Hess Residence

"Tilt-Up Slab House"

The house is located on a small urban comer lot, only thirty-two feet wide and eighty feet long, in Venice, California. The narrow width of the lot immediately demanded a rigid economy of materials and the reduction of the layers of construction to an indispensable minimum. The professional couple, which owned the property, desired to maximize the internal space to host a permanent guest, a grandparent, themselves, and their two teenage children. The urban position of the site also demanded greater privacy and separation between the noisy alley and the need for privacy inside the house. The clients also wished to have separate studies to conduct their business. The tilt-up house design originated from the intent to overcome some of the site restrictions, fulfill the clients' requirements, and a desire to let the unique method of construction permeate the aesthetic of the building even after construction was completed. The design of fourteen six-inch thick tilt-up white concrete panels lined up facing each other along the longitudinal edges of the site composed an elongated interior space for the program. Eleven panels were poured off site and then hauled in by truck while three panels were poured on site and then placed in position by connecting them to the structural steel. Through this particular construction method, it was possible to have all panels erected in just ten hours. The lot's corner location leaves one of the longitudinal sides exposed, revealing the structure and the connections between the panels.

See the construction process.

Featured press:
PREFAB Book, 2002

GA Projects 66, 2001

GA Houses 67, 2001