Room To Breathe is a transformation of an existing single-family residence in Altadena for a family of four. Originally a compact home with limited connection to its landscape, the project reconsiders how modest intervention can fundamentally recalibrate spatial experience.

Rather than demolish, the design preserves and selectively adapts the existing structure, extending its lifespan while conserving embodied carbon. Sustainability is approached as stewardship — retaining what works and building only where necessary.

The primary intervention is a family room addition extending from the kitchen and dining areas into a newly defined courtyard. Conceived as an environmental mediator, the space operates as both room and threshold. Multi-slide glass doors on two sides allow the enclosure to fully retract, dissolving boundaries between interior and exterior and embracing Southern California’s temperate climate. Light, cross-ventilation, and seasonal change become active components of daily life.

Material continuity maintains cohesion with the original house, while refined detailing subtly distinguishes old from new. The restrained footprint minimizes site impact and reinforces the project’s ethos of measured growth.

More than added square footage, the intervention creates spatial generosity within constraint — a flexible setting for gathering, reading, music, and refl ection. Through strategic adaptation rather than expansion for its own sake, Room To Breathe demonstrates how small residential projects can yield profound architectural and environmental impact.

Project Team: Aaron Neubert (Principal), Jina Seo / Structural Engineer: Craig Phillips Engineering / Photography: David Perez