Firm： BarlisWedlick Architects LLC

Type： Hospitality + Sport › Wellness/Spa Landscape + Planning › Private Garden

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2017

This project called for the conversion of a home, nestled in to a rocky hillside, into a wellness

center and private retreat. Built in 1961, the house was comprised of a complex timber-framed

pavilion perched within the tree canopy. Barlis Wedlick's intervention focused on three intentions:

completely opening the glass pavilion of the upper level, making a monolithic plinth of the lower

level to mediate between the pavilion and the landscape, and inserting an addition with a hovering

green roof above and indoor pool below within the cliff-side. The goal of the upper level was to

respect the existing structure while opening the space to create flexible studio spaces for

meditation and Tai chi practice. The lower level provides guest accommodations, workout spaces, spa

facilities, private mediation areas, and a theater.

Passive House principles were used as much as possible throughout the renovation and the addition

to compensate for the historic glass and timber- frame pavilion above. The lower level was entirely

rebuilt with particular attention paid to air-sealing, adding insulation, installing heat recovery

ventilators, and installing high-performance fenestration to take advantage of the superior air

quality resulting from Passive House design. The indoor pool built upon the knowledge from Lazy

Bear Farm Pool, improving upon various design aspects as a result of continuing post-occupancy

evaluations of that project. Throughout the entire building, Barlis Wedlick worked to perform extensive

natural and artificial lighting simulations. The building continuously monitors local weather

conditions to dynamically djust the

lighting to complement natural lighting conditions in each space.

Photos by: Peter Aaron