For this project we worked with Ross Hummel Architects and builder Randy Seitz on a beautiful home in Ross, CA, in Marin County, one of the wealthiest communities in the country.
The project is for a home on top of a hill in Ross with a beautiful view from a deck off the kitchen and dining room towards the south of the hills, with a peak of the San Francisco skyline. The challenge was that the deck is exposed to the sun almost the entire day – turning the stone deck into a heat sink. The heat spills into the house, and the reflected sunlight can be blinding.
Using interior drapes or blinds blocks out the brightness of the sun, but also eliminates the views – hardly ideal for a house with “million dollar views”. Plus, the interior drapes did nothing to block out the heat gain from the sun hitting the doors opening onto the deck – which meant the kitchen and dining rooms became unbearable ovens during the summer months.
The house is post-war modern in style, and required a sleek, unobtrusive shade solution to match the architecture and quality of the house. After evaluating all the choices on the market, Ross Hummel Architects chose the Markilux 8000 fully enclosed cassette retractable canopy awning to provide shade over the deck. The Markilux 8000 retractable retractable awning system uses tracks to support the awning fabric so that it is tensioned perfectly across the width and projection of the awning fabric to maintain a beautiful appearance.
Ross Hummel Architects designed and created a unique, minimalist support frame made of channel steel for the Markilux 8000 retractable canopy awning. With only minimal clearances available, we worked with our factory in Germany to custom design a Markilux 8000 retractable canopy awning to fit inside the steel support structure. Manufactured in a custom DuPont RAL color to exactly match the color of the frame, the retractable awning cassette and rails blend into the architecture and are essentially invisible from the ground.
Take a look at a few pictures of this project here and you’ll instantly see why leading architects and builders choose Markilux Awnings for custom retractable awnings, retractable canopies and exterior solar shades.
Our thanks to Ross Hummel Architects, Randy Sietz, our engineers in Germany, and our installation partner for working with us to make this project a success!
