Tanglewood 2 House
The residence’s steeply sloped site was fundamental to the conception of the house. The basic plan is a rectangle 5.5m x 27.4m, containing three 11.5m2 bedrooms, and a living space – seating area, dining and kitchen – of approximately 45m2. The grade drops approximately 3.8m from the front door to the point of inflection at the base of the cantilever. This elevation change is accommodated by three equal sets of steps, arranged like a fish-ladder, with landings allowing access to guest bedrooms, a toilet room and a steel-plate stair which runs vertically from the basement beneath the house to the roof deck. The interiors are finished with skim-coat plaster over gypsum wallboard, sealed concrete floors, and translucent glass panels and doors along the corridor.
The house is framed as a steel truss, with 11cm thick concrete and steel-deck roof and floor structure, and double-extra-strength pipe diagonal bracing. The exterior is clad in corrugated anodized aluminum and standard glazed commercial aluminum window framing. The concrete soffit underneath the house and the paved roof deck are tilted 3o. This facilitates drainage at the middle of the roof.
Below the house, the poured-in-place foundation exposes a 2.4m tall concrete wall with an opening allowing access to the vertical central stair and a mechanical and storage room. The stair’s intermediate landing opens into the house. And at the top, the stair passes through a 2.4m x 3.7m sliding roof door that allows access to the deck.
