Wingspan Residence
The Wingspan Residence
Wingspan adjoins a community park, opening to an eastern entry court, southern recreation/gardening court and park greenspace to the west. The house is organized on five half-levels set effortlessly around a central atrium/stair lightwell, dividing the spaces inside horizontally + vertically. Playful roofs and form reflect the owner’s mid-century modern boyhood home. Work, play, guest + community and sleeping spaces for a family of five focus on gathering and orient toward views, landscaped courts, and a glass and steel circulation core.
The Wingspan Residence achieves harmony with its surroundings by capturing panoramic views and daylight through floor-to-ceiling windows, opening to the landscape on five levels, and incorporating seamless interiorexterior connections. In the heart of the home the staircase joins and orients. Interiors open to carefully designed greenspace in yards and courts, rain water conveyance, family communal spaces, view decks and the owner’s gardening projects.
The highest level of sustainability drove the design. High-efficiency heat pump (heating and cooling), water heating, appliances, energy recovery ventilation system, lighting and controls and electric vehicle charging is provided by the sun and 45 photo-voltaic panels (hidden on the roofs). The house produces more energy than it uses.
All aspects of the design and construction from robust insulation and building envelope, doors + windows and landscape, to the use of healthy interior finishes and the recycling of construction materials were guided by maximum sustainability. The completed residence received a 5-star + Built Green Certification in 2022.
The division created by the central atrium opens a corridor which allows for a greater connection to the outdoors. This slice of natural area features a rain collection area which mimics a creek bed.
A private guest suite it tucked into the third level of the house opening to a reflective center garden court recessed into the home’s north and south halves. The setting provides a private entry and recessed quiet porch focused on northwest flora, river-rock and a unique rain-chain celebrating the region’s precipitation.
Wingspan’s gull wing roofs are pitched in two directions and become an outflowing of interiors, lending more or less scale to public and private space within. Beyond the dramatic aesthetics, the roof forms serve to lend the right scale each interior space below while lifting the eye to light and views of water and sky.
This concept begins at the big east porch sheltered under a 15-foot cantilevered roof; neighborhood-friendly porch and entry are adjoined by shared home offices that can monitor the front of the home.
The entry acts as a glass lantern at night, greeting the visitor; the interiors then gradually expand to the rear of the home, lending views of park, lake and distant city
skyline to key interior spaces such as the bedrooms, living-dining-kitchen and family game/media room.
Material expression and exterior finishes were carefully selected to reduce the apparent size of the house, last through many years, and add warmth and human scale to the home. The unique siding system is made up of different widths and depths of western red cedar, complementing the vision of the structures wings which are balanced, not symmetrical.
The exterior materials include a burn brick base, powder-coated steel, cedar, acidwashed concrete and Corten steel planters.
Research has shown that exposure to nature and green spaces has positive effects on human well-being. The presence of greenery and natural elements has also been associated with increased productivity and concentration. Incorporating planters and courtyards as part of the architecture allows people to connect with nature, providing opportunities for relaxation, stress reduction, and improved mental health.
To encourage gathering, Rhodes Architecture worked closely with the owner to create special family places such as a music bar and jam space with storage for instruments, refreshments, even a “Marshall Amp” refrigerator. The lowest level is dedicated to play incorporating home gaming and
theater, billiards, music, family discussions + hangouts with direct access to the western terraces, gardens, and a park beyond.
A second level incorporates pragmatic space; garages, entry/mudroom, mechanical/interstitial space. The two central levels combine entry, offices, kitchen-living-dining, pantry, guest and bath and opens to a surrounding porch and deck. Upper levels incorporate four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Horizontal levels are linked, joined, and focus on a five-level white steel and bamboo stair wrapped in extensive glass that acts as a central hub, light well + atrium lending expansive vertical space and illumination to the home.
Rhodes Architecture + Light envisioned the home in close collaboration with the owners utilizing extensive three-dimensional modeling and documentation. Rhodes designed the site layout, building, interiors, lighting and managed structural, civil, landscape, energy systems, and close liaison with the city.
DLH Inc. was the builder. Swenson Say Faget provided inventive Structural Engineering, HL Engineering the Civil design, and Erin Lau Design the Landscape and Horticulture. Sunergy Systems designed and managed the energy -producing photovoltaic systems and Balderston Associates collaborated in the Built Green sustainability.
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hodes Architecture + Light is a small, West Seattle Architecture firm specializing in creating warm, light-filled homes and commercial spaces. With almost 30 years of experience in residential and commercial Architecture in the Pacific Northwest, we have a deep understanding of design for people’s lifestyles. We believe that each project and homeowner is unique, and that designing the ideal environment begins with deep reflection on how people use their space.
An emphasis on lighting, sustainability, connection to nature and wellness-centered design guides our approach. Caring for the people that inhabit our spaces guides our philosophy.
Our wellness-informed design works alongside nature to create beautiful and calm spaces that embody local craft and embrace our coastal climate, celebrating playfulness of space, form, and materials.
We aim to produce buildings and lighting designs that function smoothly, surprise, and evoke thought and discussion. Each project is approached uniquely with simple solutions based on individual dreams, honest materials, and consideration of the site’s orientation, colors, and textures. Our designs blend new and traditional elements, responding to the demands of the climate and environment.
We live in a uniquely beautiful region-made possible by the rain. Harnessing and controlling our precious light is essential not only for energy savings, but also critical to our general state of mind. We use every method at our disposal to meet both needs–from the home’s orientation on a site, to built-in passive energy strategies that increase the home’s overall comfort and felt experience. During the initial planning phase, we explore ways to maximize views, connect the home to nature and leverage natural light. We strive to capture light beautifully and create spaces that enhance mood and well-being.
Our extensive experience spans almost three decades of Modern Northwest Architecture, Custom Residential Design, Commercial Architecture, and Land Planning for hundreds of clients. Our diverse portfolio includes bespoke residential design, inventive commercial architecture, mixed-use facilities, and retail spaces–and results from listening carefully, developing efficient and creative solutions and placing the needs and comfort of our clients first.
We have designed homes in most neighborhoods throughout Seattle and the surrounding region, each with its own distinct style, from contemporary to more traditional. We can provide examples of how our approach yields consistently beautiful, fully custom spaces that people love to come home to.
Our dedication to residential design and construction has been recognized by The Seattle Times, Pacific Magazine, Sunset Magazine, Seattle Homes and Lifestyles, Fine Homebuilding, NW Home + Garden, Cottage Living Magazine, and other publications over more than 28 years of practice. The Seattle Times and the American Institute of Architects have selected our work for honors in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003. Seattle Magazine and Northwest Home + Garden have featured our work and selected Rhodes Architecture + Light as one of the “Top Architectural Firms in the Northwest.” The Seattle Times cited the Kirkland Residence in Kirkland, Washington as a “shining example of the successful integration of the owner’s needs with a sense of playful but careful design.” Pacific Magazine also published this unique residence and Fine Home Building Magazine featured the house in the March 2000 issue.
