Studio VARA unveiled its latest project in California: the Palo Alto Residence, a new ground-up house for a young couple on a prominent yet petite corner lot. 

A young Palo Alto couple with three children came to Studio VARA with the desire to build a more modern interpretation of the traditional home that occupied this prominent corner lot in Old Palo Alto. As a couple that loves entertaining, they envisioned a multi-purpose home with ample room for their family, as well as generous social spaces that seamlessly flow from the inside out with as little circulation space as possible. Though challenged by the constraints of their small lot, a collaborative and thoughtful approach allowed a final solution to emerge that seamlessly integrated landscape, architecture, and interiors into a cohesive whole.

The lot sits on a quaint Palo Alto street corner with high visibility, but with zoning constraints, setbacks, and adjacent neighbors that severely limit the space in which to maneuver. The challenge of fitting the client’s sizable program into this tight envelope while maximizing the remaining outdoor space is achieved through a careful approach to site design and an analytical series of massing studies. The resulting form is positioned at the outermost corner to preserve the rear yard and the massing is optimized to achieve the maximum interior volume allowable across the two upper floors and basement. 

The ground floor is carved away in the center to wrap around a small central courtyard which brings daylight and outdoor space into close proximity with all the interior spaces, blurring the line between inside and outside to maximize the livable space of the home. Three walls of sliding and pocketing glass doors open up to a meticulously designed series of decks and patios that further blur this line and take advantage of the temperate climate to transform the back yard into an extension of the interior entertainment spaces. 

In contrast to the expansive and open ground floor, the second floor is a compact rectilinear volume that is fit out with a neat series of bedrooms and bathrooms wrapped around a light-flooded central stairwell. Packed in like a Rubik’s Cube yet meticulously proportioned to ensure livability, these private spaces turn both inward and open out to a series of roof decks at the ends. Light pours in from a skylight and large window in the stairwell and cascades down a central stone wall alongside the steel and wood stair that connects this private level to the family rooms below.