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Awards 2005
2005 Recognition Awards
2005 Design Awards Winners
Renovation
****   Merit Award   ****
Maunu Poolhouse
Images Description Credits
Across several levels of broad lawn from a rambling 1950s post and beam house at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains stands an old stable.  Its weathered redwood boards and battens deep with the grooves of age recall the dusty corral that once adjoined it.

The corral gone, a cool blue pool now rests, punched into the plane of a concrete deck. Crisp and modern, rectangle upon rectangle, they resided in the clearing of a deodar cedar grove. 

The pool beckoned from the house, but remained distinctly separate from it and the hospitality that it represents. Entered a new owner with a busy entertaining agenda; we strategized to bridge the gap.

We introduced another rectangle, perpendicular to the pool, to address the house. A floating wooden egg crate trellis that intersects the far end of the barn now shares the spotlight with the pool, and defines a shady spot to dine at. The trellis also overhangs an area at the deep end of the pool where a plastered bench allows one to linger in the water under semi-shade with a cool drink within reach.

A section of the old barn interior is transformed into a guest quarter. A polished concrete floor set off the drywall, closet, and daybed.  A simple kitchen was introduced.  Everything was there to satisfy the guest except for a bathroom.

Within a minimal footprint and with the most minimal of structure, we created an L-shaped space with a skin of salvaged obscured glass panes fitted into a structure of canted shelves and notched struts, and capped with a band of frameless clear glass.  A corrugated steel roof free-spans from the back wall of the barn to the fascia board.

No sewer line or septic within reach, we opted for an incinerating toilet and gray water drainage for the sink and shower. Exposed copper piping supplies solar heated water for the shower and sink.

A layer of cement fiberboard and sliding panel with a small amount of wood detail at the shower and sink complete the enclosure.

The play of light through the day and seasons filters through the translucent glass with the tops of foliage peeking under the corrugated ceiling.  This Maunu Poolhouse is a light, lean, translucent and breathing structure that treads lightly by the pool, in the clearing of the forest.

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