Hillside Residence / Alterstudio Architecture

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Text description provided by the architects. The Hillside Residence is a substantial renovation and expansion of a 1927 bungalow in the Travis Heights neighborhood of Austin, Texas. The existing, 1,000-square foot building was rescued from dilapidation; it was delineated abstractly in stark white and paired with a new, 1,100-square foot sculptural volume clad in black-stained cypress and connected via a glass entry bridge. Akin to Marcel Breuer’s 1943 proposition for a Bi-Nuclear House, the home is split into two zones—one for living and socializing, and the other for concentration, work and sleeping. By virtue of entering in the middle, both sides appear to be in dialogue with each other. Inside, the two zones are defined in distinctly different material and spatial characters; the combination is both gracious and provocative.