You don’t see many wooden houses shaped like this, do you? Adopting a silhouette more commonly seen in ultramodern concrete architecture, the appropriately named “Curved House” was built in a short time period on a tight budget, but you’d never know by looking at it.
Architecture firm Daluz Gonzalez came up with a unique design to fit a small plot of land already occupied by the home of the clients’ parents. It had to fit just right into the limited space, but also appeal to the clients’ personal style.
Slotting into the yard, the new house can be approached from the existing house via a concrete pathway, and it’s built on a concrete basement foundation. But the entire house structure is made of wood, including the roof and the interiors. Black stained, narrow vertical siding covers every side of the irregular geometric shape, and the inside is clad in budget-friendly plywood, giving it a minimalist, contemporary yet warm feel.
Even on a more conventionally shaped house, these material choices would be striking. The black vertical siding is a bold choice, exuding drama. Inside, the plywood contrasts with the concrete to accentuate the staggered split-level layout, which is left open as a sky-lit atrium in the middle of the house.
Though we only get a peek of it, the existing house designed in the ‘80s by architect Max Schentz is unusual, too, with a semicircular shape (albeit more traditional finishing). The greenery and walkway separating the two houses prevents any sort of visual clash, and from above, as you can see in this drawing, the two shapes actually work together to create a larger, dynamic layout that takes full advantage of the irregular lot.
