Double-Ex House

From a distance, Double Ex* House has the simple iconic profile and material quality of a barn. But, as one approaches, a dominant sculptural feature becomes apparent. In a contemporary twist on a familiar type, exterior stepped voids travel diagonally up the long sides of the house, meeting in a single space at the top. This continuous zone is however still covered by a roof, as if it had been carved out from a monolithic volume. Appearing to float, the very large eave covers a unique shaded and protected multi-purpose exterior space. Cedar decks beneath it extend from the interiors of each of the house’s two levels, culminating in a covered “attic-deck” on the 3rd floor.

The interior of the house is luminous and simply laid out, with flowing spaces on the ground floor, and three bedrooms and two baths on the second. In combination with a series of large standard operable windows on the long facades, the glazed terrace doors and large fixed glass panels leading onto the semi-exterior terraced spaces provide dramatic and continuous connections with the outdoors. Clerestory glazing in the master bedroom and various other spatial conditions result in a simple house with a wide range of experiences, light conditions and moods.

While the predominant materials in both the interior and semi-exterior spaces are wood and glass, the roof and facades can be customized to accommodate local climatic and construction contexts. Two basic models, wood shingles and metal siding, are suggested in the renderings but other options can be customized directly by nARCHITECTS. For unique site or climatic conditions, nARCHITECTS can also provide mirrored versions of the house (mirrored on either axis), at additional nominal cost (contact the office directly).

In its iconic simplicity and novel connections between inside and outside, Double-Ex House is at once reassuringly familiar and exciting, general yet one of a kind. Through its various features and options, Double-Ex House is also conceived as a sustainable house that can be easily adapted to a variety of climates and locations.

* ‘ex’, as in exterior.