Set on a steep, wooded hillside in Monte Sereno, Pavilion in the Oaks extends a multigenerational home with a lightweight, raised structure that threads through mature oaks and redwoods. A bridge links the new volume to the walk-out basement level, consolidating circulation while preserving root zones. The pavilion concentrates compact, conditioned functions within a cedar-clad core and opens the perimeter to decks and a courtyard. Exposed timber framing, nine skylights, and large sliding doors choreograph light, air, and views across an expansive deck system that privileges open-air occupation and careful coexistence with the site’s canopy.
Pavilion in the Oaks Technical Information
- Architects: Mork-Ulnes Architects
- Location: Monte Sereno, California, United States
- Gross Area: 207 m2 | 2,234 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2021 – 2025
- Photographs: © Joe Fletcher
We set the pavilion lightly within the grove, allowing the trees to determine plan and section. Openings, decks, and a central timber core work together so that circulation, light, and air move as freely as the landscape continues beneath and through the building.
– Casper Mork-Ulnes
Site, Canopy, and Topography
The pavilion is sited opposite a 1970s stucco residence to establish a three-sided courtyard that becomes the daily outdoor room in summer. A bridge ties the new construction to the walk-out basement level, turning a challenging slope into an organizing datum and simplifying movement between house, deck, and pavilion. This move consolidates circulation across grade changes without heavy cuts, aligning spatial strategy with topographic restraint.
Slender columns lift the volume above the ground plane, minimizing grading and protecting the root systems of the surrounding oaks and redwoods. The deck is carefully punctured where trunks rise, assigning the trees the role of primary spatial dividers and calibrating canopy clearances. Rather than placing the building in front of the landscape, the structure threads between it, allowing the grove to determine thresholds, edges, and view corridors.
As a mediator between house and hillside, the pavilion extends daily life outward through an interconnected deck system that reads as terrain rather than appendage. The elevated platform preserves understory ecology while providing continuous exterior surfaces for gathering. In this arrangement, the canopy provides shade, habitat continuity, and a visual ceiling, while the pavilion provides the minimal enclosure necessary for weather protection, privacy, and programmatic flexibility.
Program and Spatial Strategy
The plan concentrates technical functions within a compact conditioned core containing a fitness room, sauna, bathroom, and kitchenette. Around this core, a perimeter ring remains open and adaptable for yoga and social gatherings. Large sliding doors on three sides enable rapid reconfiguration from quiet practice to communal use, with the building converting from a more inward routine in the morning to open social occupation as the day warms.
A cedar-clad central volume anchors the layout, setting a tactile center of gravity that organizes movement. Circulation traces the edges, aligning with operable openings and continuous decks to reinforce a porous boundary between interior and exterior. This arrangement keeps fixed services efficient and discreet while allowing the outer band to expand seamlessly into the courtyard and tree-lined terraces.
The design privileges open-air occupation. Approximately 1,584 square feet of unconditioned deck wraps a 650 square foot interior, committing the majority of the area to outdoor living while limiting conditioned space to essential functions. This ratio reduces mechanical burden and supports an everyday-use pattern aligned with the site’s climate: shade, air, and filtered light perform much of the environmental work that enclosure would otherwise carry.
Structure, Materiality, and Light
Exposed cedar roof framing registers structure as interior finish, and nine skylights distribute dappled daylight across the space, echoing the canopy outside. The array moderates contrast by admitting light from above while the surrounding trees provide lateral shade, reducing dependence on artificial lighting during daytime use. Light diagrams across the cedar surfaces, turning the ceiling into a field that signals time and weather.
A restrained exterior of metal cladding resists weathering and recedes against the dark understory, while warm timber interiors provide tactility where occupants meet the building. Custom wood doors and expansive sliders calibrate thresholds with specific widths and sill details that flatten transitions to the deck. Views are framed to the trunks passing through the platform and to the courtyard, keeping the trees legible as structural companions to the architecture.
Elevation on slim supports lowers ground impact but intensifies structural coordination. Lateral stability is likely resolved through discreet bracing or moment frames tuned to keep the perimeter open for sliding panels, while the deck modules work as diaphragms tying columns and shear elements together. The repetitive rhythm of framing and supports sets a steady spatial cadence, read in the soffit, the skylight spacing, and the sequencing of outdoor bays.
Environmental Performance and Building Systems
Passive strategies are embedded in the envelope and openings. Daylighting from the skylight array, combined with cross-ventilation through operable sliders on three sides with insect screens, reduces lighting and cooling loads for most of the year. The shaded deck and courtyard act as thermal buffers, allowing activities to shift outward and keeping interior conditioning brief and targeted.
Operational energy aligns with the project’s small conditioned footprint. The on-site photovoltaic capacity has been expanded to 14.375 kW with 30.72 kWh of battery storage, serving both the pavilion and the existing residence. Storage supports evening use of the wellness spaces and backs up ventilation and lighting without relying on the grid during peak periods.
Preserving the mature canopy and limiting soil disturbance through a column-supported structure supports microclimate moderation and hydrological continuity on the steep site. Tree shade stabilizes surface temperatures and reduces radiant loads, while minimal grading maintains infiltration pathways and root health. The result is an outdoor room system that relies on the hillside’s existing environmental assets, with building systems scaled to complement rather than replace them.
About Mork-Ulnes Architects
Founded in 2005, Mork-Ulnes Architects is an international practice based in San Francisco and Oslo. The studio combines Scandinavian pragmatism with the innovative spirit of Northern California, delivering concept-driven architecture that fuses playfulness with restraint. From large-scale master plans to compact dwellings, the firm’s projects reflect a commitment to material economy and site-specific strategies.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Structural engineers: Daedalus Engineering
- Client: Private client
- Construction company: Hummel Custom Construction
- Civil Engineer: Lea & Braze Engineering
- Arborist: Urban Tree Management
- Geotechnical Engineer: Romig Engineers
- Energy Analyst: Monterey Energy Group
- Interior ambient lighting: RBW
- Downlights: WAC Lighting
- Exterior lighting: dweLED
- Research references or publications: “The Craft of Place,” Park Books, 2024
