Stair Domus by William Price is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum in Architectura Competition Category.

FerrumArchitectura· 2023

Stair Domus

by William Price

Client: Billl Price

Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum Winner in Architectura Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #137738

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Stair Domus

Hoc opus statum quo conformationis residentialium provocat, sustinibilitatem ambientalem et culturalem in principia sua fundamentalia incorporare accentuans. Per reinterpretationem typologiae existentis, limites possibilitatum intra angustum fundum urbanum interstitialem expandit. Usus materialium sustinibilium, clathrorum plantariorum profundorum, et patiorum apertorum tectorum connexionem cum natura ventilationemque transversam fovet. Domus est reflexio quomodo relatio cum natura et inter nos in contextu vitae urbanae evolvitur.

The Recognition

About the Praemium A' Design Award Ferreum

Stair Domus victor est Praemii A' Design Award Ferreum, honoris amplissimi formis bonis dati, quae postulatis professionalibus et industrialibus ab creationibus bene formatis exspectatis satisfaciunt. Victores Ferrei magnam peritiam, altam specializationem, intellectum periti et facultatem creandi auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur Stair Domus creationem multum aestimatam, admiratam et carissimam, practicam et novam fore. Haec forma Ferreo victa optimas industriae consuetudines integrat et proprietates technicas idoneas, cum scientia et talento coniunctas, habet. Stair Domus ob diligentiam suam honoratur et ad vitae qualitatem emendandam formatum est, ut mundum meliorem reddere iuvet.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The project challenges the limited ways of thinking about residential design today as it relates to environmentally and culturally sustainable solutions. Under the umbrella of cultural and environmental sustainability, the house attempts to reinterpret an existing typology and provoke thought regarding how our relationship with nature and living with one another will evolve as we live longer in cities.
Dimensions & Packaging: This 3-story 3000 sq ft house sits on a 30ft by 100ft lot. The structure has wood framing and steel moment frames, and the walls are 30% recycled corrugated galvalume with insulated operable windows. The roof is waterproofed with TPO and has rigid and batt insulation. Outdoor patios have deep planter guard rails, and 3 types of stairs provide vertical circulation: circular, kick back, and tapered straight-run.
Tags: Nature, Green, House, Stair, Typology, Metal
Production Technology: The project is conceived as two volumes stacked atop one another. Each is made accessible to the other using three types of stairs. A tapered straight-run stair takes you from the street to the second level, a spiral stair takes you from the ground floor courtyard to the roof and a kickback stair takes you from the ground floor to the third floor. The lower volume is enclosed, released, and partitioned by a series of transparent and opaque walls. They move from the interior to the exterior, where they hold and gather nature, making it available to the interior.
Design Challenge: The creative challenge of the project centered around providing a comfortable living space with an emphasis on outdoor living, nature, air, and sunlight, all within the constraints of a narrow urban infill lot in Downtown, Houston Texas. The design incorporated open floor plans and large elevations of glass to maximize natural light. The three levels of the house feature covered outdoor patios, operable windows, and planter guard rails to promote cross-ventilation and a connection to nature. The use of deep planters on the patios added a lush, green element to the outdoor spaces and created a sense of privacy and intimacy.
Research: The Project attempts to bring together the best of the Dog Trot and Spanish Colonial houses while in essence bypassing their limitations. It is a living space that seizes upon the positive attributes of typology radically modified in light of the overriding and timely concerns of our time.
Inspiration: The Stair House draws inspiration from the traditional Dog Trot Houses located in the southern United States. The incorporation of breezeways in these houses promoted the circulation of air, which has been adapted into the Stair House design, both horizontally and vertically. Furthermore, the project takes inspiration from Spanish Colonial houses in the south that utilize porches to provide deep shade, protection from rain, and stairs to mitigate the challenges of second-floor living and being elevated off the ground.
Project Duration: The project started in January 2014 and finished in July 2018. Stair House is in the Lower Heights neighborhood of Downtown Houston, Texas. It is situated to the south of the White Oak Bayou and to the north of the rail line to Chaney Junction. Contextually the site is bound by the edge of an industrial zone to the south and the Olivewood Cemetery to the East with two and three-story residential development to the west. The Olivewood Cemetery marks where the First and Sixth Wards meet. It is a resting place for freed slaves and is the first African American cemetery in the Houston city limits.
Image Credits: image #1: courtesy of Bill Price and Photographer Ben Hill, editing by Alan Jauregui, 2022
image #2: courtesy of Bill Price and Photographer, 2022
image #3: courtesy of Bill Price and Photographer, 2022
image #4: courtesy of Bill Price and Photographer, 2022
image #5: courtesy of Photogrpaher Bill Price, 2021