Located along a congested area of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, the “build-ability” of this parcel was heavily questioned due to the site’s steep up-slope, an active creek and 20 feet of backfill. Through an analysis of the litany of constraints upon the project, a suitable location for the 3,600 sf house was identified and ultimately determined the footprint of the structure. In negotiating the imposed location for the house, an inverted orientation emerged, turning away from the heavily trafficked street and towards the lush hillside and creek found within the property. The house was conceived as the interlocking of two concepts of dwelling, consisting of an opaque volume, screening the residents from the noise and intensity of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and a thin scrim of metal and glass, supporting a porous relationship between the interior spaces and the nature beyond. The house consists of a series of contiguous living spaces that open to the terrace, expanding the interior deep into the site and over the creek.