Project: Glenbrook Residence
Architects: David Jameson Architect
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Photographs by: Paul Warchol Photography
Bethesda, Maryland is the home to a slightly different type of contemporary home than the ones we’re used to seeing. Designed by David Jameson Architect, the Glenbrook Residence features an eccentric exterior design and a layout that is basically a courtyard placed between two walls, framing the landscape and the surrounding nature in a manner that can leave you gazing out of the windows for hours.
Shaped largely by the site, the Glenbrook Residence is conceptually a courtyard inserted between two heavy walls. Threading the walls through the treescape to create distinct yet connected structures allows the house to be divided spatially into the most public, most private and a living pavilion that can become either or both. The residual in-between spaces create outdoor rooms that engage the building.
The public and private wings of the house make up the foundations of the design concept. They are thought of as being of the earth and are articulated through their materials and shape as heavy, static pieces. These wings define the bounds of the house and act as the backbone to support the various courtyards, upper roof canopies and the dynamic living pavilion that sits between.
Above each of the heavy wings floats a thin, folding roof canopy. More than a simple surface, this roof canopy is conceived as an entity where nothing is hidden and all six sides are exposed to view. The walls that contain the spaces beneath these canopies are made of glass to create the illusion of a floating roof and to blur the boundary between inside and outside. All of these elements adopt a language of angular, dynamic forms in order to be completely liberated from the solid elements of the house.
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