Traditionally, row houses are dark, rectangular spaces with windows located only on the shorter sides of the building. Stairways are stacked, one above the other, maximizing square footage, but diminishing any visual connection vertically throughout the building.
Whereas the typical row house denies inhabitants of a vertical experience, the Switchback house embraces it. In doing so, it expands upon the traditional row house in two fundamental ways. First, by replacing a stacked stair with a switchback stair, and second, by inserting a dramatic skylight directly above the new vertical stair volume. This subtle yet strategic transformation yields natural light throughout the house, illuminating each level, and eliminating the need for artificial lighting during the day. Additionally, the design eliminates the hallway that typically links the stacked stairs, permitting adjacent rooms visual access to the stairwell, and the light filtering down from above.
