Margarido House / Onion Flats

Margarido House / Onion Flats - Countertop, Kitchen, Chair, Windows, SinkMargarido House / Onion Flats - Sofa, TableMargarido House / Onion Flats - Sink, Bathroom, ShowerMargarido House / Onion Flats - Sofa, Windows, BedroomMargarido House / Onion Flats - More Images+ 11

Text description provided by the architects. This single family home in the hills of Oakland, CA, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and all of San Francisco, is designed to merge comfortably into it’s difficult and steeply sloped site. It is also meant to provide a tranquil yet inspiring setting for a young couple, their two children and their aging in-laws. The physical site offered the project its greatest challenge and direction. It’s 17% slope coupled with height restrictions and adjacencies to neighboring homes required that the building be “bunkered” into the landscape. This became the source of the project’s programmatic, spatial and architectural strategy, which is centered around the entry or “knuckle” of the building.

Margarido House / Onion Flats - Windows, Facade, Beam, Courtyard
© Mariko Reed

This ‘knuckle’ functions as a ‘de-bunkering’ device for the building. It is also the organizational space of transition between the more public and private domains of the home. The ‘knuckle’ is a result of a subtle yet deliberate carving and terracing of the landscape away from the building, releasing it from bunkered status and creating an experience of tranquility and lightness in this heavily grounded building.

Margarido House / Onion Flats - Windows, Facade, Courtyard
© Mariko Reed

Planted roof garden and deck

4000-gallon rain and ground water reclamation tanks

Drought tolerant landscaping

Pervious paving

In floor hydronic heating

Solar electric power

Solar thermal (hot water)

Interior air quality management system

Margarido House / Onion Flats - Windows, Facade, Handrail
© Mariko Reed

Locally sourced thermally broken doors & windows

Concrete with a minimum of 25% fly ash

Recycled concrete and glass counters

Soy based spray foam insulation

No-VOC paints and finishes

Smart house automation system

LED lighting

Margarido House / Onion Flats - Stairs, Handrail
© Mariko Reed

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Cite: "Margarido House / Onion Flats" 04 Apr 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/123687/margarido-house-onion-flats> ISSN 0719-8884

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