Manifold House by David Jameson Architect: 2020 Best of Year Winner for City House

With a bearing at once urban and domestic, this Arlington, Virginia house acts as a scale modulator between the suburban residential enclave and the mid-density business district it borders. (The boxy volume also serves to maximize the property’s allowable footprint.) Its exoskeletal frame of weathered-steel louvers is “an ode to precision engineering, inspired by the client’s passion for rebuilding vintage Italian scooters,” principal David Jameson explains. Nicknamed Manifold House, the 6,050-square-foot residence is built of a custom
extruded-aluminum curtain wall system supported by a prefabricated frame, which helped speed up construction time. The steel louvers modulate views and the flow of daylight into the interior, which centers on an expansive double-height void containing the public functions. Sleeping quarters, meanwhile, are two flights up, accessed via a mezzanine level
sequestered behind glass railings. Although Jameson’s design celebrates the manmade, it also draws on nature, powered by a geothermal system and a solar array. A machine for living in, indeed.

> See the full list of winners and honorees from Best of Year 2020