Archello Awards 2026 · Enter your projects before 30 September 2026
Archello Awards 2026 · Enter your projects before 30 September 2026
Bal House
Bruce Damonte

Bal House

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This project consists of a single-story addition and renovation to an existing mid-century ranch house in Menlo Park, California. Conceived for a retired couple, the open and accessible design integrates the living space with the rear garden to create a well-lit domestic extension. Comprised of two floating volumes, the addition formally designates the bedroom to the west and the main (common) space to the east. The two wings gradually diverge from the original structure to generate a glass-clad fissure in between. This void space pulls the garden inwards, injecting elements of the outdoors into the core of the house. 


The first is the bedroom wing/ volume, which is located on the west side of the house. The existing bedroom volume was extended toward the rear in the form of a wood tube to accommodate an additional bedroom. This bedroom volume opens out to the garden. 


The second volume, which comprises the main space, houses the kitchen, dining and media areas. The east wood wall plane of the main space folds onto two concrete walls to form the main roof plane. The main space produces large transparent openings or voids that open out onto a deck at the rear garden. The main roof plane extends forward to form the carport roof near the front of the property. A garden concrete wall stretches out from the media room toward the garden adjacent to a rear ramp and forms part of the cantilevered bench that echoes the concrete wall material in the main space. 


The original structure, which houses the music room, two bedrooms and a bathroom, was retained and renovated. A new steel bay window seat was inserted at the front bedroom to replace a small existing window. The front entry porch was extended and rebuilt with hardwood decking connecting to the new driveway. The fireplace chimney was reconstructed and, along with the carport storage volume, was skinned with recycled epdm rubber. A new hallway/ passage and wood skinned storage wall were designed into the core of the structure to engage and connect the materiality of the new addition with the existing structure. 

 

Material Used :
Structural system: Wood/steel frame
Plumbing: Grohe Faucets, Toto toilets

 

Exterior cladding
Wood: Ipe and cedar wood Cladding

 

Roofing 
Built-up roofing: Dibuten Roofing

 

Windows
Aluminum: Fleetwood Windows and Doors

 

Glazing
Glass: Tempered Glass Panels and(or) Sandblast Panels

 

Doors   
Entrances: Custom wood Fabrication
Wood doors: Custom Manufactured Interior doors
Sliding doors: Fleetwood USA Window and Doors 

 

Hardware 
Locksets: Omnia
Pulls: Hafele
Cabinet hardware: Hafele

 

Interior finishes:
Cabinet work and custom woodwork
Ceiling Clear Cedar Siding
Paints and stains: Benjamin Moore, Penofineoill

 

Flooring:
Cumaru Hardwood at Kitchen/Dining, bedrooms.
 
Furnishings
Chairs: Herman Miller
Tables: Herman Miller

 

Lighting
Interior ambient lighting: Tobias Grau
Downlights: Contrast Recessed Lighting
Exterior: Lumiere Lighting

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