Archinect - News

Forbes names the 200 residential architecture firms for 2024

2024-11-01T11:17:00-04:00

Ten months of work later, we present to you an architects list unprecedented in its scope and diligence, representing firms in 42 states plus the District of Columbia. These are the nation’s finest practitioners of the creation of “home,” and the residential specialists best suited to help you build the setting for your life’s most meaningful experiences—all vetted and at your fingertips.

The list includes some familiar names to Archinect readers. Past RIBA Stirling Prize winner Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Bestor Architecture, D.U.S.T, and Waechter Architecture were included. West Coast heavyweights Olson Kundig Architects, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and Brooks + Scarpa were joined by the female-owned Santa Monica outfit BA Collective (which is currently hiring) and 25 others from California alone. Firms from northern New England and Louisiana were also well-represented on this year's list, which is the inaugural edition.

Forbes notes: "To help ensure that geographic inclusiveness, as well as the most equitable process of evaluation possible, we assembled a regionally diverse advisory board of leading experts on the American house. With their input and guidance, we then formulated a singularly rigorous methodology and system of evaluation, the latter giving rise to a new aspirational standard for residential design and construction, the seven-category Forbes Archite...

The LADG designs residential compound with art studio in Highland Park

2020-10-15T18:50:00-04:00

The Los Angeles Design Group (The LADG) has completed House in Los Angeles 1, an art studio and residential compound for a pair of professional visual artists, a painter and a photographer. The project contains an addition to the clients' existing mid-century home, a guest house that provides studio space for their work, and dedicated structures for exhibitions and events.

"Our project defies and reorganizes some of the architectural tropes associated with LA suburbia," says Claus Benjamin Freyinger, co-founder and co-principal of The LADG in a statement. "It’s not a single house with a unified program, meant to contain a sleeping family at night, who commute off to work and school lives in the morning. It’s a collection of buildings that integrates work, living, and communal activities around the livelihoods of two artists."

The structures are connected by a series of freestanding walls. "May’s residential designs are remarkable because of the way walls and interior elements appear...

Large cedar trees surround Christopher Wright Architecture's coastal home in Washington

2020-05-20T13:13:00-04:00

Seattle-based Christopher Wright Architecture designed this home for owners who wanted to live in an intimate space with a strong connection to trees, bay views, and the land. Combining Swiss-style architecture with modern influences, the aesthetic nature of the dwelling highlights craftsmanship, structure, and connectivity to the surrounding landscape.

Photos by Anna Spencer.

"We wanted to create a home that seems to belong where it is–as if it could have always been there–but does not necessarily blend or disappear. Here, I like the strength of the simple forms set against the natural landscape," said Christopher Wright, founder of Christopher Wright Architecture in a statement.

Photos by Anna Spencer.

Surrounded by cedar trees, the buildable area of the site was minimal and the team ensured the trees were kept intact. As such, the home was built close to the trees, requiring a modified approach to the traditional foundation so that the roots of the cedars would not be disturbed.

Ph...

San Francisco architect completes "Three Chimney House" in Virginia

2020-05-06T13:05:00-04:00

San Francisco-based TW Ryan Architecture (TWRA) completes its first ground-up project in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Three Chimney House sits on a large 45-acre site with a small pond and views westward towards the Shenandoah Mountains. The property was originally part of a larger Homestead used in the Civil War as a hospital for wounded soldiers and is only a mile from where Lewis and Clark began their quest of discovery across America after being commission by Thomas Jefferson.

Designed for a family of four, the design of the home takes inspiration from traditional Southern colonial houses through its form and use of materials. Brick, copper, stone, and wood are utilized throughout the structure and were selected for their historical use in the local area. Longevity and the ability for the materials to patina over time were crucial to their selection.

The defining feature of the home are its three chimneys, which stand 30 feet in height and help anchor key moments within the dw...