An attic full of laundry. Now the room everybody wants.
Down was not an option, because the basement was already an accessory dwelling. Up was the attic, and the attic was full of laundry. Low headroom, a difficult climb, and a roof geometry nobody had ever measured properly.
They were worried about the stair, the ceiling height, and the size. All three were real. None of them was the reason the space was unusable.
A precise 3D scan of the existing attic became the model. The ribbons were prefabricated virtually and cut on CNC equipment, which also allowed a perforated panel whose hole sizes vary across a gradient.
A computer does not care whether it cuts a thousand holes of different sizes. A person does.
And a trap door that becomes a floor when it closes, opening rear storage they did not know they had.
An alternating tread stair gets you up quickly in a tight space, and makes the climb manageable with a laundry basket. A new operable round window, in the tradition of boat building, sits in the old opening.
Visitors are surprised twice: by the quality of the space, and by how bright it is.
The room was never only an office. It is where their son goes to retreat, curled up with a book, looking out through the porthole window. A child with a good imagination will find the best room in a house and claim it.
A desk, a printer, and boxes with nowhere else to go. Now a wardrobe wall in white oak, and a chair worth sitting in.
A fixed round window over bins of loose paper. Now an operable ship's porthole, and a daybed built into the peak.
A washer and dryer sitting under a skylight with nothing to do. Now a desk that uses the light for something.
AIA|DC Chapter Design Award, 2024
"This project blew my mind. Exquisite. It is what every architect dreams to have, a project of this scale where you get to think about every single square inch, every single screw... Even the way it connects with the existing house, where there is light being shared from space to space. Outstanding."
Erin Sterling Lewis, FAIA · Awards jury
"Amazing is the right word, because there is nothing left untouched. Beautiful detail."
Dina Griffin, FAIA · Awards jury
Have an attic you have written off?
The ceiling height decides more than people expect. Worth an hour finding out what the numbers actually allow.
Read what an attic can become →Rather talk it through? Start with one question.
"The room is not larger than it was. It is measured, which is a different thing entirely."Luis Boza · On precision as the design
