New Forms of Old Buildings Dialogue - Changing Traditional Gable Walls to Modern

Chen + Suchart Studios was established in 2002 as an American architectural design company. Recently renovated and expanded a 30-generation residential project in Phoenix, Arizona. The window wall to give the metal cladding, and increased the sharp roof.

The house is named E scholar Renovation, the designer needs to update and expand the existing site, making it more in line with the urban center of the surrounding environment.

Located in the 1930s, known as the FQ story, the house is one of the few historic regions in the young desert metropolis. There are about 600 houses in the neighborhood that still maintain the original characteristics, and the average residential area of contemporary United States compared to the housing area in the block was significantly smaller.

Designers were asked to respond to the city planning guidelines to protect the historical figures of the Escobar neighborhood. "In addition to a smaller storage room, the house has remained largely unchanged for nearly 100 years," says Chen + Suchart's studio.

The site covers an area of 1100 square feet (102 square meters), the original house is divided into a number of different closed space. In the main living room space, the architect chose to keep the original footprint, but also gives space to give a sense of forthright.

All the walls were demolished to create a large, spacious living room, kitchen and dining area. "The integration of space is further extended by taking advantage of the mezzanine space, which adds an arched area above the living room," the studio explains.

Kitchen and dining areas The interior ceiling was originally highly reconstructed. The ceiling plane is continuous, and the overall shape of the meandering, help people feel more spacious than the original space.

In the back area of the house, the architect designed a 400 square foot (37 square meters) subsidiary housing, including a master bedroom, the floor with shiny smooth concrete decoration.

The firm set out to create a new structure that relied on existing foundations to create different forms of architectural dialogue, but not as a copy of different eras.

"The ancillary building resonates with the existing house itself, and identifies itself as a unique novelty - as an open gable form," the studio says.

"The new wooden framed building is wrapped in a carbon black-edged vertical band-clamped metal system that covers the walls and the roof, creating a sense of unity for the building."

The project also contains a terrace, which is in line with the rear facade of the house, in which part of the courtyard is closed.

Push the glass door towards the concrete terrace, so that indoor and outdoor space penetration. Full vertical glass facade further emphasizes the indoor and outdoor connections.

A paved sidewalk leads to the backyard concrete fireplace.

For this project, the studio's most important goal is to create a design, to commemorate the historical figures of the house, but also to meet the needs of contemporary people's living.

"Our redesign and expansion of the house was designed to meet the aesthetic and functional needs of contemporary people," said the architect.