Shou Sugi Ban House by Schwartz and Architecture in Los Gatos, California

Project: Shou Sugi Ban House
Architects: Schwartz and Architecture
Location: Los Gatos, California, USA
Area: 4,350 sq ft
Photographs by: Matthew Millman

Shou Sugi Ban House by Schwartz and Architecture

The Shou Sugi Ban House sits high above Silicon Valley in Los Gatos, California. This project by Schwartz and Architecture consists of a major remodel and addition to an existing modern house. The architects were inspired by the surrounding sights and textures such as the leaves, bark and boulders that are scattered all around the home.
The two-story addition was clad in traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban, burnt wood siding, from which the house takes its name.

From the architects: “Enlarging an existing home that has an already strong and complete architectural character can be challenging. Here, we anchor the existing one-story home with a new two-story independent volume, using it both as punctuation mark and counterpoint to the existing composition.
This project, which also involved extensive remodeling of the existing modern residence located high above Silicon Valley, was inspired by dominant images and textures from the site: boulders, bark, and leaves. We clad the addition in traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban burnt cedar siding both to anchor home with site and to create the visual weight necessary to anchor the existing exuberantly-roofed horizontal building.
The original home was a joint venture between Min | Day as Design Architect and Burks Toma Architects as Architect of Record and was substantially completed in 1999. In 2005, Min | Day added the swimming pool and related outdoor spaces. Schwartz and Architecture began work on the addition and substantial remodel of the interior in 2009, completed in 2015.”