SIMPLE SIDEWALK

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

Built in the 1950’s, this Ralph Rapson gem was placed on a hillside.…and around a young Red Oak. In the original design an open breezeway connected a garage on one side to the house on the other. At some point the breezeway was filled in and the garage was converted to living space. The front door was placed on the breezeway facing the street, almost directly behind the tree.

Over the years the tree grew, as they tend to do, to the point where the front door became mostly obscured by the tree. It was already difficult to find the door between two buildings set back from the front. The tree made it more difficult still.

Our charge was simple – improve the sense of entry, provide a way to draw people in, keep the tree, keep the door, and above-all-else be sensitive to Rapson’s original idea.

We love the tree and its’ unique relationship with the house. Entry is “around” this tree and should remain so. Experiencing the tree is integral to the threshold of the home.

Our solution is a simple sidewalk. Precast white concrete pavers, 3’ x 3’, are placed in sequence leading to the front door. The ground plane is covered in a thin layer of blue/grey trap rock, allowing the pavers to stand out clearly as the path. Once the front door is reached, the pavers turn, are raised to the level of the floor, and become a stoop to more gracefully transition from inside to out.

Here the stoop mediates between the tree and the house. The concrete is carved out conforming to the shape of the tree and a wood band is placed between them, both softening the edge and referencing the ever-changing organic nature of the space.

Location: Chanhassen, MN.

Project Team:
Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in -Charge
Nate Dodge

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

Built in the 1950’s, this Ralph Rapson gem was placed on a hillside.…and around a young Red Oak. In the original design an open breezeway connected a garage on one side to the house on the other. At some point the breezeway was filled in and the garage was converted to living space. The front door was placed on the breezeway facing the street, almost directly behind the tree.

Over the years the tree grew, as they tend to do, to the point where the front door became mostly obscured by the tree. It was already difficult to find the door between two buildings set back from the front. The tree made it more difficult still.

Our charge was simple – improve the sense of entry, provide a way to draw people in, keep the tree, keep the door, and above-all-else be sensitive to Rapson’s original idea.

We love the tree and its’ unique relationship with the house. Entry is “around” this tree and should remain so. Experiencing the tree is integral to the threshold of the home.

Our solution is a simple sidewalk. Precast white concrete pavers, 3’ x 3’, are placed in sequence leading to the front door. The ground plane is covered in a thin layer of blue/grey trap rock, allowing the pavers to stand out clearly as the path. Once the front door is reached, the pavers turn, are raised to the level of the floor, and become a stoop to more gracefully transition from inside to out.

Here the stoop mediates between the tree and the house. The concrete is carved out conforming to the shape of the tree and a wood band is placed between them, both softening the edge and referencing the ever-changing organic nature of the space.

Location: Chanhassen, MN.

Project Team:
Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in -Charge
Nate Dodge

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

Built in the 1950’s, this Ralph Rapson gem was placed on a hillside.…and around a young Red Oak. In the original design an open breezeway connected a garage on one side to the house on the other. At some point the breezeway was filled in and the garage was converted to living space. The front door was placed on the breezeway facing the street, almost directly behind the tree.

Over the years the tree grew, as they tend to do, to the point where the front door became mostly obscured by the tree. It was already difficult to find the door between two buildings set back from the front. The tree made it more difficult still.

Our charge was simple – improve the sense of entry, provide a way to draw people in, keep the tree, keep the door, and above-all-else be sensitive to Rapson’s original idea.

We love the tree and its’ unique relationship with the house. Entry is “around” this tree and should remain so. Experiencing the tree is integral to the threshold of the home.

Our solution is a simple sidewalk. Precast white concrete pavers, 3’ x 3’, are placed in sequence leading to the front door. The ground plane is covered in a thin layer of blue/grey trap rock, allowing the pavers to stand out clearly as the path. Once the front door is reached, the pavers turn, are raised to the level of the floor, and become a stoop to more gracefully transition from inside to out.

Here the stoop mediates between the tree and the house. The concrete is carved out conforming to the shape of the tree and a wood band is placed between them, both softening the edge and referencing the ever-changing organic nature of the space.

Location: Chanhassen, MN.

Project Team:
Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in -Charge
Nate Dodge

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

Built in the 1950’s, this Ralph Rapson gem was placed on a hillside.…and around a young Red Oak. In the original design an open breezeway connected a garage on one side to the house on the other. At some point the breezeway was filled in and the garage was converted to living space. The front door was placed on the breezeway facing the street, almost directly behind the tree.

Over the years the tree grew, as they tend to do, to the point where the front door became mostly obscured by the tree. It was already difficult to find the door between two buildings set back from the front. The tree made it more difficult still.

Our charge was simple – improve the sense of entry, provide a way to draw people in, keep the tree, keep the door, and above-all-else be sensitive to Rapson’s original idea.

We love the tree and its’ unique relationship with the house. Entry is “around” this tree and should remain so. Experiencing the tree is integral to the threshold of the home.

Our solution is a simple sidewalk. Precast white concrete pavers, 3’ x 3’, are placed in sequence leading to the front door. The ground plane is covered in a thin layer of blue/grey trap rock, allowing the pavers to stand out clearly as the path. Once the front door is reached, the pavers turn, are raised to the level of the floor, and become a stoop to more gracefully transition from inside to out.

Here the stoop mediates between the tree and the house. The concrete is carved out conforming to the shape of the tree and a wood band is placed between them, both softening the edge and referencing the ever-changing organic nature of the space.

Location: Chanhassen, MN.

Project Team:
Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in -Charge
Nate Dodge

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

SIMPLE SIDEWALK

Built in the 1950’s, this Ralph Rapson gem was placed on a hillside.…and around a young Red Oak. In the original design an open breezeway connected a garage on one side to the house on the other. At some point the breezeway was filled in and the garage was converted to living space. The front door was placed on the breezeway facing the street, almost directly behind the tree.

Over the years the tree grew, as they tend to do, to the point where the front door became mostly obscured by the tree. It was already difficult to find the door between two buildings set back from the front. The tree made it more difficult still.

Our charge was simple – improve the sense of entry, provide a way to draw people in, keep the tree, keep the door, and above-all-else be sensitive to Rapson’s original idea.

We love the tree and its’ unique relationship with the house. Entry is “around” this tree and should remain so. Experiencing the tree is integral to the threshold of the home.

Our solution is a simple sidewalk. Precast white concrete pavers, 3’ x 3’, are placed in sequence leading to the front door. The ground plane is covered in a thin layer of blue/grey trap rock, allowing the pavers to stand out clearly as the path. Once the front door is reached, the pavers turn, are raised to the level of the floor, and become a stoop to more gracefully transition from inside to out.

Here the stoop mediates between the tree and the house. The concrete is carved out conforming to the shape of the tree and a wood band is placed between them, both softening the edge and referencing the ever-changing organic nature of the space.

Location: Chanhassen, MN.

Project Team:
Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in -Charge
Nate Dodge

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