Mourning Dovecote – San Francisco, United States
Title
Mourning Dovecote – San Francisco, United States
Designed by
S^A | Schwartz and Architecture
Image Credit
© Douglas Sterling Photography
Website Source
Project
Project description provided by S^A | Schwartz and Architecture - This 390 sq ft studio addition onto the owner/architect’s existing home in Sonoma, California takes inspiration
from the site’s abundant pairs of Mourning Doves. The Mourning Dove, one of the most widespread of all
North American birds suffering the impact of habitat loss, is typically monogamous yet is a prolific breeder,
raising up to six broods a year. Both sexes take turn incubating –the male from morning to afternoon, and the
female the rest of the day and night. Appreciation of these qualities, and the dove’s historical associations
with peace and calm, made the idea of co-habitation with them a critical leitmotif –one made even more
potent in a global pandemic.
A traditional country ‘dovecote’ houses pigeons or doves, sometimes freestanding but often built into the ends
of houses or barns. The architect researched the most advantageous height, orientation, proportion, and
ventilation to encourage nesting doves –a process that informed both the shape of the exterior and interior
space. The work also serves as a response to the proliferation of the ‘modern farmhouse’ style for new wine
country homes –structures with the veneer of traditional farm buildings yet often out of scale with their
surroundings, ill-sited, and ill-considered.
Although hidden from the interior, twelve nesting boxes built into the angled exterior façade, encourage the
bird’s co-habitation of the space as in traditional dovecote structures. A lower bird-watching window focuses
on the doves as they ground-feed and serves as convenient viewing spot for the owner’s two Spinone Italiani
bird-dogs.
The ceiling is a series of slightly triangular planes in an off-white plaster that subtly captures the shifts in
natural light. An aluminum art panel floats in front of an angled wall to intensify the depth of the abstract
space. English Sycamore cabinetry with a slight translucent whitewash finish matches the plaster. A dark
natural cork floor tile grounds the space.
A custom sheer curtain divides the new space from the old with an image of a murmuration of swallows
flocking. The photographer Richard Barnes supplied an image from his Murmur series of these flocks, from
which we made the Murmuration Drape. We divided the image into five unique panels and printed them on
sheer silk. We then reassembled the image, thus creating a fluttering threshold to, and backdrop for, the
dovecote.
The Pull-Me-Closer (aka Push-Me-Away) handles are an ode to Alvar Aalto’s modern but inviting approach
to interiors. We modeled the shape digitally after multiple failed wood and clay prototypes. A local foundry
took our 3D-printed plastic forms and created a mold to cast them in bronze. We then bound them in leather
strapping, using a traditional Manchurian sword-hilt wrapping technique (and far too many hours of YouTube
videos).
On a sustainability aspect, the project considers its impact on the whole surrounding ecosystem as well its
energy consumption very early on in the design process. Preservation of existing landscape, taking advantage
of natural resources such as natural daylight and storm water are efficiently utilized throughout the project.
Computational modeling and analysis were conducted to understand the quality and levels of natural light
throughout the day and year, deciding the site, orientation, overhangs, openings, and programming of the
structure. More conventionally, the project includes sustainable materials such as cork flooring, radiant heating,
and solar panels.
The roof ‘feathers’ are laser cut from sheet metal, carefully nested to ensure minimal waste in fabrication.
Similarly, the offcuts from the cedar siding are used to create the laminated entry bridge to the dovecote studio
space. The project can operate entirely off-grid with on-site renewable energy generation. As such it can
become an area of refuge in times of increasing environmental instability such as wildfires and floodings. The
solar array installed as part of this project scope produces enough energy to offset 100% of the annual fossil
fuel use for the entire property.
