Montrose Duplex – Warren Techentin Architecture – US

Architect: Warren Techentin Architecture
Location: Montrose, California, US
Photographs: Nicholas Alan Cope

Beginning as a garage that housed the client’s electric vehicle and its charger, the project grew to encompass the addition of a new 484 square foot loft unit above it to adequately encompass programmatic needs and zoning potentials. The clients asked for a building that would embrace concepts of green design. Numerous strategies were integrated toward this end, including solar panels, non-toxic materials, shaded wall and roof surfaces, renewable materials, the elimination of gas as an energy source, the development of stack effects, and increased insulation. The structure is compact – squeezed into the remaining space of the lot – and the form of it is manipulated by the site forces imposed on the space – such as a large tree and tight parking back-ups – which required the structure to twist, fold, and stretch as it rises to maximize solar efficiency.