KUBE selected to design new home on prestigious DC site

KUBE has been selected to design a new ground up 6,000 sf house for the last available site adjacent to the historic Rosedale Conservancy, located in Cleveland Park in northwest DC.  The Conservancy dates back 280 years into Washington history and is home to one of the oldest private residences in the area.  

General Uriah Forrest

Sometime before 1730, an unknown Maryland colonist built a stone cottage on the property which is less than half a mile from the grounds of the National Cathedral. General Uriah Forrest and his wife Rebecca bought the property in 1793 and began construction on the farmhouse that still stands today. After the Revolutionary War, Forrest served as the mayor of Georgetown and eventually in the Continental Congress of the United States. 

Over the years, the neighborhood grew up around the estate as lots bordering the three-acre, conserved green space were sold off.  The lawn is now open to the public and serves as a dog park for the community. The last available lot near the conservatory, 3/4 acre, was recently sold to a young family interested in building their dream home on these grounds. 

View of site from driveway off of Ordway

Conceptual Drawing: Rosedale House Front Perspective 

Conceptual Drawing : Rosedale House Rear Perspective 

KUBE worked with the homeowners and an array of organizations to design an approved set of plans that pays homage to the site’s rural past while delivering a comfortable, modern structure stacked into two stories and configured as two offset rectangles. 

The plans were approved and applauded by the Historic Preservation Review Board, the local ANC, the Cleveland Park ARC and the Rosedale Conservancy Board.  The theme is a “modern barn,” which nods toward the rural history of the site and successfully unifies the new house with the adjacent historic farmhouse. The project includes a swimming pool and straddles a small slope in the rolling landscape.  Consultants on the project include landscape architects Campion Hruby, based in Annapolis structural engineer, JZ Structural Consulting and civil engineer,  CAS Engineering. 

Look for future updates as the project is documented throughout design and construction. For more information about KUBE Architecture, visit our website or check us out on Facebook and Twitter.    

Conceptual Drawing : Rosedale House Southern Exposure 

New Life in the Suburbs

CASA ABIERTA

The Owners are from Costa Rica. After the second meeting, their second child was born. At the third meeting, their house was filled with family and friends, a common occurrence in their home. The suburban box did not at all fit their lifestyle.  It was closed, dark, and divided into very small rooms.  They said that there was not one space in which they felt comfortable. They wanted a house of openness and light, where their children could be free to explore and play independently, still within view of their parents. The solution was to create a courtyard house, with large sliding glass doors to bring the inside out and outside in.  The existing house was completely opened up, and a cathedral ceiling created in the living room.  Programmatically, two new wings were added : kitchen/dining and master suite.  Ipe hardwood from the deck continues into the central space, creating warmth and texture at the heart of the house.

Architecture and Fashion

Students form The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning studying in Paris, France, under the direction of Professor Stanley Hallet, FAIA (former Dean) were asked to explore Architecture and Fashion Design, specifically the development of a center for a master “stylist” and his or her workshop with supporting salons for fabrication, exhibit, archive, as well as apartments for visiting designers, a restaurant and garden accommodating temporary runways. A selection of projects from this semester long studio will be presented on KUBE's K-Lounge over the next few months. 

Student: Erica Donnelly        Fashion Designer: Maison Martin Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela is well known for being a "faceless designer." His anonymity has allowed the garments and designs to gain wide admiration.  Focusing on themes of transformation, adaptivity, and the strength of fragility, the concept of the runway building was developed. A series of linear elements move along tracks to allow for the transformation of spaces as needed, a theme commonly used by the Maison. Located at the corner of Boulevard Henri IV and the Boulevard Morland, the site is a meeting point for the axis of two major buildings. To not take away from the importance of the existing buildings, the fashion house keeps its more public and communal spaces on the axis with the existing building on site. This allows for a constant visual connection with the building. The private aspects of the program reside in a more enclosed area to the north of the site. To keep with the theme of anonymity, the southern facade has a series of wall panels and louvers to keep those inside the building from being seen.

