san francisco cottages & gardens february/march 2017
COTTAGESGARDENS.COM | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
TH
EA
RC
HI
TE
CT
UR
TAHOE
RUSSIAN HILL
CALISTOGA
HEALDSBURG
E
cottagesgardens.com
S
IS
E
U
FOR THEIR LATEST
INNOVATIVE PROJECT,
OGRYDZIAK PRILLINGER
ARCHITECTS FOLD SPACE
BY LYDIA LEE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MERKL
THE
70
sfc&g cottagesgardens.com february/march 2017
VORTEX
THE ENTRY OF THE RUSSIAN HILL LOFT COULD
have taken any traditional form. But in the hands of Luke Ogrydziak and Zoë Prillinger,
the partners and founders of architecture studio OPA, it became a striking work of origami, composed of folding planes. It’s the defining sculptural feature of the project—dubbed
“The Vortex”—that reflects OPA’s ever-evolving vocabulary of complex forms.
72
sfc&g cottagesgardens.com february/march 2017
Counter Cool (above) The kitchen
island features a waterfall countertop
of honed Bardiglio Imperiale marble.
The cooktop backsplash is stainless
steel plate, garnet-blasted to a
painterly matte gray finish. Range and
ovens are by Gaggenau. Skultana
brass vase is through March. See
Resources.
From All Angles (top right) Zoë
Prillinger and Luke Ogrydziak.
(right) Ousel table by Caste through
De Sousa Hughes. Sofa is Poltrana
Frau. See Resources.
“ THE PROJECT
Keep It Raw (this
page) OPA left the
original concrete
walls exposed. Chair
is Hans Wegner.
(opposite page) Sofa is
Minotti; coffee table
is Glasitalia through
DZine. Speakers are
by Franco Serbin.
See Resources.
IS A GRADIENT
BETWEEN TWO
EQUALLY VALID
CONDITIONS OF
ARCHITECTURE ”
“The project is a gradient between two equally valid conditions of architecture,” says Ogrydziak. “At the entry, it’s purely this folding, twisted vortex that loses any reference to right angles. And then at the far end, in the
bedroom, everything is very quiet and orthogonal. There’s an ambivalence
between the two conditions, and it’s nice to enjoy both.”
The client, a connoisseur of architecture, art and fashion who lives nearby
in Pacific Heights, wanted to radically transform the space in order to create
a personal retreat within the city. “I told them that I wanted the design to be
minimal but not conventional—that it needed to be dynamic, fluid, quiet and
spacious—and that I am not a fan of symmetry,” she says. “I also said it needed to be functional for real living, with storage.” In fact, she purchased the
unfinished unit specifically to work with OPA, who were responsible for the
adaptive reuse of the building—a 1920s parking garage—into seven industrial
lofts. “I had seen some of their past projects, and found them refreshing,” says
the client. “They are forward-looking—I could see a lot of thought and intro-
spection going into their work.” (For a look at another space within the same
building, see “Oil and Canvas,” SFC&G, October 2015.)
The 2,000-square-foot loft, with its 14-foot-high ceilings, had lots of possibilities. Starting with a raw, T-shaped footprint, Ogrydziak and Prillinger
retained the open layout, creating a central living/dining/kitchen space,
adjoining media room and office, and partitioning off a bedroom suite. They
devised the signature entry as a buffer zone between the building’s lobby and
the main living area. “The basic concept was a force diagram that didn’t have
a specific form. We wanted to control the flow of motion and slow people
down without stopping them entirely,” says Ogrydziak. The sculptural
“knot” opens to the central area, and also twists down to the ground in the
kitchen to form the center peninsula.
The master bathroom is similarly intricate, with faceted surfaces that mirror the entry: “The master bathroom was designed as a stand-alone piece. We thought of it kind of like a claw that starts low at the long bench, wraps
february/march 2017 cottagesgardens.com sfc&g
75
Sculpture Study (left)
OPA designed the custom
desk, which is finished
in blue, hot rolled steel.
The 1950s black leather
Bird chair is through Coup
d’Etat. (right) An untitled
work by John Mayberry
in sumi ink on paper. See
Resources.
76
sfc&g cottagesgardens.com february/march 2017
Sharp Moves (left)
OPA designed the nickel,
plated alumninum shelf,
which was fabricated by
ShopFloor. (below) The
master bathroom features a
custom bench in PietraFina
marble. See Resources.
around the shower/WC, and then splits at the mirror,” notes Ogrydziak.
Even the powder room plays with perspective, thanks to opposing walls
that are set at a slight angle. “The shape suddenly becomes very complex—
it doesn’t take much to upset the human brain,” says Prillinger. “We’re
exploring new architectural sensations.”
Ogrydziak and Prillinger counterbalanced their complex geometries
with simple materials: The rough-textured, original concrete shell remains
exposed except in a few select areas where crisp new walls of painted
sheetrock have been inserted. They chose two subtle shades of paint—pale
pinky-cream and blue-gray tones, and the floors throughout are doublebleached walnut. And with the exception of the bathrooms, all of the
exposed concrete ceilings feature minimalist LED strips that evoke the
installations of Robert Irwin.
The architects also designed furniture that echoes the angles of the
entryway, including a 14-foot-long hot-rolled steel desk and a floating shelf
of nickel-plated aluminum in the bedroom. The complexity of the space
has created the sense of escape from the everyday that the client was seeking. “Being here helps settle a busy mind,” she says. “I enjoy the surprise
of seeing the design from different angles, whether standing or sitting or
lying down.” ✹
Greyscale (this page) Siena
bed is by Naoto Fukasawa
for B&B Italia. Bedding and
throw are through Jessie
Black. Black Baltic bedside
table is through Coup
d’Etat, and neon Light Line
table lamp is through the
Future Perfect. Artwork
above bed is Benjamin
Guffee’s Churning 03.
See Resources.