Japanese touch in California

Far from the glitz and glitter of Hollywood, EYRC Architects designed a Los Angeles home for a half-Taiwanese, half-Chinese family seeking rest and peace.

The ground floor comprises an Lshaped great room that includes living, dining and kitchen. The design is influenced by Scandinavian and Japanese design principles with simple modern forms that celebrate materiality. As a predominant material EYRC Architects have chosen the concrete through the floors and bench/fireplace.

The kitchen helps to both connect and delimitate the spaces. All around, floor-toceiling sliding glass doors open up entirely to the exterior. It was important to create a feeling of living in a green environment whether you were inside or out.

“The grass literally comes up to the very edge of the house, softening this relationship and making it into an outdoor living room.”

While concrete is predominant downstairs, white oak wood floors were preferred for the second level including the stairs. On top of them, the little meditative outdoor sky garden invites the dwellers and their visitors to discover the whole spirit of this Zen project connected to nature. It is meant to be a flexible contemplative space you encounter every time you ascend the stairs towards the more private bedroom and bath spaces.

The second-floor hosts two small ensuite bedrooms (for children) and a master with a wood soaking tub and deck off the bathroom. Here, as in the whole house, the colour palette is minimal, and simplicity is revealed through materials and spaces.

EYRC Architects wanted the architecture to be elegant but also to be quiet and recede. Sometimes the best details are the ones you don’t notice, creating an elegant, minimal space.