HARTWELL RENOVATIONS
Location Philadelphia, PA
Proposed Size 0000 sf
Renderings C2
Builder TBD
Engineer TBD
Interiors TBD
A new front entry and rear deck provide welcome renovations that improve a home’s indoor-outdoor connection.
To provide better access between the house and its rear yard, C2 designed a new second-floor deck and exterior stair. These connect interior living spaces without the need to go through the basement. Two sets of sliding doors and floor-to-ceiling windows replaced three smaller windows for improved views and access. In place of a wood trellis supported on stone pillars, a new Ipe hardwood and metal deck cantilevers from double steel columns.
The structural gymnastics avoided the need to build a heavy foundation that might have affected the roots of an adjacent redwood tree, retain the stone pillars in a pseudo-structural capacity, and enable effective water drainage. Lush planting boxes on the deck afford privacy both to those on the deck and those in the pool below. Sails provide shading from the southern exposure sun.
Last renovated in the 1980s, the front entry included single-pane glass in rotted wood framing. Drafty and deteriorated on the inside, the entry also offered no protection on the outside. C2 redesigned the system with double-pane, thermally broken windows and a custom white oak pivot door.
A slender overhang cantilevers above the door for coverage without heaviness. An integral channel directs water from the overhang into a small stone pool beside the door.
