Pro Projects
A responsive family home provides a tranquil refuge
See how architect Mahya Salehi overcame a number of obstacles, from site constraints to daylighting challenges, to design a family home that ticks all the boxes and uses 100 Series windows and doors.
When tackling this new home project, the family’s choice was to buy an existing home that would surely need updating or build a new one tailored to their needs and lifestyle, so the couple decided to build. They found an infill lot in their town of Fremont, California. Although its shape was unusual, its location, in a vibrant neighborhood with good schools, was perfect. Their next move was to hire architect Mahya Salehi, AIA, founder of the eponymously named studio. Here’s how Salehi made this family’s dream home come true.
Letting in the light
The lot has a long driveway that snakes between two existing homes and down a slope to the main site. Surrounded by existing homes, finding natural light was the first challenge presented by the location. A shadow study shed light on a daylighting strategy that includes the following features:
- A south-facing courtyard: This outdoor space carved into the side of the home has 100 Series gliding patio doors and floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, which allows it to light multiple rooms.
- A window wall: Positioned at the back of the home where the floor plan opens up, this configuration uses the Easy Connect Joining System to let light into the great room and is complemented by light coming from the adjacent courtyard.
- A double-height stairwell: This vertical volume acts as a light well, beaming light from the skylights into the center of the home.
- Lots of floor-to-ceiling glass: 100 Series Picture windows and gliding patio doors of a consistent height are integrated throughout the home.
The city’s height restriction was a second challenge. To work around the two-story limitation, Salehi used the sloping site to her advantage. She integrated the basement level into the hillside and positioned the second and third stories, so there’s never more than two overlapping at once — resulting in three finished levels and a total of 4,800 square feet.
The split-level approach accommodates the family’s complex program requirements: two home offices and an in-law suite that can house relatives for extended stays. It also left room for lots of indoor/outdoor living. Additional space was converted into decks in various locations, including a massive one off the primary suite.
Playing with layout
Salehi has helped a lot of clients fix the problems resulting from an almost “reckless” embrace of open-concept floor plans. She’s well acquainted with the acoustic issues, inefficiency, and discomfort that can result from removing all walls, so she guided her clients carefully in balancing open and defined spaces throughout their home.
“There’s a hybrid scenario where you maintain openness, whether visually or through proximity, while still having rooms that feel like different spaces.”
Mahya Salehi, AIA
A certain degree of openness helps natural light penetrate deep into the interior. This is key to the daylighting strategy at the back of the home where a window wall makes up one side of the great room. Here is where the kitchen, breakfast nook, and family room are located in one hardworking space. By housing multiple functions in this great room, something fundamental to family life is fostered, an opportunity for connection. The children might be doing homework or craft projects in the breakfast nook, and their parents might be cooking dinner, but everyone is near one another.
