Nimbus Prototype // NIMMO

Nimbus Prototype is a flexible, urban-infill prototype set in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas. The owner wanted a residence that would be multigenerational but that also could be used for a short-term rental. The design team strived for spaces that allowed both connection and privacy for the parents, children, and grandparents.

The design solution is a duplex, with the matching units rotated 90 degrees from each other. The rotation of the units takes advantage of the corner lot and gives each home its own front yard. While the kids can visit their grandparents through the garden fence, the units feel like independent homes.

The house connects the residents to their outdoor space while maintaining privacy in the dense, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. The home is raised on stilts, with the main living areas on the second level. The first level is finished out to be flexible, used either as bedrooms or as a rental suite complete with a kitchenette. Raising the house on stilts provides voluminous covered outdoor spaces that are shielded from the hot sun of Texas summers.

The second level of the house is designed in a “U” shape around a central patio. The patio has sliding glass doors on three sides that open to bring together the main living areas or that close to create distinct spaces with visual connections between the rooms. By inverting a traditional balcony into the floor plan of the house, the resulting courtyard-like space brings in light and air while maintaining privacy from the street below.

Interior walls and ceilings, clad in a whitewashed Douglas fir, are housed in an exterior shell of floating black slate.

Architectural Design Team: Joshua Nimmo, AIA; Kristin Walsh; and Garrett Ratner
Contractor: Ripple D+B Co.
Civil Engineer: Webb Consulting 
Interior Design: RBrant Design
Landscape Architect: Andrew Luter
Structural Engineer: Childress Engineering; Element Engineering
Completed: 2019
Square footage: 2 x 2,000
Photography: Daniel Creekmore