Janet's Kitchen

KUBE in DWELL 

Janet's kitchen appears in the September issue of Dwell. She renovated her 1950 Goodman mid-century modern home using a combination of industrial materials and bright colors. The kitchen was completely opened up to the living room, and an acrylic and steel custom-designed table serves as the dining area. Materials include viroc (gray and black), colored laminate, white oak floors, and exposed steel. Click on link above for the online feature, and get the magazine on the newsstand.

The kitchen also appeared in Jennifer Sergent's blog DC by Design. Jennifer is the author of the DWELL article

Eating In

Kitchens Before and After KUBE

KUBE has developed an expertise in kitchen transformations.  They operate both as functional, efficient spaces, and also as sculptural statements within the home.  The following three projects show a range of ideas and explorations:

The "Architects Kitchen" is a mid-century modern home in Kensington, MD, where the compact kitchen was opened up and updated with a combination of colorful custom cabinets and industrial materials (viroc, concrete countertops, and exposed steel). Millwork by Potomac Woodwork. 

"Lenny's Place"  is a “bachelor pad” off U Street in Washington, DC, where the kitchen acts as a feature element, with LED lighting, a “folded” ceiling, and colorful island. Millwork by Potomac Woodwork.

D St. Kitchen  in Capitol Hill features a curved countertop that transforms into a sculptural bench.  The kitchen is designed to be highly efficient within a tight space, and it looks out through full-height glass doors onto an intimate deck space

KUBE goes to CHURCH

Clarendon Presbyterian Church

A joint venture with REVE design-studio

This progressive and forward-thinking congregation came to Reve design-studio and KUBE architecture for ideas on how to make their worship and fellowship spaces operate more successfully with their nontraditional method of worship.  In addition, the rear entry, which has now become the main façade of the church, is in need of renovation to display a more attractive and welcoming face to the neighborhood.  KUBE and Reve are proposing a full-height glass facade, with a green wall that represents the main mission of the church: feeding the hungry and welcoming all to their table. A row of doors in this façade creates a seamless indoor/outdoor relationship, allowing the fellowship space to spill out onto the new “front porch” of the church.  The renovated main sanctuary will have flexible seating to allow a variety of seating arrangements and uses, and a wall of folding doors will separate the sanctuary from the entry/fellowship space, with the possibility of joining or dividing the spaces as desired.

Proposed new entry at rear- includes Green Wall , elevator access and new deck at entry doors

Existing rear entry and interior of worship space

Interior view of worship space - looking towards new fellowship (gathering) and entry doors beyond

New Fellowship space at entry

KUBE 2 GO

Creativity at any Scale : KUBE 2 GO

KUBE Hits the Links, Designs Golf Hole

This summer, the National Building Museum will bring back its popular indoor Mini Golf exhibition. The expanded attraction will feature two 9-hole course options, with all new holes designed and built by leading Washington-area architects, landscape architects, and contractors.  The courses will explore the architects’ and designers’ visions of “Building the Future,” with twists and turns sure to challenge golfers young and old. Visitors to the Museum will be able to play this one-of-a-kind course, designed for ages 4 and up, in air-conditioned comfort during Museum hours from Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 to Labor Day, September 2, 2013.  KUBE Architecture is participating by designing "Urban Pinball," a joint collaboration with sponsor Evonik Cyro, and builders Madden Corporation and Mersoa Woodwork & Design LLC.  Urban Pinball explores uncertainty—after all, as the science fiction writer Ursula K. LeGuin noted, “the only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable, uncertainty: not knowing what comes next." Take aim and try to control your destiny—but you may end up in a place you never imagined. Travel through the time tunnels, and emerge in the unraveling future, where your path becomes complex and unpredictable. In many ways, life is just a game of chance—relax and enjoy the ride.