Back to Work

PROJECT DETAILS:

Location: Berkeley, CA

Photography: Joe Fletcher and Peter Lyons

In Collaboration with: Timbre Architecture

Nest House is a new construction hillside home, nestled amongst the trees in the Berkeley Hills. It is named for its unique form: a floating wing connected to the main house by a glass bridge on the second floor. The home is designed to be a flexible, family-friendly abode that can suit the ever changing needs of its occupants, and provides an engaging tactile experience with its natural materials and thoughtful construction details. The Nest wing, ready for ADU conversion, has a pre-plumbed wall for a kitchen and is structurally detailed for the addition of a second entry.

Conceived with sustainability in mind, this all-electric home started with a passive solar thermal design and siting to emphasize connection to the land. A concrete wall along the east side of the house and slab at the ground level reduce heating and cooling loads for the electric heat pumps. Electricity demand is off-set with a solar PV array on the garage roof, and climate adaptation is considered with back-up battery. The home also includes fire-hardened construction and a fire sprinkler system. At the material level, embodied energy and carbon footprint were considered throughout. All concrete used in the project incorporated an average of 25% fly ash. A Deodar Cedar that had to be removed for construction was given new life as exterior cladding. Finally, a green roof above the nest wing is visible from the street, reducing water run-off during winter and solar heat gain in summer. 

Thoughtful features abound including a blackened steel island countertop and backsplash, Douglas Fir wall to ceiling panels and cabinetry, skylights that bring in filtered light along the vertical circulation, a hidden area through the kitchen cabinetry wall for all of a family’s back of house needs, and a maintenance free lawn for frolicking. The result is a thoughtfully designed home that provides a sensory filled treehouse for its inhabitants.