isometric material sketch
EL CERRITO ORCHID GARAGE
Program: Garage, Garden + Utility + Workspace
Location: Hillsborough, California
Size: 1,000 SF
Phase: Permitting
This project is our second intervention amongst the small buildings nestled within a @smithsonian recognized garden. We embraced the challenge of stitching between different programs and volumes by creating an architecture that subtly evolves from the expression of a small carriage house in the main axial view, to the definition of a greenhouse opening up towards the garden in the back.
A close reading of the existing context of the ‘Styled Ranch’ allows us to first identify the defining features of this eclectic language moving from California Modern to English Cottage to Craftsman. We then blend and update this language with the new addition: an elegant flow of circulation through low-slung, single-story volumes, varying degrees of openness through aperture position and glazing opacity, and elegant yet unpretentious tectonic clarity.
2025, RESIDENTIAL, ADU, Smithsonian Garden, Ground-Up
WORKSHOP
Founded in March 2024, WORKSHOP GIRARDI KABALA is a design studio based in LA on the search for practical, beautiful and historically resonant form and space.
GIRARDI
Melina Girardi, Assoc. AIA, is a designer from Vienna with 10 years of experience in architecture, design and construction, ranging from residential design, cultural institutions and commercial/hospitality spaces to stage design, including 5 years with Frank Gehry.KABALA
Matthew Kabala is a designer with an MArch. degree from the Yale School of Architecture. His experience ranges from architecture and stage design to textiles and painting, including 6 years with Frank Gehry.
© WORKSHOP Girardi Kabala, 2025, All Rights Reserved