College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Above Lake Washington a Seattle House opens up to drink in the views
Sunday October 2008
"Perhaps it's the Japanese influence here on the West Coast that inspires such an affinity for landscape. Or maybe the immediacy of mountain and water vistas lures architects to build with glass and more glass. To alleviate light deprivation in our dull, gray climate, architects here are masters at opening up buildings to scoop in as much illumination as possible." The home on Lake Washington , designed by Architect and CAUP Assistant Professor Peter Cohan for a couple and their four children, wholeheartedly embraces this.
With oversized glass doors that have no fixed end, allowing them to slide in either direction, the living space of this home mirrors a seamless transition of indoor and outdoor space that the overall design highlights. The various rooms of the home including the living space, kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, and even the library are set along an interior spine of the house that encirle the most important "rooms" of the house: the trerrace and the lawn. Features such as the pale oak flooring set against the Texas limestone terrace further blur the differentiation of inside and out. The glass doors of the master bedroom, soaking up the view of the lake, open so wide they create an illusion that the room is actually cantilevered over the water. "I love the way the way the house and lake interact,"says the owner. "The house lets the lake in."
For the complete story and slide show, please visit The Seattle Times online.