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Sala House

1981 to 1983
700 Hillside, 94706, Albany, CA, U.S.A.
Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1983
Three-story tower, 20 feet by 20 feet in plan on each floor, on a wooded, sloping site. The interior structure of the house is wood post and beam with pine panelling and hand-painted surfaces, and the exterior is a red and gray concrete wall. Terraces and gardens are a prime feature. The 1,200 square feet house includes accommodations for a couple and their two children; a farm-house kitchen --the largest room of the house, a small living room, a study and two bedrooms with their bathrooms. An entrance elongated deck accommodates two parking spaces.
Client:
Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna Sala
C.E.S. staff:
Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Bob Smith, David Turtle, Seth Wachtel, Andre Sala
Contractor:
Center for Environmetal Structure
Project cost:
$180.000
Design and construction process:
1) Personal vision: C.E.S. worked with the Sala family to gain an understanding of their needs and to derive from them a deep and personal vision of their house. 2) Layout on the site: several sessions on the site, laying out the exterior edges of the house volume along with outside courtyards, completed by C.E.S. staff working with the Salas. The interior rooms of the ground floor were also laid out on the site. 3) Preparation of drawings: At the end of the layout process it was possible for C.E.S. to prepare a set of drawings for the building permit from the City of Albany. 4) Construction commences and design continues; C.E.S. was the general contractor, and so the design process which had been begun in the first phase was carried through the construction phase, with many crucial on-site design decisions being made weekly, even daily, while the house was under construction. 5) Finishing touches: Hand-painted woodwork, color, details, furnishings, were done by C.E.S. staff and construction crews.
Project stages:
Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Use of full scale mock-ups Direct Construction management along with on-site design decis
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