Page 64 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

The Liminal House, with the garage in the foreground.

Washingtonian Residential Design Award
Liminal House
The Plains, VA

David Jameson Architect Inc.
Lighting Designer: David Tozer
Structural Engineers: Linton Engineering, LLC
MEP Consultants: Foley Mechanical Inc.
General Contractor: PureForm Builders

The word “liminal” describes a threshold of sorts—something Outdoor terrace (foreground).
that is in between two other things, whether conceptually or
physically. The name of this house, designed by David Jameson
Architect Inc., is derived from the four pairs of “liminal”
walls that divide the house into asymmetrical quadrants while massing and pinwheel compositions, but differ in their specific
creating visual portals toward the landscape. Perched atop geometries, materials, and scale.
the precast concrete walls is a glassy volume shaped like an The client commissioned this house as a “hospitality
angular pinwheel in plan and pivoted in relation to the ground environment” to be used during events at his equestrian
floor, introducing a rotational effect that turns a series of simple farm. One of the ground floor quadrants contains an open
rectilinear forms into a remarkably dynamic composition. living, dining, and kitchen space, while another contains three
Eagle-eyed readers of ARCHITECTUREDC may find this bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. A third quadrant is devoted
project very familiar. That is because it is, in effect, a guest to a large covered terrace, and the fourth one is the garage. A
house for a principal residence in the Virginia horse country central pavilion, which links the four quadrants and the walls
that received a Chapter Design Award last year and was running between them, contains a double-height space open to
featured in the Fall 2019 issue of the magazine. The main house the rotated level above.
and guest house share a strong familial resemblance in their

62 METROPOLITAN HOMES