Our Work | California Modern Design — EYRC Architects

The Mews | Modern Architecture in Venice — EYRC Architects

Written by Natalie LaHaie | Jan 19, 2021 2:34:00 PM

The Mews are located between a busy retail street to the north and a quiet residential neighborhood to the south. The 8-unit loft project sits on an irregular, shallow 50' site which is a composite of three odd-shaped lots at the confluence of three commercial and residential zones. The complex project provides much-needed multi-family units for this increasingly popular part of the city.

Two similar unit types aggregated in a six-unit and a two-unit building were developed. The first floor of each unit comprises a two-car garage and a home office and/or additional bedroom or flex-space that opens onto a modest private yard. The main double-height living area is on the second floor with kitchen and dining tucked underneath the third-floor master bedroom.

Sixteen-foot-tall glass roll-up doors open onto a terrace and extend the main space looking out over the quieter residential street side, while punched sliding openings, strip windows and doors bring in light and provide views of the busier street to the north. Sloped shed roofs and clerestory windows provide additional light for the bedroom. A stucco mass within each volume houses fireplaces which open to the dining and living spaces on the second floor and the master bedroom on the third floor.

The Mews use low-maintenance, affordable, semi-industrial materials appropriate for the area. The stair/service tower of Units 1-6 are clad in vertical standing seam copper siding, while Units 7-8 are clad in composite siding made of Trex (recycled plastic and sawdust). The main floor is concrete and the stacked stairs leading from first floor to the third-level are of painted steel channels, solid wood treads, and steel-cable railing.