Hawthorne Studio

This small studio in the garden of a historic residence in Pasadena, California, houses the library of architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne. Upon leaving his full-time position at the LA-times in 2018, he brought back his book collection to his house in Pasadena and asked us to re-think a small structure behind the carport in his garden: it had to serve as a reading and writing studio. Still, it needed to function as well as a small guest-unit when required.

The design consists of a continuous blue element that incorporates the storage for books, a desk, and access to a small bathroom, defining a clear horizon with the irregular pitched roof volume. In the end, the multicolored book spines give character to the rectangular studio space.  The pill-shaped bathroom, in contrast, is lined by a quiet and uninterrupted grid of white square tiles. Light filters into the bathroom via a single glass clerestory window, generating a visual continuity between the two interior spaces while preventing the humidity of the shower to reach the books. The studio opens up towards a newly created patio in the garden, that serves as an outdoor extension of the writing studio.