Gold Hall Residence

Situated on the Malibu Canyon, the California residence renovated by SPARCHS architects revolves a house from the 60s into a spatially well-organized contemporary dwelling.

Californian practice Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS), renovated a 1960s Malibu Canyon track home with a series of strategic surgical design procedures, both on the external facade and within the interiors, redefining the space layout.

As the original home had no front entry – it was originally accessed alongside the garage off the side-yard driveway – Phillips created a two-story wrap-around balcony and deck that directed arriving guests to the front of the house. A new entry hall to the upper living level was added featuring a floating steel staircase with glass and stainless-steel guardrails alongside solid-white oak-wood treads.

On the interior, the kitchen was completely renovated opening up towards the family room, dining room, breakfast nook, and entry hall. The baths, bedrooms, and living spaces were all reconstructed with new finishings. The new angular-roof entry became the central organizational figure within the overall design, bringing visitors up from the garden to the living area, and using glass extensively, shaded under a series of shifted and folded roof and wall planes that extend out to the canyon while framing distant mountain views.

The new entry creates a dynamic yet relaxing space that reconfigures an otherwise rambling wooden shack with unclear floor plan into a well-organized contemporary dwelling. The family room, kitchen, and main hall all overlook the entry stair that provides views clear out to the mountains and easy access to the yard below. Fortifying the exterior the architect proposed a combination of cement board and metal panels alongside exterior cement plaster (stucco) wall surfaces to ensure a flame-resistant finishing.