Perched on a steep, wooded slope with skyscraping views of San Francisco Bay, Kentfield Residence mediates between an intimate experience of its site and the extraordinary visual prospects that site offers. At the house’s north side, a retaining wall flows along the land’s contour lines, creating level outdoor space for the entry courtyard and a private pool area. Thus anchored into the hillside, the slender living platform seems to go airborne toward the south. “You feel very much that you’re on a threshold between the hill and the view,” says architect Mary Griffin.
Griffin and partner Eric Haesloop also wove the building into its environment via other means, both obvious (such as the green roof and the naturally weathering ipe rainscreen siding) and hidden (including a sophisticated rainwater management and collection system, and rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot water panels). The jury applauded the project’s deft balance of drama and subtlety. “The way it engages with its site is unique,” remarked one judge. “I love the way it integrates with the slope.”
