A new screened pavilion and gardens were added to and around an existing house with pool built in the 1920s in a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed subdivision in Atlanta. The building lot is extremely deep with views extending into a neighboring climax hardwood forest. Prior to this project, the site was a series of typically unrelated backyard and side-yard elements added haphazardly over the years resulting in a chaotic feeling.
The “gossamer” qualities of the new screened pavilion intentionally blur the distinction between the interior and exterior. Locating the floor level of the addition at mid-level between the house main floor and the level of the pool cancels the original perception of the house as psychologically separate. Instead of house and yard, the redesigned whole becomes a linked series of interior and exterior “rooms” and spaces with a natural sense of repose and a feeling it was all originally meant to be this way. Project Awards: First Prize, Great American Home Awards, National Trust for Historic Preservation / First Prize, Sympathetic Addition, National Trust for Historic Preservation / Merit Award for Design Excellence, Georgia Chapter American Institute of Architects.
© 2008-10 Robert M. Cain