Earth Protector

This project is a renovation of Architect Angelo Cacciola’s spectacular 9369 Flicker Way house, built in 1989 in the “bird streets” above Sunset Boulevard. Our design retains many of the original features of the original-- its openness and the way it is perched on the hilltop-- but it injects surprising new elements, creating an entirely new silhouette against the sky, and situating the project within a new ecological imperative.

A giant solar roof lands on top of the house to create a shaded microclimate beneath. We call this roof an Earth Protector, referring to its kindness to the earth and to the inhabitants below. The solar array contains 50 commercial grade solar PVs, normally used for solar fields outside the city, tilted up to create a sawtooth profile in the building’s elevation. This array produces 3.6 MWh/year of power, making it 360% energy positive, enough power for four homes of this size. The house therefore does not draw power from the city, but rather feeds power into it, revealing a new model for sustainability based on excess rather than lack.