Benjamin Hall expands Phoenix home with treehouse-like addition
Arizona-based studio Benjamin Hall Design completed an addition to a Phoenix house that hides in the landscaping to create a treehouse-like effect.
Completed in 2024, the Adkins Treehouse adds 952 square feet (88 square metres) to a 1959 ranch-style house, replacing an unpermitted addition from the 1980s, but keeping the previous footprint on the 0.3-acre lot.
Benjamin Hall Design, who recently created a concrete masonry accessory dwelling unit nearby, centred the primary suite addition on the unusual vantage point that was created by the existing trees that surrounded the site.
"The trees generated a dialogue and experience worth engaging with architecturally," studio founder Benjamin Hall told Dezeen.
He intended for the design to make people feel like they are "being immersed in the treetops while experiencing dappled light and the short but beautiful change of colours seasonally."
The two-storey addition hides itself from the street, taking formal cues from Frank Lloyd Wright's Raymond Carlson Residence that sits on the neighbouring property.
"It's less about being seen and more about seeing out," Hall said, noting that the exterior is wrapped in hemlock siding that will naturally patina to a grey shade over time, further blending in with the trees.
The nearly-square addition with a split gable roof expanded circulation to the lower level and created a family den, while a simple staircase to the upper level accesses the client's new primary suite, complete with linear windows that span walls and wrap around corners.
Inside, a simple material palette of wood millwork, white walls and blue tile is a backdrop for the natural lighting. Balancing the light and materiality – as well as a need for privacy – with optimising the expansive views of the neighbourhood was the biggest challenge of the project, Hall said.
A delicate metal grate railing cascades from the upper balcony, down the house to partially enclose a lower porch space, while a skylight over the bed allows light to wash across the ceiling.
Hall said the biggest success of the project was a gridded millwork display case with a frosted glass back. Its concealed mechanism solved multiple design objectives, including a display for the client's artwork, a way to diffuse ambient light into the adjacent stairwell and access to the return air.
The studio also provided a rolling curtain track system that tucks itself away by taking advantage of the depth of the closets.
"From the outside, this detail reveals itself honestly, while from the inside, the curtains become 100 per cent concealed, amplifying the view out," Hall said.
Other residential projects recently completed in Arizona include a rammed earth home by Kendle Design Collaborative, a weathered steel and glass house that creates a telescopic effect for the night sky over Sedona by Wendell Burnett Architects and a white, breeze block residence by The Ranch Mine that was inspired by mid-century designs.
The photography is by Matt Winquist Photography.
Project credits:
Architect: Benjamin Hall Design
Rare Form Builder: General Contractor
Loop Architecture: Lighting and Fixture Consultant
Brynnen's House: Interior Designer
The post Benjamin Hall expands Phoenix home with treehouse-like addition appeared first on Dezeen.
