IN THE NEWS: Boyer’s hybrid ‘Courtyard House’ featured in Azure Magazine
Dash Marshall, a New York-based architecture firm co-founded by Taubman College’s Bryan Boyer, was recently featured in Azure magazine for its work on a courtyard house that serves as both a hybrid workspace and a second home, while also making a case for modern courtyard houses.
The unconventional house was designed as a weekend retreat and daily office space for Boyer, faculty director of the Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology and associate professor of practice in architecture, and his partner, Laura Lewis. Located across town from where they live in Detroit, the site may seem atypical for a second home, but Detroit’s Core City neighborhood provided all the necessary aspects. Despite its proximity to downtown, the area is quite tranquil with generously sized housing lots. The new space allows for weekend hosting year-round in a fairly accessible location compared to the more rural options they had considered.
The 1,800-square-foot home was completed over the course of three years. Centered around a large courtyard, it features a kitchen as well as dedicated spaces for dining, living, and working. The exterior showcases a rectilinear design clad in Lunawood Thermowood pine, with precisely cut sections that form shaded porches at the building’s corners. One notable omission: Bedrooms. The home was originally intended to be a two-story structure with bedrooms on the upper floor, but, as Boyer explains, the project pivoted to a single level due to rising material costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Azure writes, “The architect doesn’t hesitate to describe the project as ‘an indulgence.’ But a pragmatic one: The home has helped shape Dash Marshall’s innovative work on courtyard houses. In Detroit’s Little Village, for example, the studio is designing a filmmaker’s triangular residence contoured around a sliver of a courtyard. On Long Island, meanwhile, the team is working on a private home whose two volumes — which create a V-shaped courtyard — respond to both the waterfront site and the adjacent road.”
Read the full article, “Home/Office,” at Azure’s website. (Registration or a paid subscription may be required for full access.)
Photos by Jason Keen
