Our Architectural Philosophy
Connection with Nature
At the core of our architectural philosophy is the aspiration to reconnect humans with nature. We believe that nature can have profound healing and therapeutic effects. Nature provides us with energy, inspiration, and the capacity to unite with the more primitive and intuitive sides of our beings. We find stillness, patience, wisdom, beauty, and vitality through nature. Architecture should surrender to and honor the surrounding landscape, humbly allowing nature to lead.
Materiality and the Landscape
Characteristics of the local landscape and environment are regularly reflected in the materials we select for a building. Native stones from the site are often used to clad exterior walls. The tones, grain patterns, and species of adjacent trees are mimicked in the wood finishes. The texture and color of our plasters often take cues from the native soil. This creates a dialogue between the site and the building, making the architecture feel at peace with the landscape. If our work is placed within a built environment, we take cues from the adjacent buildings, site history, and culture.
Blurring the Boundary Between Interior and Exterior with Glass
We often blur the perceivable boundary between interior and exterior, breaking down the distinction between inside/outside and building/nature. This is frequently achieved through the transparency of large glass doors and windows that offer unobstructed expansive views and connection to the landscape beyond. We minimize the size and number of glazing frames and structural posts in these areas of transparency.
Photograph of a Newport Beach Residence designed by Rost Architects, demonstrating the minimally obstructed transition from indoor to outdoor.
Material Transitions from Inside to Outside
Allowing the same wood ceiling to run from the interior ceiling through the glass line to the exterior soffit helps direct the eye into nature. This diminishes the perception of a building envelope, thus helping to establish a closer relationship with nature. Similarly, allowing a masonry wall to run from the exterior of the building to the inside can reinforce this connection.
The way these transitions are detailed is critical for us. We attempt to reduce the visibility of the door/window jambs, heads, and sills as much as possible. We do this by recessing the frames into the finishes and using door/window manufacturers that offer products with the capability of finish material infill into their frames. Detailing is essential in our sliding door sills. In doing this, the eye can read the floor material running through the glass line with as little obstruction as possible.
Photograph of the Orchid Residence by Rost Architects. The photograph is intended to illustrate the detailing of the sliding door sill in the lower right corner. We minimized the door sill by using a sunken sill product from Fleetwood. The interior and exterior floor material was matched to reduce the visual impact of the sill transition.
Integrating the Building into a Site Feature
Another technique used to create a dialogue between the building and the site is integrating large boulders or other unique on-site features into the building envelope. Although this technique is not appropriate for all projects, if this opportunity is available, it can have a profound impact on establishing a connection with the landscape.
Photograph of the native boulders on site at our Benton project. These boulders remained in place and will become part of the landscape design next to the home.
Indoor-Outdoor Living: The Open Air Pavilion
The idea of indoor-outdoor living is aligned with the desire to reconnect people to nature. Our architecture attempts to prompt the use of outdoor living. Covered outdoor patios and decks adjacent to primary living spaces are common in our work. Expansive glass sliding pocket doors are typically located between indoor and outdoor spaces. When pocketed, the boundary between indoor and outdoor space is dissolved, allowing users to flow freely between interior and exterior spaces. Indoor and outdoor spaces become one, creating the feeling of expansive space.
In many projects, we attempt to create spaces where the primary living space can be opened up on multiple sides by sliding and concealing pocket doors. When the doors are pocketed, the space functions like an open-air pavilion. Fresh air, cross breezes, and an unobstructed connection with the outdoor living spaces and nature result.
Human Experience
Architecture is for people. Therefore, we typically begin our designs by imagining the first-person experience of a space. Our projects are often designed from the inside out. We start thinking about our projects as a storyboard, similar to planning the scenes of a movie. We will visualize the procession someone would take as they walk through the home. The frames of the storyboard are experiences we often refer to as sacred moments.
Sacred Moments
Sacred moments are intended to elevate the person's experience beyond the mundane. They are opportunities to offer a bit of joy, surprise, mystery, or excitement to one's experience. Often, this is expressed in our architecture through the transmission of natural sunlight from a skylight. Long vistas of transparency that connect the landscape on one side of the home to the other, the unveiling of sliver views to surprise interior courtyards, or the framing of a colorful specimen tree at a critical axis in the home are other examples of sacred moments that we enjoy offering to someone experiencing our spaces.
Architecture is not about ethereal symbolism or innovation for the sake of innovation, it is rather the extent to which a building can transcend from the measurable into the immeasurable, the extent to which a building can spiritually uplift and inspire man…”
-Craig Ellwood
Rost Architects' Benton Project Design Render demonstrating the incorporation of existing landscape into the project's landscape, use of pocket doors on multiple sections creating an open-air pavilion when open, and use of large glass panels on both sides of a living space for unobstructed views through the residence to the surrounding nature.
Minimum
Unadorned spaces with curated material pallets and thoughtful detailing promote clear contemplative thinking. We strive to pare our designs back to their essential elements, making the intention of the work clear and evoking a sense of calmness. A minimalist philosophy and approach are at the core of our work. It is expressed in everything from the home's material palette to the baseboards' detailing. It is critical to offer peace and tranquility to people experiencing our spaces.
Flexibility of Space
We also value flexibility in the way people use our spaces. Having an adaptable space is less constricting and more psychologically liberating. It can foster creativity and empower users with the autonomy to live in a way that resonates with their lifestyle. They are relieved of constricting conventions that a less adaptable space may impose. It is also practical as it can cater to a wider range of uses over the lifespan of the building, opening up a wider range of resale potential.