The House of Four Ecologies is a personal project led by Figure partner James Leng. The 1,600 square-foot private residence was conceived by a group of long time friends who will share the residence and its access to the sublime coastal environment of Sea Ranch—the collective nature of the house necessitated a layout that allows for socializing, but also solitude for individual reflection and creative craft. Hence, the single-family house is reimagined as an interconnected cluster of four small volumes, each holding space for privacy as well as gathering.
As a contextually responsive strategy, multiple smaller volumes become far more agile in physically navigating around the existing natural features on the site—most prominently a small cluster of windblown but healthy fir trees at its center. These four volumes dance between the trees in a delicate choreography that pays deference to their residency, taking advantage of their presence to protect from wind and frame view corridors to scenery afar.
Featured in:
The Local Project
Wallpaper
Architectural Record
Architectural Review
Divisare
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Glacial Erratic
Location: Sea Ranch, California
Client: Self-Developed
Year: 2023 - 2025
Type: Ground-up residential
Size: 1,600 sf
Status: Completed
Team: James Leng (Figure), Juney Lee, Hoang Nguyen and Nat