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R i c h a r d s o n R e s i d e n c e : The Eagle's Nest (Berkeley, CA 2000) 
Like a tree house, Dick Richardson's Eagle's Nest rises well above the surrounding growth to take advantage of the view. Note the older, darkened shingles at the bottom of the visible portion of the building. That is the line of the original house. Also, note the redwood surround of the extended chimney flue to the left. The flue opening must be two feet above all portions of the building within ten feet. 
My dentist, Dick Richardson, bought his home in the Berkeley, California Hills in the 1970's. Although the steep site has a spectacular view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, the original house was built like a farmhouse--straight up, gable roof. It failed to take advantage of the natural slope and was oriented toward the street above, not the Bay and the View. Built on a steep slope with a spectacular view of the bay, the original "farmhouse," failed to take advantage of the terrain or the view. Later additions-downhill, uphill and finally on top of the original structure- gradually rectified the deficiency. When Dick and his wife Sarah had their first son in the early 1980's, they built a new living room and kitchen extending down the hill, creating more bedrooms in the farmhouse. Dick and Sarah kept working, to support the family, and, eventually, they added a room on the back for Sarah's home office. But Dick always dreamed of having his own space, converting the attic of the old farmhouse into an "eagle's nest" where he could gaze out onto the Bay and peacefully pursue his great passion-studying Renaissance art. (See West Elevation below.) Over the years Dick spoke to me about his dream project as he drilled holes in my teeth. Although I had built some furniture for Sarah and advised the Richardsons on some other work on their home, I wondered it Dick would ever get his eagle's nest. Then, in 1999, administering Novocaine, he told me that he planned to retire, and that if he was ever going to build his addition, we'd better get started. 
The basic concept of the Eagle's nest was simple-just extend the original roof line to a new peak. The structural implementation, however, proved challenging. DESIGN CHALLENGES Many of the design challenges were technical. Would the old attic joists meet code requirements for the floor for a living space? How would the addition front wall intersect the existing roof? How could we support the new wall and roof loads and bring them to the ground without putting posts in the middle of the new studio, which would be small in any case? How could we provide enough windows to take advantage of the view while making the front addition wall strong enough to resist earthquakes? Architecturally, we needed to match the old, woody character of the house, with its exposed beams and pine floors. The new doors and windows had to have the character of the old while meeting current energy codes. Since the whole roof had to come off, did it make sense to just build a studio, or should there be more spaces, including a bathroom? 
Since the whole front of the roof had to come off, we decided to expand the addition beyond the original studio concept to include a bathroom and spare room. SOLUTIONS-INTEGRATING ARCHITECTURE AND STRUCTURE 
To make the addition work, we reinforced the existing floor joists by gluing and bolting new joists to them. We installed double or triple joists where the floor would be carrying roof loads. To support the roof, we installed a massive beam the whole length of the house, partially exposed in the finished room, with posts buried in walls that carried the loads down to the reinforced joists. This structural section shows the load paths-how the roof loads were transferred to the ground even though there was no support wall directly below the major beam. How would the addition front wall connect to the existing roof? 
Hung from that beam, extending to the front wall, were custom, site-built trusses that spanned the main studio space allowing for an open floor plan with no posts (other than those hidden in walls beneath the beam). Leaving the trusses exposed allowed us to mimic the character of the rest of the post-and-beam style house, while providing an elegant rhythm to the ceiling. The site-built custom roof trusses span the space from the partially exposed beam (upper left) to the exterior wall of the addition, adding rhythm and interest to the ceiling. They also reflect the open beam construction of the rest of the house. A Renaissance art book sits on Dr. Richardson's plank table made of oak salvaged from Russian box cars. 
Though these new, French-style windows are modern and energy efficient, they go well with the original windows and doors. Because of Ecotecture's design innovations, Dr. Richardson is at last enjoying the private space with a spectacular view that he spent a lifetime working toward. I've heard that he's up there every day. 
The light shingles of the Addition will soon weather to match the sun-darkened shingles of the original house. Matching materials, window styles and trim is part of designing a "seamless" addition. |
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