Project: Slot Residence
Architects: Feldman Architecture
Interior Designer: Amber Autumn & Connie Wong
Landscape Architect: Arterra Landscape Architects
Lighting Design: David Wilds Patton Lighting Design
Structural Engineer: ZFA Structural Engineers
Civil Engineer: Lea & Braze Engineering, Inc.
MEP: List Engineering
Location: Los Altos Hills, California
Year: 2020
Photography: Adam Rouse
Text by Feldman Architecture
Drawn to the oak and chaparral landscape, our clients fell in love with the secluded Los Altos Hills and began envisioning their perfect family home. The 180 degree cross canyon views of the Foothills Open Space Preserve to the west of the Slot Residence site served as inspiration for the design, orientation, and focus of the home: connecting the clients and their family and intimately as possible with the breathtaking natural world that surrounded them.
Upon arrival, a sunken entry courtyard transitions visitors into the home, serving as an introduction to the unfolding of the house’s levels down the gradual slope of the site. At the base, the great room features 12 foot ceilings and 40 foot sliding glass doors, immersing the occupants in the landscape. The hub of the home, the great room acts as a central point for cooking, socializing, and relaxing- seamlessly gliding into the patio and hot tub when its sliding doors are pushed open.
The “Slot”, slicing through a double height space within the home, provides vertical and horizontal connection, creates a unique distinction between public and private spaces, and welcomes natural light and blue skies into the structure’s core. The crisp lines of perpendicular windows frame glimpses of the surrounding greenery, leaving occupants feeling connected and oriented to their natural surroundings. The entire home playfully layers materials, artfully placed screens and slats offer depth, privacy, and shade. Minimal, comfortable, timeless, and modern, the Slot House is a culmination of the clients’ lifelong journey, as well as a symbol of their relationship’s symbiosis, which we were overjoyed to help them realize.