Pro Projects
Building back better after a fire
When an architect and his wife got the chance to redesign their home, a combination of creativity and pragmatism helped them overcome the barriers and turn constraints into inspiration.
Gavin Maxwell, Int’l Assoc. AIA, got to fulfill every architect’s dream: building his own home. The catch? A fire forced him into the project. Nevertheless, he took on the challenge (and challenge is the right word). He stretched the limited funds afforded by an insurance payout by prioritizing a few flaws he’d become familiar with after 10 years of living in the home and by getting creative about reusing some of the elements left intact after the fire. Here’s how he pulled off his redesign.
The home is built into a hill surrounded by a grove of towering redwoods and densely built houses. These circumstances lead to a few flaws in both form and function, including a too-small entryway that was difficult to access, weak outdoor connections, and a dark interior. One of the keys to addressing these challenges was adding 600 square feet of space at road level.
To do this, Maxwell’s design called for adding height to the home, so it now includes a new level where formerly only a carport hinted at the home below. Not only does this new level, which integrates with the rebuilt carport, greatly enhance curb appeal, it also allows the couple to enter their home without being exposed to the elements, improves flow, and crucially, makes the most of the limited direct sunlight available.
Glass lines three walls on this new level, and two light wells help it filter down and brighten the level below where the main living spaces are concentrated. “We’re in the trees, but the large windows and light wells bounce light all the way through the house,” Maxwell said. He selected E-Series windows for their narrow sight lines and integrated mulled units where possible to extend the window size while keeping the framing to a minimum. He also added an all-glass E-Series Hinged Patio Door to this space to provide access to a newly built patio, which is built into the roof of the floor below. This patio showcases the dramatic views to which the home is privy. Adding openings and a living space here was one of the ways Maxwell’s redesign fixed a design flaw, since formerly the entrance ended in a blank wall. Now, the entrance offers a curated view of the valley, the adjacent redwood grove, and the forest beyond.
Gavin Maxwell, Int’l Assoc. AIA
Some of the original home’s design flaws stemmed from the fact that it began as a cabin whose foundation wasn’t quite square. The 1930s cabin was later remodeled into a 1980s home with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. These iterations resulted in a style that Maxwell described as “ill defined” with some functional issues as well — a gutter system that needed constant maintenance, a lack of natural light, and poor access to outdoor spaces.
Still, reusing what remained after the fire was key to making the most of a limited budget and the original foundation with its unusual trapezoidal shape was one of the few things that remained. Maxwell decided to embrace “all the angles.” He leaned into a constructivist design style with “geometric shapes that crash and merge into each other.” To bring the home square to the road and connect the main house and carport roofs, he created a vertical volume he calls “The Wedge.” It unites the two roofs, which are both 2:12 monopitch but have differing lengths and are slightly offset. This innovation solved for some of the functional issues at the entrance, simplified the roof system (with easily cleanable gutters included), and set a certain style tone — wedge shapes are repeated throughout the home. It also enabled him to expand the square footage from 2,600 to 3,100.
In addition to reusing the original foundation and salvaging some of the framing and appliances, Maxwell’s pragmatism included a few future-proofing features. The home is designed for aging in place, with improved accessibility at the entrance, a curbless shower in the primary suite, and an elevator shaft that runs between the three levels of the home. While he would have liked to invest in state-of-the art sustainable materials, building through the inflated prices of the pandemic and the subsequent limited supply chain woes meant this level of investment wasn’t possible. Still, he took steps to make the home ignition resistant, using the materials available at the time. By making the shear plywood also the exterior sheathing and by using closed cell spray foam insulation throughout, the wall system does double duty. The insulation bonds with the plywood, creating an airtight, fire resistant, shear strong monolithic wall system. A metal roof, gutter guards, and intumescent roof vents also minimize the chances of embers igniting the roof system.
Turning constraints into creative inputs is what allowed Maxwell to overcome the many obstacles to rebuilding, and the result is a one-of-a-kind home that’s beautiful, comfortable, and clear-eyed about the future.
Born, bred (and buttered) in Northern Ireland, Gavin Maxwell studied and obtained an Architecture license in Liverpool, England. In 1994, he emigrated to California where he first worked for Cervantes Design Associates in San Francisco, and then for Mayfield Architects in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
In between, he volunteered for Pathlight International at their field station in the Belizean jungle. There, he worked for two years on environmental, education and humanitarian projects.
Gavin firmly believes that design matters, and that it has the ability to enrich lives and create beauty. He strives to create good, thoughtful design that can minimize the built environment, by inviting nature, and its inherent wellness qualities, into our homes, schools, and offices.
Having his home destroyed in a neighborhood fire gave Gavin the challenge of working for his most demanding client yet — his wife, Julie. Through blood, sweat, and some tears — they both hope to live happily ever after in their home in the woods.
