Prescott is a residential and commercial neighborhood close to Mandella Parkway in West Oakland. Diverse buildings populate the streets. The site is an empty corner with a prominent presence. 

The building uses forms and materials common to the neighborhood: vertical windows, horizontal siding, picket railings, abstracted to both connect with and expand the language.

The thin three-story structure, with its alternating black and white dice-like facades of openings and recesses, is both familiar and new.

An intricate geometric landscape continues the building’s logic horizontally on the ground plane.

A floating canopy shields the entry. The party wall is thickened to contain services, stairs, and organize the open interiors. The first floor is flex space with an incised court, guest suite and sauna, the middle level are bedrooms, and the top living, dining and kitchen, with outdoor decks facing both streets. A delicate stair, encased with taught verticals, lit from above, links the levels.

Regular everyday materials are assembled and detailed to be extra-ordinary.