Three-Courts Residence

Quietly overlooking Lake Austin on a large hillside lot, this home is woven through a series of existing brick walls and foundations to create an entirely new experience of the site. The original house was extremely dark and introverted, with 8’ ceilings throughout. Our early objective was to leverage the underlying value of the structure, while creating an open, airy home that capitalized on the amazing site.   Arranged around a series of three overlapping courtyards, the building’s primary spaces push and pull to create a wide variety of spatial experiences- solid and void, light and dark, release and compression. Carefully working in close proximity to the heritage oaks, the architecture weaves around and tucks under the sprawling tree canopies. New masonry walls, an extension of the original house, anchor the floating roofs which in turn strategically frame treetop views. A central court, a vestige of the once enclosed sunroom, carves deep into the house, affording each room a unique connection to the outdoors.