Meadow House

2024 Residential Design Awards Merit Recipient

The Santa Lucia Preserve is a private community spanning twenty thousand acres in California’s Carmel Valley. 90 per cent of the expansive property is vast and untamed.

The clients – a multigenerational family with strong business and cultural ties to their native Korea – approached the design team to conceive “a Californian home with a Korean heart”.

This brief involved a deep dive into Korean design principles and traditions and, “the client really educated us on the meaning of the modern Korean house.” Many of the biophilic tendencies they uncovered are aligned with Californian vernacular traditions, culminating in a project that is both conceptually unique and contextually relevant.

For example, the purpose of a hanok – a Korean home – is to connect humans with nature. Entrances are generally oriented towards the sun; expansive openings and deep verandahs aim to connect occupants to the outdoors while protecting them from the elements; and the light should be soft and subtle but omnipresent and coming from multiple places. All these principles were important to the clients, who also wanted to be able to conduct business, entertain large groups of people and host family members for extended periods of time at their home.

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A very well done single family residence. The jury was impressed by how it works with the topography–the sensitivity to the site is really fantastic–the warmth in the materiality, and the connection of the house to nature.

//framework for design excellence measures

Measure 1: Design for Integration

“• All heating and cooling is provided through high efficiency, locally distributed electric heat pump cassettes and blower units.
• The length, location and extent of all roof overhangs designed so that minimal direct sunlight penetration is allowed into the home during the hottest months of the year. Cooling loads are reduced as well through the use of vertical cedar wood sun screens.
• The ground plane structure of both the house and guest house is concrete slab on grade with a stone slab finish. The resulting exposed thermal mass absorbs, stores and releases heat in the cooler months.
• The extensive use of stacking glass door systems allows for highly manageable natural cross ventilation and cooling.
• Exterior materials are low to no maintenance materials such as stone veneer, natural cedar and weathering steel.”

Measure 2: Design for Equitable Communities

The Meadow House site was selected because it is within walking distance to the main social center, the “Hacienda”, the Equestrian Center and the Sports Center. The Preserve also operates shuttles for access to the golf facility. The entire grounds and building are accessible. Ramps connect most of the levels of the building interior, and an elevator connects the basement and upper level bedrooms that would otherwise not be available to disabled visitors.

Measure 3: Design for Ecosystems

Every home developed in the Preserve is approved through a rigorous design review process with the main intention of requiring that 90% of the land be left in as natural a state as possible. Taxes and fees gathered through the development of the 300 building sites help fund the Endowment that funds the Santa Lucia Conservancy.

Measure 4: Design for Water

Measure 5: Design for Economy

The building combines spaces that might typically be included in several un-related buildings. For instance, the requirement for a family home is satisfied with the included rooms and services, but the kitchen can also function as a semi-commercial facility for large gatherings. Sliding shoji screens allow the main kitchen to be visually cordoned off for more public gatherings. The cost/SF number is modest in comparison with many/most similar contemporaneous homes.

Measure 6: Design for Energy

A great deal of care and analysis went into sizing the generous overhangs, cedar sunscreens and glazing directions to allow for solar penetration during the winter months, while controlling the overheating risk in the summer. The vast sliding glazed doors, up to 50% of the floor area, allow for a variety of cross ventilation options throughout the day and the seasons. In addition, the heating and cooling system is a series of electric heat pump systems on 8 separate thermostats. In addition, all lighting is LED.

Measure 7: Design for Well-Being

The home is optimized for natural fresh air and natural lighting. The overhangs and cedar screens have been designed and studied in rendering programs to maximize the amount of light penetration while limiting glare and direct sunlight penetration. The extensive use of stacking sliding door systems allows for numerous cross ventilation configurations.

Measure 8: Design for Resources

To control material wastage and labor costs, the design team pared down the material palette dramatically. The exterior materials are corten steel, cedar siding, cedar sun screens and stone veneer. Most exterior materials are maintenance free. At the interior, the casework materials throughout are White Oak; flooring is either White Oak or Italian Bluestone, and all of the slab work on counters and walls is the same Quartz slab material. All materials selected require minimal or no maintenance. The goal is to produce a structure that will last at least 100 years.

Measure 9: Design for Change

The building layout has been consciously designed to be multiuse. Currently the building functions as a family home, conference center, events center (music and affinity club), and retreat. The open and flexible plan allows for reconfiguration as needed, and the ramps and elevator facilitate accessibility.

Measure 10: Design for Discovery

The clients have now been using the home as a residence and for conference uses. Feedback is very positive regarding all systems, with the lighting control systems requiring ongoing tuning. The design team spent a week staying in the home in September experiencing the essence of the building first hand. The indoor/outdoor experience, in reality, greatly exceeds all expectations. One is really a part of the Meadow.