Fabulous and Fire Resistant

<i>By Barbara Thornburg</i>

Located in Malibu, CA, this weekend get-away was designed with an emphasis on sustainability and fire resistance. Owners and architects Nick Roberts and Cory Buckner incorporated a 'noncombustible shell' and 'deep-set fire-resistant windows' into its construction. The couple's interest in fire resistance comes from personal experience. In 1993, a wild fire consumed the 4000 sf they were living in at they time. They escaped the fire with 3 carloads of belongings and moved into Cory's parent's house 30 minutes away. A week later, fire destroyed that house too.

A perforated steel screen, left of the fireplace, slips over the sliding glass door to reduce glare and summer heat. It also is meant to protect the home from radiant heat in the event of a wildfire.

Steel, oriented strand board, that's low in VOC's, and bamboo flooring are perfectly at home in its interior.

From the living room fireplace, in the distance, steps lead down to a dining table that the couple fashioned from a birch door. The eating area is buried two feet into the earth to keep the vertical profile of the home lower on the hillside.

For more informations and images, visit this page at latimes.com.

Images: Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times

Tagged:
architecture, fire-resistance, modern, interior

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October 16, 2009
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