PROJECT INFO

Scope: New Single-Family Residence

Location: City of Malibu

Size: 9,800 sf

Status: Under Construction

PROJECT description: 

If you drive up along the Pacific Coast Highway and go past Zuma beach, you will understand the unique development pattern of the City of Malibu. With the narrow land between the ocean and the hills, the Pacific Coast Highway acted as an artery of traffic and divided the narrow land into two textures: the oceanfront beach houses and foothills open gentle slopes. Unlike its oceanfront neighbors, which tend to sit shoulder to shoulder to drain every breeze of the sea, the project of PC79 is located at the other side, the open, higher side, which leaves a broader stage for the architect to unleash the vision of a luxury lifestyle in this most expensive beach town in SoCal.

The site is located on a gentle slope, with the next-door neighbors of a rural field and a canyon trail. The subtle elevation change of the site inspired a lifted volume for this project. The open view looking towards the sea was unblocked, which internally required an extended spatial quality. To maximize the lifting concept and to visually reduce the weight of the structure, a curved transition between horizontal and vertical elements was introduced, which blurred the reading of a post and beam structure logic, and instead pushed the visual focus to the integral shell. The openings and decks were following the shape and tangent without introducing any unnecessary tectonic hints. By limiting the language expressed in the construction and pruning redundant information for the users, PC79 was able to provide a pure conversation concentrate on the lifestyle and space experience.

PC79