Nestled in a lush, green Malibu hillside, Highgrove House is the family home of architect Lorcan O'Herlihy, head of Los Angeles architecture studio LOHA. The low, dark, simple volume of the structure is cleverly juxtaposed against the surrounding nature and the colourful leaves and blooms that embrace the building's almost industrial architecture. At the same time, sustainable architecture features ensure the residence is organically embedded into its setting.
Highgrove House by Lorcan O’Herlihy
An existing structure on site, Highgrove House was in a state of disrepair when works began. O'Herlihy and his wife, Cornelia, worked to optimise the home's functionality – both terms of their own use, and its environmental-friendliness. For example, it was 'important to keep the existing structure when possible because it cuts down the ecological footprint of construction. The key is to strategically design within those parameters,' says O’Herlihy.
The house contains generously sized living spaces, as well as four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The design also includes a Modified Rainscreen System, which, the team flags, 'helps keep the interior cool without the use of air conditioning'. Passive ventilation and a strong connection to the outdoors, through large openings, terraces and operable glazing, further highlight this commitment to sustainability.
Growing up between Malibu in California and Dublin in Ireland, O’Herlihy bridges his experience of both places through this very personal project – a 'labour of love', as he describes it. 'Highgrove House is an idyllic example of the synthesis of an internationally renowned professional practice, with the intimacy of a loving family home,' he concludes.
-
The Stuff That Surrounds, episode three: Inside the home of architect Glenn SestigIn The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. This episode, we’re invited inside an architectural gem – just what you'd expect from one of the most distinctive voices in the field today
-
Germane Barnes just transformed a humble Indiana parking garage into an enormous sub-woofer systemWith Joy Riding, the Miami-based designer’s installation at Exhibit Columbus, Barnes celebrates togetherness by evoking Black car culture
-
The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San FranciscoThe artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
-
This cinematic home in Palm Springs sets a new standard for Desert Modern designJill Lewis Architecture and landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt joined forces to envision an exceptional sanctuary
-
Inside a Donald Wexler house so magical, its owner bought it twiceSo transfixed was Daniel Patrick Giles, founder of fragrance brand Perfumehead, he's even created a special scent devoted to it
-
The Pagani Residences is the latest ultra-luxe automotive apartment tower to reach MiamiRising up above Miami, branded apartment buildings are having a renaissance, as everyone from hypercar builders to crystal makers seeks to have a towering structure bearing their name
-
A modern cabin in Minnesota serves as a contemporary creative retreat from the citySnow Kreilich Architects' modern cabin and studio for an artist on a lakeside plot in Minnesota was designed to spark creativity and provide a refuge from the rat race
-
Touring artist Glenn Ligon's studio in Brooklyn with its architect, Ravi RajGlenn Ligon's studio, designed by architect Ravi Raj, is an industrial Brooklyn space reimagined for contemporary art
-
The Monthly Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
A dynamic Mar Vista house plays with the rhythm of indoor and outdoor livingA new Mar Vista house, designed by Mexican architecture studio PPAA, combines a façade with a whisper of brutalism, and a breezy, open interior, seamlessly connected to its Los Angeles setting
-
This Michigan lakeside house is an exercise is sculptural minimalismExplore a Michigan lakeside house, designed by Disbrow Iannuzzi and featuring sculptural timber interiors and a contemporary minimalist feel
