© Stephen Schauer
- Architects: Knowhow Shop
- Location: Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Design/Construction: Knowhow Shop
- Area: 154.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2017
- Photographs: Stephen Schauer, Marisa Vitale, Nephew LA
- Estimated Construction Cost: $50,000
© Stephen Schauer
Text description provided by the architects. Lighthouse is a micro-building designed and built like a piece of furniture. We discarded typical details and assemblies in favor of new methods of construction from the ground up. The result is a project designed to test our craft in materials and our perceptions of space. From a door with no right angles, to a custom made skylight that marries traditional boatbuilding materials with details borrowed from a car sunroof, to shop fabricated and mitered SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) joined with film industry hardware. This is not a project that we would have been able to hand off to a contractor to execute, so we bypassed the normal methods of architectural production, and relied on the most experimental potential of our design/build model. Lighthouse is an office for our business, a showcase of our craft, and an example of the huge potential within rethinking the way we design and build.
© Nephew LA
Site plan
© Stephen Schauer
Lighthouse is named to reflect both its construction system: lightweight prefabricated panels that are assembled on site with minimal impact to the environment, and its iconic openings: a oversized and entirely custom door, window, and operable skylight that provide plenty of natural light during the day and project a warm inviting glow at night . Without the necessity of a traditional foundation Lighthouse rests on industrial casters originally designed to support roll-off dumpsters and can be moved around the shop yard to facilitate material deliveries and flexible outdoor space. We hope that future Lighthouses will become beacons for those searching for smaller sustainable buildings that embrace contemporary architectural design.
© Stephen Schauer