Project: Edges Residence
Architects: Belzberg Architects
Principal: Hagy Belzberg
Project Manager: Daniel Rentsch
Project Team: Andrew Kim, Ashley Coon, David Cheung
Location: Los Angeles, California
Size: 7,000 sf
Text by Belzberg Architects
Located in the Hollywood Hills, Edges Residence seeks to resolve the desire for both a generous program on a relatively small lot, and the long and low profile of a mid-century bungalow. Using oblique and layered angles throughout the house, perspective is played with, elongating and lightening the mass of the architecture while disguising its generous vertical volume. The dynamism of the resulting geometry distorts the appearance of the residence’s rectilinear plan.
This new 7,000sqft single family home, which sits atop a cliff, possesses two contradictory faces: privacy and openness. An oblique concrete wall on the eastern edge of the site is positioned to protect from exposure to neighbors, and uses its sloping edges to continue the lean architectural language of the building. Similarly, the north side of the residence uses simple, but bold angles to provide privacy and offset the scale of the house. As a counterpoint, substantial, south-facing, cantilevered balconies frame expansive panoramic views stretching from Downtown LA to Santa Monica and the ocean beyond.
The four-bedroom residence features a grand floating stair in the main living space, a wine cellar that can hold over 700 bottles, and a dedicated home theatre with a bar in the basement. The zero-edge pool and sunken fire pit lounge are perched tenuously at the edge of the sloping site, protected from sightlines while exposed to the vast views below. The materials palette was kept simple throughout to maintain focus on the geometry and its effects on the experience of the home.
