. There are a scattering of old homesteads, miner's cabins and barns on the ranch. PROGRAM Mr. Lauren wanted to restore certain historical structures and design new ones to create a rustic guest ranch. Phase one consisted of four "old" guest cabins and a saloon for guests to watch movies and play cards. DESIGN SOLUTION We created a structure that looked as though it had gone through several iterations over the last hundred years. The main saloon room has a stone and log bar, real stone fireplace, sitting area and game table. An alcove leads to the theater with a sloping log ceiling and sod roof, representing an early settler's one room cabin and meat cellar. A stairway in the bar leads to the second floor where doors open to movie viewing on the balcony. We selectively cut and felled trees from the ranch, purposely using wet green logs that would create shrinkage and cracks just as older structures would develop over time.

Ridgway, CO

Jan 2008

The project is located on an undeveloped, 560-acre ranch property south of Pagosa Springs, Colorado where the San Juan and Blanco Rivers converge. The architect's goal was to design a contextual project playing off the forms of local ranch and barn structures and regional Indian ruin structures, using reclaimed materials where posible. The main ranch house was designed using reclaimed local woods. The heavy timber used is black stained re-sawn railway bridge timber that had been abandoned. The wall stone is moss rock found on the property, the walls are earth mud with asphalt emulsion, and the roof is made with old corrugated reclaimed steel. The house is situated on a knoll above the ranch center with long vistas of the ranch and beyond.

Pagosa Springs, CO

Jan 2005

Whole house renovation of a 1909 unoccupied chalet style 4,300 SF bungalow in the estate district of old Pasadena. Renovation was based on an old post card showing the original log work that had been stripped away over 30 years ago. A footings up restoration of the original house, key additions, and new landscaping have revitalized a home considered historically significant. This log clad structure has generated much interest in a short period of time. It has been featured in four AIA tours and won National, State of California, and City of Pasadena Historic Restoration and Preservation Awards.

Pasadena, CA

Jan 2000

This estate combines forms from the Arts & Crafts movement with Monterey and Spanish elements to become its own Progressive Pasadena style in a garden setting. The eclectic furnishings include contemporary modern classics, antique Asian pieces and Asian Arts & Crafts inspired furniture designed by Ewing. Feng Shui principals are used in the design of the floor plan and architectural elements. The house provides quiet and inspiring indoor/outdoor experiences. Every room connects to the gardens and verandas, allowing for lots of natural light. Garden features include a pool and Jacuzzi, dining trellis, barbeque area, fire pit, a children's play yard, meditation gardens and hidden garden toilet facility. Integrated skylights and clearstory windows direct natural light from the second floor to the lower level. The plan is based on a semi-formal great room concept with the dining room separated from the kitchen by an art passage with wine cellar access. The large kitchen, which opens up to the family room and yard, includes a breakfast niche and a cooking alcove that hides the food prep area from the entertainment part of the kitchen. Each of the four bedrooms has its own special veranda, dressing room and bath alcove. The master suite and garden veranda, have views to Catalina. Reclaimed green slate roofing, integral color plaster walls, terra-cotta stepped walls and chimney caps, heavy timber Douglas Fir beams stained transparent black were used on the exterior with black steel windows and clear Douglas fir trim and mahogany throughout the interiors.

San Marino, CA

Jan 1998

This client wanted to experience Santa Fe in Sierra Madre. Challenges were the steep hillside lot, great views, fire concerns and narrow car access. We created a rustic home with a low profile, lush surroundings and an air of quiet tranquility. This rustic southwestern house uses reclaimed vegas and logs for the structural system and asphalt emulsion mud adobe walls for the finish. The house is like an adobe village separated into four structures connected by verandas, courtyards and log bridges.

Sierra Madre, CA