Sanchez Street Residence

Perched on a hill in San Francisco, overlooking the adjacent neighborhoods, city center, and the Bay beyond, a residence becomes a private, quiet oasis in the city. Faced with the challenge of meeting an inordinately steep site — the topography in front of the house is so sharp that the sidewalk is not sidewalk at all, but stair —Butler Armsden created a house composed of multiple volumes. These volumes overlap and intersect, both with each other and with the land, simultaneously accommodating the difficult terrain and blending with each other into a single space. Living spaces are bound together by connective architectural details — a railing that makes its way from the outside viewing deck to line the stair inside, warm wood paneling that lines the ceilings and walls — producing a cohesive, immersive space. Over the dining area, a suspended mezzanine, its underside reminiscent of the hull of a boat, leaves the residents suspended in the space, and floating over the Bay.