ALLEN RESIDENCE

NICEVILLE, FL 2017

AIA Merit Award, Unbuilt Work, Northwest Florida Chapter 2018 

This home was designed as a permanent residence for a family with a young child. The family spends much of their time outdoors camping, hunting, and boating, and they wanted a design that would suit the needs of their active lifestyle.
Originally, the home was designed with several steps and changes in floor level to follow the changes in typography of the site. We were not able to use this design because of concerns regarding ease of movement through the house as the family ages. With this in mind, we developed a mostly one-level design with secondary areas located above the garage.
The home faces (what is anticipated to be soon) a busy thoroughfare. Because of this, we created view corridors to a greenways system located at the rear of the lot. To give a sense of entry to the front of the home, a play of geometry was created by extending the main roof to the garage. This creates distinct guest and owner entries.
Views to the greenway are accentuated by double-height ceilings in the living area and master bedroom. The ceilings in both of these spaces follow the roofline and open up to the green spaces at the rear of the property.
A large mudroom is provided off of the garage. This allows space to clean off and store items before entering the main space of the home. This room has a shower, deep freezer, and outdoor equipment storage. An adjacent rear courtyard provides even more outdoor storage space and an outdoor shower. A large island is found in the kitchen to allow ample room for baking, a hobby of the clients.
A three-car garage was provided to offer more storage space for the client’s kayaks, camping equipment, small boats, et cetera. Above the garage, a spacious theater room and office are found. The office can also be used as a bedroom if the client’s needs change.
It was important that low maintenance materials be used in the design. With this in mind, concrete floors are found throughout the interior, and unpainted brick and siding are used at the exterior.

Services

• Design
• Documentation