Skip to content
Khushboo Mankani Architecture

Projects / Residential

CASA: a house on the cliff

A house in La Jolla for a family of seven, every one of whom makes something, so every one of them got a studio.

  • Competition
  • Award
  • Team project
  • c. 2023
Render of the house at dusk, its angular timber roof planes cantilevered over a cliff above the sea, with mountains catching the last light behind
View 01The house at dusk: roof planes cantilevered over the cliff

00Project data

KMA / CSA·23

Project
CASA: a house on the cliff (Residential)
Location
La Jolla, California
Context
Competition entry, semester 7
Institution
Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Mumbai
Year
c. 2023
Authorship
Team project
Recognition
Best Student Design Award (Archmello, CASA: Extraordinary Home Design)
Tools
AutoCAD, Rhino, Adobe Photoshop
Household
Seven: two fashion designers, two grandparents, a painter, two musicians

01Brief

KMA / CSA·23

Seven people, seven ways of making things, one cliff.

A house in La Jolla for a family of seven: two fashion designers, two grandparents who read, a daughter who paints and two sons who make music. Every bedroom has its own bathroom, and every member of the family has a studio: a display studio for the designers, a music studio, a library for the grandparents, a painter's room.

The plan is a plain rectangle under a set of tilted roof planes that follow the fall of the cliff; the tilt cuts heat gain and pulls air through the house. The entrance is a long wall that walks you down into it, and the stairs are wide enough to sit on.

02Concept

KMA / CSA·23

From three stacked slabs to a set of angled planes that follow the fall of the cliff.

  • Form development diagram showing three rectangular slabs being separated and offset
    Diagram 01Form development
  • Massing diagram showing angular roof planes layered over the floor plates
    Diagram 02Massing: the roof as a set of tilted planes
  • Section through the house showing three levels stepping down the cliff face with the angular roof above
    Drawing 01Section: the house steps down the cliff

03Drawings

KMA / CSA·23

Site plan showing the access road, car lift, pebbled pathway, flower garden, deck and yoga pavilion around the house
Drawing 02Site plan: access road, car lift, pebbled path, flower garden, yoga pavilion

04Views

KMA / CSA·23

  • Interior render of a bedroom with floor-to-ceiling glazing onto the headland
    View 02A bedroom: the view is the wall
  • Interior render of the display studio, a dark marble gallery with dressed mannequins under spotlights
    View 03The display studio: the fashion designers' room

05Recognition

KMA / CSA·23

  • 01

    Best Student Design Award

    Archmello, CASA: Extraordinary Home Design. Submitted as a team entry.