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Project posted by CCY Architects

Victorian Music Box

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Location
Aspen, Colorado
Year
2018
Structure
House (Single Residence)
Style
Modern
This project draws from both traditions, preserving the original 19th century home and looking forward with a Modernist addition.
This project draws from both traditions, preserving the original 19th century home and looking forward with a Modernist addition.
The shell of the Music Box (right) is clad with aluminum, articulating the surface in such a way as to reference the white clapboard that clads the original house (left). Balancing views, privacy, and natural light was of paramount importance.
The shell of the Music Box (right) is clad with aluminum, articulating the surface in such a way as to reference the white clapboard that clads the original house (left). Balancing views, privacy, and natural light was of paramount importance.
The Music Box's perforated facade allows light to pass through and filter down to the lower level while maintaining privacy for those inside.
The Music Box's perforated facade allows light to pass through and filter down to the lower level while maintaining privacy for those inside.
The Music Box opens to a garden patio that connects it to the Victorian, allows outdoor music recitals, and blurring the line between in and out.
The Music Box opens to a garden patio that connects it to the Victorian, allows outdoor music recitals, and blurring the line between in and out.
The Music Box is designed to accommodate guests as well as music recitals.
The Music Box is designed to accommodate guests as well as music recitals.
Because our clients use this space for music recitals, we optimized acoustic performance by striating oak woodwork with saw cuts, creating a corduroy-like texture as well as utilized acoustic plaster for the ceilings to provide ideal reverberation timing for orchestral music.
Because our clients use this space for music recitals, we optimized acoustic performance by striating oak woodwork with saw cuts, creating a corduroy-like texture as well as utilized acoustic plaster for the ceilings to provide ideal reverberation timing for orchestral music.
The custom facades perforation pattern creates a dynamic spatial experience as natural light moves through the interiors.
The custom facades perforation pattern creates a dynamic spatial experience as natural light moves through the interiors.
The perforated galvalume stands off the structure through a batten/rain screen system that leaves the perforated melody uninterrupted.
The perforated galvalume stands off the structure through a batten/rain screen system that leaves the perforated melody uninterrupted.

From CCY Architects

A modern music-inspired guest house is designed to coexist with a restored 1880s Victorian residence in a historic Aspen neighborhood.

The clients purchased an 1880s Victorian residence in Aspen’s West End because of its proximity to the Benedict Music Tent and their affinity for historical architecture. Both husband and wife are interested in classical architecture, design, and the arts; the wife is particularly passionate about music, especially classical piano. The couple wanted a restored Victorian where the small spaces could live larger and the living spaces connect to outdoor spaces and the greater mountain community.

The resulting family compound marries the restored Victorian with a modern, music-inspired addition affectionately called the Music Box, designed to accommodate guests as well as music recitals.

The Music Box form and scale is respectful of the architectural heritage of the neighborhood, but the material attitude contrasts with the ornamented Victorian—a single material, galvalume bent with four-inch exposures, covers the roof and walls. The Music Box opens to a garden patio that connects it to the Victorian, allows outdoor music recitals, and blurring the line between in and out.

Sunlight comes through all sides of the Music Box, but unwanted alley views and harsh western light filtered out by perforated siding in a pattern derived from Chopin’s composition, “Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op.9, No.2," a favorite of the client’s.

To make the spaces feel larger, the Victorian’s tight rooms are linked with axial connections throughout the home and site, creating an effortless feeling of procession. The Music Box’s small living area is static in plan but dynamic in experience, as the ever-changing light patterns move through the space.