Heptagon House

Heptagon House offers a geometric solution to a set of financial and regulatory challenges. Limited to the footprint of an existing 195 square foot foundation, the design takes advantage of the simple properties of plan rotation in order to expand the area of the upper floors while aligning the guest house toward an ocean view. The plan is chamfered at the base and roof to allow for a front door and larger windows, yielding four heptagonal facades and a series of canted planes that opportunistically turn the local gabled roof vernacular on its head.
The project embraces its tight budget with a minimal palette of plywood surfaces and millwork, standard manufactured windows, and inexpensive white standing-seam metal roofing that wraps the entire structure in abstract linework. An inexpensive acrylic dome skylight is mounted on rails, allowing it to roll open and offer the urban camper a night under the stars.

Steven Christensen Architecture is an award-winning design and research platform launched by Steven Christensen, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP. Christensen is a registered architect, and he received his Master in Architecture from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 2008. He has been a member of the design faculty at the University of Michigan and UCLA, and he has been an invited critic at several institutions including Harvard, SCI-Arc, USC, Woodbury, Michigan, and Cambridge.

2017 AR Future Projects Award, The Architectural Review + MIPIM: Liepāja Thermal Bath

2017 Jury Award, A+ Awards, Architizer: Liepāja Thermal Bath

2017 Special Mention, A+ Awards, Architizer: Emigration House

2017 Special Mention, A+ Awards, Architizer: Heptagon House

2016 Young Architect’s Award, The Architect’s Newspaper

2016 American Architecture Award: Liepāja Thermal Bath

2016 American Architecture Award: Bandersnatch

2016 Best of Year Honoree, Interior Design Magazine: Emigration House

2016 Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award (Honorable Mention): Emigration House

2016 American Architecture Prize (Silver): Liepāja Thermal Bath

2016 American Architecture Prize (Honorable Mention): Heptagon House

2016 Best of the BEST Award, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

2016 BEST Award, Work over 15,000 SF, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Venafi Headquarters

2016 BEST Award, Live – Single Unit, IIDA Intermountain Chapter: Broadway Loft

2015 AZ Award of Merit, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

2015 People's Choice Award, AZURE Magazine: Liepāja Thermal Bath

2015 Architect Magazine Residential Architect Design Award: Heptagon House

2015 AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award (Citation): Bandersnatch

2015 IDA International Design Award (Gold): Liepāja Thermal Bath

2015 IDA International Design Award (Bronze): Heptagon House

2014 AIA California Council Residential Design Award (Merit) Heptagon House

2014 AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award (Merit): Heptagon House

2014 AIA Los Angeles Next LA Design Award (Citation): Liepāja Thermal Bath

2014 AIA Los Angeles NEXT LA Design Award (Citation): Pop-Up Chapel