The CorTen Steel House in Northern California. If ever there was a design for a home that was informed almost exclusively by its setting, it’s the one studio Faulkner Architects has created for a wooded site just outside of San Francisco. A family residence clad in CorTen Steel panels and shaded by large oak trees. Dense observation of the landscape, climate, culture, and existing uses and patterns of the site were worked out in conversation with the client’s mission to mitigate environmental challenges
The construction is a rigorously pared-down display of architectural elements that facilitate engagement with the natural environment. "This was a watershed project for the firm," Faulkner says. "We were intensely focused on producing a quiet presence. The existing use patterns of the site and the path of the sun and the wind drove the design." The property is on an ex-urban infill site located on almost eight acres of a Bay Area suburb. Technically a remodel, the house utilized the footprint of the existing house as a basis for a new floor plan.
Picture by Joe Fletcher
