Works by Mark Balenovic

A. Studio stair 3d model: quick study done within Autocad 2002 drawing file, when I decided to throw a curve into the stair, and to cantilever the

treads out of the wall. The spatial quality of the room - and the cost - increased by a factor of five.

B. Studio stair form: This form was made out of scraps of form plywood and lumber previously used in the forming of the exterior walls. I laid out the

tread apertures on the outer plywood form. The treads were placed into the form, together with the massive reinforcement steel. Each tread has

horizontal and vertical rebar tied to the wall rebar cage. The form took 3 weeks for one person to build. The hand-mixed pour took 4 hours, for six

C. The 4" x 12" douglas fir planks are embedded in concrete, and a heavy person can trample up and down the stair, with no perceptive flexing.

stair interior, powder room; studio scratch coat, plaster; solid ash floor; studio roof woodwork

The old Galisteo Basin was once the bottom of a vast inland sea. I like to think that I'm perched on the edge of an ancient beachfront property. I just couldn't scrape away that old meadow for another studio/shop building without being somehow deserving of the effort. The final design solutions in this building are a collection of my own life experiences, the site, and the conditions of the construction. The visitor is rewarded with a relationship to an architectural work which feels comfortable with its existence.