GEODE, Lafayette, LA 2020
Master Suite Addition and Interior Renovation
Award of Merit, 2023 The Current In Design Awards
US Building of the Week, 4/24/2023, WorldArchitects.com
The GEODE creates a dramatic contrast in form, space, and organization from the existing 1950’s ranch house and the new main bedroom addition. The addition celebrates volume, height, and the contrast the vertical gives to the existing horizontal condition. The clients, a geologist and a graphic designer, requested an updated kitchen, a more open living space, and an additional main bedroom suite. Simultaneously, they requested the horizontal, dark, and low-slung existing space be opened. To create expansiveness, a bearing wall is replaced with a beam to allow for additional space for the renovated kitchen and main living area. The new opening also creates access and views to all of the public spaces and allows both existing and new glazed openings to cast their light deeper into the 50’s ranch. This light is cast even deeper with the use of a bright white material palate. The exterior presents a gradient shingle skin and a dark grey palate to create drama between the inside and the outside. To accentuate the drama between the interior, the addition is composed of faceted surfaces that bounce the light around relative to the dynamic interior of a geode. The existing renovated spaces are subdued, sunlit, and minimized to celebrate the owner’s extensive art collection.