Stanford Residence
Home to Stanford professor David M Kelly, who is renowned for his human-centred design approach, Stanford Residence is tailored to a creative lifestyle. By simplifying the existing building, Jensen Architects and Johanna Grawunder establish open, adaptable spaces that proudly reflect its occupant.
Located on a quiet campus street, Stanford Residence is a thoughtful adaptation of a typical faculty house. “We’ve enjoyed many great client collaborations in the past and this process with David definitely joins that category,” says Mark Jensen, founder of Jensen Architects. “He came to the project with a strong point of view, but it was not prescriptive. He’s very open to the exchange of ideas, so between the contractor, designer – Johanna – David and me, the scheme continued to improve.” The resulting home champions an open floor plan that, in contrast to the original California ranch-style house, allows Kelly to move freely between zones with direct access to his workspace.
With pared-back colours, forms and materials, the home enables a journey of discovery. From the street, the building appears more as a low-lying shape among the trees than a house; its charcoal-painted walls blend seamlessly with its rolled roofing and the doors are well concealed. The front gate opens to a decked square courtyard, at the edge of which lies the main entrance. “The house is organised as one simple open plan where rooms flow into other rooms,” says Jensen. “However, it is possible to subdivide the space through a series of sliding walls. For instance, a sliding partition helps David to separate the bedroom area from the living arrangement.” The dining space is subtly zoned by an oversized skylight that forms one of the more surprising elements of the home as it resembles the shape of a cathedral ceiling. Another is the rear workshop that extends directly from the living areas.
“The workshop is one of the most important pieces of the program for David because he is constantly making, tinkering and taking things apart,” explains Jensen. “There’s a disproportionate amount of space and volume given to that, relative to what most people have in their houses.” The generous dimensions of the workshop and its visual connection to the living spaces emphasise the integration of work into Kelly’s daily life. They also provide the opportunity to change the internal view in response to evolving interests. The enveloping materials are intentionally restrained to support the crafted and collected pieces.
“When I look around the house, I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve made a container for David’s life,” says Mark. “By that, I do not just mean a place for his possessions, but a home that accommodates his lifestyle and collaborative dialogue. It’s not static; the house is a living organism. He can recreate it. It is open to guests, new memories and creative occupancy.”
Architecture by Jensen Architects. Interior design by Johanna Grawunder.
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