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Houzz Tour: Laboratory House Bridges Old, New

Step inside a 10-year home design experiment in steel, wood and wonder

John Hill February 6, 2012

Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor of Architecture and Master in Urban Planning degrees, and over ten years experience in architectural practice, split between Chicago and NYC. Currently I'm focused on writing and online pursuits. My daily blog can be found at http://archidose.blogspot.com

Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor... More

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Architect Randy Brown can be attributed with single-handedly bringing cutting-edge architecture to Nebraska, having learned under West Coast architects like the late Frank Israel and returning to the Cornhusker State with know-how and a passion for contemporary architecture. Brown's own house and studio on a hilly 10-acre lot in Omaha is a striking expression of his architecture. A dynamic addition in Corten steel is linked to an existing 1950s house by a translucent bridge. It's a highly personal and experiment design with an interesting background. Read on for a tour of the Laboratory House.

Contemporary Exterior by Randy Brown

Randy and his wife Kim purchased the small ranch-style house and large lot in 1999. "We said we would take our time," he says. And they did, moving into the expanded house eight years later. This near decade time frame can be attributed to treating the house as a lab — hence LABoratory House — for exploring design and construction. Randy and his employees would draw and refine elements as they built the house themselves. A continual back-and-forth between drawing and building slowly refined the house over time. Eventually Randy hired some of his students to help out, a process that worked very well but still required he "and the full-time guy working manual labor for two intense years."

Industrial Exterior by Randy Brown

Brown's addition is a three-story piece, where the upper two floors cantilever beyond the angled footprint of the lowest level. Trace the glowing bridge (what Brown call "the skywalk") beyond the right edge of the photo, and that is where the existing house sits. But the two are also connected on the lowest level via a hallway, offering a different avenue of connection and tying the addition to the hilly land it sits upon. The skywalk hints at the playfulness that is found inside.

Industrial Exterior by Randy Brown

The skywalk is also a strong symbol of connection between the two realms of Brown's life: work and home. Given that the house is a lab for design experiments, it is also a full-size portfolio piece for impressing potential clients. To move from a renovated ranch house (the entrance straddling old and new is pictured) to a Corten-clad anomaly is to experience the architect's abilities first hand.

Contemporary Staircase by Randy Brown

From the entrance, one has the option of traversing the stair to the bridge or descending below to the hallway. The former brings one to the public parts of the house, while the latter heads towards the toy room and the children's bedrooms.

Contemporary Exterior by Randy Brown

The bridge appears to insert itself into the addition with some force, as if the two-story volume is crumpled by it.

Modern Living Room by Randy Brown

Inside the rust gives way to drywall -- painted white -- and wood. The latter is articulated with 7,000 (!) 3/4x1-1/2" slats -- "one dollar a slat," according to Brown, who further asserts, "Drywall walls are boring!" And they have nothing on the stunning view at the end of the large double-height living space, what one sees rounding the corner from the end of the bridge. The ribbon window at the floor is a unique touch, one that highlights the trees down the hill.

Contemporary Dining Room by Randy Brown

But the white drywall walls are also the perfect foil for the thousand of wood slats; they create a backdrop for the various screens that give the house what Brown wanted, some "transparency and lightness." The extensive drywall extends to the ceiling, making the exposed wood joists as strong as the various wood slats.

Contemporary Bedroom by Randy Brown

Ripe for experimentation are the bedrooms and play areas for the kids. These screens in the boys' bedroom appear to eat up a good chunk of the thousands of wood slats, and they certainly reinforce the house as a laboratory. They may look frivolous, but I liken their presence to pre-litigation playgrounds; the purpose of the screens may be ambiguous, but they are a spur for the imagination and a welcome respite from the norm.

Contemporary Bedroom by Randy Brown

Elsewhere the experiments are more subdued, such as the guest suite, which rounds out this tour. A hole in drywall is carved to become a cavity of light and reveal what looks like some wires. Whatever the case may be, I'm drawn to the small window at bottom right that appears to frame the base of a small tree that angles as it rises.

by Randy Brown

Panning left we see the rest of the guest suite: the tub and sink (behind the latter is the toilet alcove). Within this house of Corten steel, white drywall, and thousands of wood slats, there is still room for some marble. I especially like how the mirror faces the view out the full-height window, making a nice natural backdrop when brushing one's teeth.

by Randy Brown

One last look at the house — from the sink area through the shower that shares a wall with the bathtub ‚ shows the complexity that happens even in one of the most straightforward spaces in Brown's addition. Large expanses of glass alternate with small slot windows; materials overlap and erode to reveal structure; and views cross numerous boundaries. Ultimately, like any house the views are an important part of the house. They are a means of orienting the dynamic plan, be it in the double-height living space or the guest suite at the other side of the house.

Yes, Brown's house is a laboratory that attracts its fair share of architectural admirers — he admits contemporary peers like Larry Scarpa, Marlon Blackwell, and Merrill Elam have trekked to see the house — but it is still an environment that works for him and his family. It provides shelter and a means of interacting with nature, but it is also playful and embraces delight and surprise, some elements missing from much contemporary residential architecture.

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Comments (8)

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frozenelves

beautiful architecture but would never imaging living in it

Like February 22, 2012 at 9:13PM

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ARON ASTON

I love the glass walkway. I love stuff like that, because when it's storming you can walk through it and you're in the storm without being exposed to the elements. They ruined it with the muted glass.

Like February 16, 2013 at 7:03AM

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Michael Huffstetler

We purchased this house in 2014 from the Browns and absolutely LOVE the home! We continue to make alterations to the attached farmhouse having converted it from his architecture studio to a fitness studio to support my wife's TRX business. As some of the comments have stated, the home is a refreshing and unexpected property to rural, suburban Omaha. Although it serves as our family's full time residence, we have enjoyed sharing it with others who express curiosity and interest in the architecture. We have hosted AIA tours, indoor and outdoor weddings, receptions, and several production shoots. We have even hosted a few guest stays on AirB&B. The 11 staircases took some getting used to - it is like living in a treehouse! - but we so enjoy the spaciousness and the home's connection with nature.

Like February 25, 2017 at 12:08PM

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