Goparaju Residence
Location: Chicago, USA
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Program: Housing, Single Family House
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Client: Family Goparaju, Private
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Area:
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Year: 2008-2011
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Status: Built
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Design: Sig Froelich, Martin Kim, Aaron Gist, Cecilia Dobos at FKA
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Our starting point for this project was to combine two narrow (4 m interior span) house into a single family home. From the very beginning, the key focus of our design was allowing as much natural light as possible into the central part of the house. Large east/west windows at each end provide sunlight in the morning and from mid-afternoon until sunset, as well as natural ventilation.
The recently renovated private home with a large garden on the side of our lot gave us an opportunity to place large glazing systems on the south side of the building, providing plenty of light in the center of the home. The entire ground floor serves as a daytime living area, with the entry, formal living room, dining area and kitchen. The wood panel wrapped elevator box separates the formal living space from the informal family room that faces the back yard.
On the first floor, bedrooms are placed in a long wood-covered architectural “container” that is stacked into the building and overhangs the first floor. In the center, a gallery divides the office and guest area from the kids’ bedroom and bathroom. The double height open space also brings natural light into the middle floor hallway. The uppermost floor is completely occupied by the master suite. This flows out to a large semi-covered terrace that gives a gorgeous view of the city’s skyline. The entire house’s interior as well as the exterior was custom made which required us to detail all elements of the design.
Worked on this project as an architect from schematic design to construction managment at Froelich Kim Architecture.