Future residence is a secluded retreat within an established neighborhood.
September 14, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – An as-yet-unbuilt residential “tower” designed by Kenneth E. Hobgood Architects in Raleigh has received a Merit Award from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NC).
The winning design, “Jones Residence II,” is one of two concepts the firm has proposed for the same client and site. Located on a steep, heavily wooded site just inside the beltline in Raleigh, North Carolina, this concept is an 1800-square-foot home that balances the client’s’ desire to be part of a well-established neighborhood while yet feel as if they’re in a secluded retreat.
“The client is a young cancer researcher at Duke University,” said the firm’s principal, Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA. “The house is a retreat from the rigors and pressures of a life in medical research.”
This firm is well known for modern, progressive, minimalist design, and the Jones Residence II is no exception. The design of the house “represents a simple diagram,” Hobgood explained. “A simple cube is separated into three equal segments with a shift in the central segment.”
The house becomes, then, a three-level tower that minimizes disruption to the site. In fact, it’s footprint covers only 1.25 percent of the site and would result in the loss of only two trees.
While all three levels are simple square plans, the middle level has been shifted forward, allowing dramatic views of the site and creating outdoor balconies. This level, clad completely in glass, contains the entrance, living room, dining room and office. The main entrance is reached via a bridge that spans from a parking terrace to the living/dining level.
The lowest level includes two guest bedrooms, the upper level houses the master bedroom suite, and a continuous stair connects all three levels. So the day-to-day living in the house occurs on the two upper levels.
The design team for Jones Residence II consisted of Kenneth Hobgood, Paul Hobgood, and Patrick Hobgood.
Tom Pfeiffer, FAIA, and Craig Dykers, AIA, served as chairman of the 2011 AIA NC Design Awards jury. (Pfeifer designed the new NC Museum of Art.) Other notable architects from the New York area, where the jury met, served as jurors. The awards were presented during the AIA NC Annual Conference held this past weekend in Raleigh, NC.
For more information on Kenneth E. Hobgood Architects, visit www.kennethhobgood.com.
About Kenneth E. Hobgood, Architects:
Kenneth Hobgood, FAIA, founded Kenneth E Hobgood, Architects in Raleigh, NC, in 1992. Since then, the firm has received 39 design awards from the American Institute of Architects North Carolina chapter and its work has been published and exhibited in the United States, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, England and Germany. In 1997, Kenneth Hobgood as awarded the Kamphoefner Prize from North Carolina State University’s College of Design for "consistent integrity and devotion to the development of modern architecture" in North Carolina. He has served as a visiting critic at Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, and the University of Kentucky, and as an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University since 1988. For more information visit www.kennethhobgood.com.