The Aerie

The Mount Wilson Observatory wanted to renovate and expand their living quarters and research facility on site. This project houses 4 rooms, private restrooms, private balconies, common facilities (laundry and kitchen), research labs, research offices, and an outdoor amphitheater, only 1,000 sqft of programing was permitted on the ground floor. The design of this project started with two anchors, one connected to the flat ground and the other connected to the hill. These anchors were connected to by horizontal elements that were then cut out to accommodate the trees on site. The horizontal bars were then shifted to separate floors to create privacy and separation between the living areas and the work areas. Terracotta Baguettes have been used to clad the center anchors while stucco is used on the horizontal elements. Terracotta was chosen because of its grounding color and relation to the earth to connect the building to the ground, and the stucco is used to create a contrast between the vertical and horizontal elements. A steel structure is utilized to support the large cantilevers, columns are also extruded through the bottom to connect the structure to the hill to alleviate some of the weight from the cantilevers.