ROOM ONE
PROJECT INFO
OJAI, CA
RENOVATION OF EXISTING CABIN
450 SQUARE FEET
STUDIO
Room One is a renovation of an existing 450 sqft cabin in Ojai, CA.
The project draws from “Nuovi Ritrovamenti”, a book published in 1689 in which the engineer Cornelius Meijer elaborates plans for a monastic minimal dwelling where all he needs is available to him in one single room.
The location is a large ranch property with gorgeous views of the Ojai valley that can only be accessed by a long, winding private road. To the North lies a lake where bears swim sometimes, coyotes roam the property, and wildlife activity just naturally unfolds every night when the animals come to drink there.
The design develops along three themes.
The first theme is the lifestyle choice of the client:
She is a woman painter that has decided to divide her living space into an area where she does what she has to do (sleep, cook, shower,…) and another one where she does what she wants to do (paint, write, think, sing…). The former is compact and essential, the latter as expansive and open. Between the two is a porous membrane made of framed pegboards that can slide into place and veil one area from the other while also carrying her paintings and notes when she is working.
The cabin opens onto a rear deck that functions as an engawa- a transitional, flexible space between the interior and exterior. In Ojai, the weather is often perfect. A set of folding glass doors opens and expands the main space entirely onto a covered deck, just a stone throw away from the lake with its daily wildlife drama.
The second theme is a material match to the essentialism of the cabin. Materials are expected to be raw, natural, practical, and affordable. The main interior material for all added floors, walls and cabinetry is solid engineered wood. The sliding porous membrane screens are perforated oriented strand board, a functional type of pegboard material that can support canvases and tools.
The third theme is the methodology of construction. The client would like the added elements to feel as if they had been brought there and could just as well be carried away any day. Since almost everything we are adding is made of wood we can prefabricate it all. The components can be precision-built at the shop and then assembled and installed onsite entirely within the existing cabin envelope.
