2020 RDAA | Custom Urban House | Manifold House | David Jameson Architects

Is it a house or a commercial building? How many stories? Manifold House’s industrious ambiguity comes from its location between a historic residential suburb and a commercial zone. That, and the owner’s fascination with machine parts, particularly his passion for rebuilding vintage Vespa scooters. The wife leans that way too. “She kept all her makeup in a fishing tackle box with staggered trays,” says David Jameson, FAIA. “All these kinetic things were interesting gestures of the way they lived. Was there a way to infuse that sort of component into the design of the house?”

Comprising three glass-enclosed floors and a roof deck, its aluminum curtain wall system hangs off a custom prefabricated steel frame. To modulate light and views, weathered steel fins were mounted to the exoskeleton at four different angles ranging from open to closed. Alight in shining armor, the building pushes back against the weight of a neighboring 10-story structure, yet the fins lend human scale. “The fins are 8 feet tall and 6 feet 8 inches tall, normal door heights,” David says. “When you stack them up and make them unique, people have a hard time understanding what it is, but it also makes them feel comfortable.”

Inside, the double-height living space looks up to a second-story mezzanine containing a playroom and craft room. Modestly sized en-suite kids’ bedrooms and the master occupy the top floor, with access to the roof deck. “It was a kinetic response overall,” David says

CUSTOM URBAN HOUSE

Citation

DAVID JAMESON ARCHITECTS
MANIFOLD HOUSE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Project Credits

ARCHITECT: David Jameson, FAIA, principal in charge; Oscar Maradiaga and Frank Curtis, project architects, David Jameson Architects, Bethesda, Maryland

BUILDER: Sagatov Design + Build, Falls Church, Virginia

INTERIOR DESIGNER: David Jameson Architects

LANDSCAPE DESIGNER: David Jameson Architects

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Wallace Engineering, Tulsa, Oklahoma

PROJECT SIZE: 5,750 square feet

SITE SIZE: 0.26 acres

CONSTRUCTION COST: Withheld

PHOTOGRAPHY: Paul Warchol Photography

Key Products

CABINETRY: Custom

CLADDING: Custom by Zahner

COOKTOP/RANGE/OVENS: Bosch