This Award-Winning Home Is as Eco-Friendly as It Is Striking

It was recently announced that the San Francisco–based firm Form4 Architecture has won first place at the International Design Awards (IDA) for its Sea Song residential project. Now in its ninth year, the IDA competition awarded it the top prize in the conceptional architecture category. Located in Big Sur, the home was designed as an unobtrusive form that naturally fits within its craggy California landscape. Shaped like manta rays, each of the three volumes boasts a curvilinear geometry that remains fluid, unbroken, and in motion. The architects at Form4 Architecture wanted to create a structure that set no boundaries between the inside and the outside, which is why nearly every part of the home is facing toward the oversize windows that overlook the Pacific Ocean. The firm selected warm natural materials for the interiors and carefully positioned art pieces throughout the units. Nevertheless, much of the dwelling is purposefully left design-free, thus allowing the scenic background to become even more of a focal point.

A rendering of one of the living corridors.

As stunning as the design of the Sea Song truly is, much of its appeal comes from the structure’s environmental goals. To further meet its sustainability ambitions, Sea Song has been designed to be self-sustaining, net-zero energy, and is aiming for LEED Platinum certification by way of such technologies such as photovoltaics, self-cleaning glass, rainwater retention, and xeriscape—a style of landscape primarily used in arid regions, requiring little or no irrigation or other maintenance.

A view toward the three oversize windows of the Sea Song project.

This isn’t the only time Form4 Architecture has earned recognition this year for its Sea Song concept. Earlier this summer, the San Francisco–based firm received an honorable mention for the 12 Best American Projects from the 2016 World Architecture Festival.