Studio Gang

Brick Weave House

Photo: Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing

Location
Chicago, IL

Status
Completed 2009

Type
Residential

Size
3,250 sf

Tags

The Brick Weave House sits on the footprint of a century-old stable on an eclectic block of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. By removing the original front walls and roof, the design creates a garden through subtraction, surrounded by a brick screen that both reveals and encloses the private courtyard and house beyond.

Variation in ceiling heights and floor levels weaves together the two-story garden at the front of the house with the single-story volume at the back. The brick screen animates the garden and interior with dappled sunlight and establishes an indirect visual connection to and from the street. Rectangular voids in the screen throw hexagonal patterns of light inside; at night, these patterns are cast outside, as the screen glows from within like a lantern.