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Kokoris Residence

Sharing the Visual Wealth

JENSEN took an unmemorable residential home and made it fantastical, with a contemporary façade that finds peace between street, house, city, and sky.

A Different Space and Time

It began with a simple enough idea: remodel an existing home at the top of San Francisco’s Twin Peaks neighborhood to express the owner’s love of midcentury modern architecture and the jewel-box feel of a Los Angeles street front. JENSEN saw a greater opportunity to rethink the standard residential porch as a display case not just for the house, but also for the view of San Francisco that lay beyond it.

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Rethinking the Urban Porch

Most residents of the terraced streets hugging the top of Twin Peaks enjoy the stunning views from the rear of their homes, like carefully guarded possessions. The new glassed-in porch and the sliding door beyond it let passersby share the view. The design concept here actively engages the street, blurring the distinction between private and public.

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Best Face Forward

The porch is cantilevered, and joined by floating concrete steps; the crowning touch of whimsy is a “moat” — actually a tiled reflecting pool and waterfall, framing the threshold. The shimmering blue tile complements the surrounding sky, enhancing the illusion of an entry hovering in space.

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Never a Dull Moment

Both JENSEN and the client gave serious consideration to how the house would look at night. Even the garage plays a role in the changing visuals: by day it serves as a solid counterbalance to the vitrine-like porch, but at night the micro perforated panels composing the garage door cast a luminous blue glow. The new façade’s continual play of light and color contributes to the jewel-box feel.

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Type
Residential
Client
withheld
Location
San Francisco

Awards

2010 AIA California Council, Merit Award
2009 Residential Architect Design Awards, Grand Award for Architectural Design Detail

Press

San Francisco Chronicle, “From Outdated to Outstanding,” May 30, 2010
Small Firms, Great Projects, AIA San Francisco, 2010
Dwell, “Houses We Love,” June 2009
Residential Architect, “Design Awards 2009,” March/April 2009

Architects

Project Leads
Jensen Architects / Jensen & Macy Architects:
Mark Jensen
Melissa Nordquist
Project Team
Chris Kalos

Consultants

Structural
Jeffrey Weber & Associates
Geotechnl
Geotecnia

Contractor

Johnstone McAuliffe Construction

Photographer

Cesar Rubio
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