Grand Studio
Date: July 2013
Project type: Residential
Status: Ongoing

Inspired by its unique urban context, AEDS has designed an accessory building to a historic home built in the late eighteenth century. The design embodies both the eccentricities of its context and our particular interest in the relationship between architectural form and material strategies. As is often the case in New Orleans, the project site is located at the intersection of two different street grids. This area is the pivot point for the subtle rotation that occurs between them.

Existing on the property is a historic residence. Its interior is characterized by linear spatial progressions that have been reinforced with the new deck, lap pool, and cantilevered studio. An existing garage building creates a defined edge at the back of the property, perpendicular to the directional grain of the residence. The new studio addition sits on top of one end of the garage, oriented to follow directionality of the residence and cantilever over the lap pool.

The geometry of the studio combines the two existing contextual grids and the effect is a pleated volume. A subtle 7° rotation is applied between the floor and roof surfaces of the studio; the resulting geometry is triangulated to create planar surfaces.

Several studies for the rainscreen were developed, from a traditional horizontal cladding to ideas inspired by fashion and clothing design. Designing clothing patterns poses the challenge of creating a three-dimensional garment from two-dimensional surfaces. Relationships between seaming and the fabric's pattern must be considered before the material is cut and the garment is assembled. The current cladding strategy is contouring following a 45° angle to produce both the pattern of the wood cladding and the fenestration in one corner of the studio.