California Architect’s Home Features Wildfire-Resistant, High-Performance Roof

The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires razed neighborhoods, killed inhabitants and forced desperate evacuations. They have become the most deadly and destructive blazes in California history. The fires were exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, a build-up of vegetation from the previous winter, and hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, which in some places have reached 100 miles per hour. The fire destroyed or damaged more than 12,401 structures.

This wasn’t California’s first fire. 

Anticipating this threat in the mid-1990s, Joe Day, AIA, designed principal at Los Angeles-based Deegan-Day Design & Architecture designed his “4/Way House” as a weekend retreat to maximize natural scenic views, while taking a protective stance against the elements including wildfire. Sitting on 2.5 acres atop a southeast-facing ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains, the 2,250-square-foot single-family home is located in a California community called Skyhawk Lane in Topanga, near Malibu.

In 1992, all of Skyhawk Lane burned, along with 39,000 acres of neighboring Topanga and Malibu, reducing all foliage to soot, and property values to half of their pre-burn high in the late ‘80s. Fire remained a constant concern for area residents.

Fire Resistant

Supporting the project’s distinctive appearance and climate-specific performance requirements, the architectural team specified RHEINZINK-prePATINA graphite-grey architectural-grade zinc on its roof and exterior wall cladding. The natural metal responds to its environment with a dynamic patina that evolves through the decades. With minimal maintenance, the sustainable material offers a lifespan of 80 years or more, and is 100% recyclable at the end of its life.

Inherently and effectively resisting fire and corrosion, RHEINZINK’s architectural-grade zinc clad a web of trusses supported by a fire-proof retaining infrastructure. Two standard truss profiles, in two orientations, form a faceted cascade over studio space and kitchen below and living space above.

For the roof and wall cladding systems, approximately 3,000 square feet of RHEINZINK material was supplied by Los Angeles-based Old Country Millwork and installed by Irvine, California-based Atlas Sheet Metal as a panelized standing-seam system. Unifying both the exterior walls and roof, the standing seams are aligned with precision for a continuous appearance.

Day explained that the project’s name, 4/Way House, was inspired by four “rotations” integrated into the home’s design:

• The first rotation is a planimetric rotation approximately 18 degrees off the cardinal north-southeast-west to the southeast, toward the Santa Monica Bay view.
• The second rotation involves truss configurations that give the house its angular envelope, opening the house toward the view, while providing a faceted fire blanket for the house.
• The third rotation nods to the garage, a Topanga-required design element to aid firefighters that tilts 90 degrees upward and doubles as a movie screen.
• The fourth and final rotation references an internal ruled-surface rotation that governs much of the cabinetry and the transition between floors

Building on Wildfire-Prone Land

“To take advantage of a distant, but commanding view of Santa Monica Bay, the house folds across the grain of a steeply sloping ridge, ducking upslope neighbors and cutting into the hillside to cool the lower floor,” Day says. Surrounding terraces present a complement of outdoor rooms and act as a fire buffer.

“Fear of fire, flood, slides and erosion dictate stringent setback, cladding and planting guidelines enforced by the state-wide Coastal Commission and by myriad county and city agencies,” Day say. “During design development, we assessed first what would be left to rebuild if 4/Way did burn, and how the site might shield other homes and safely serve firefighters. The 2,250-square-foot retreat mediates between competing topography and sightlines, and between the allure and danger of life in Topanga.

“Because 4/Way sits below its upslope neighbors, the structure as the first line of fire defense for the community. A lot of the rationale for the house has to do with the idea that now we’re the outpost. If you can defend our property, you are defending five houses up the street,” Day adds. “What we’re trying to do is set it up so that the house itself, and anyone involved in protecting it, is well served by it.”

Day’s intentional approach and personal involvement with the 4/Way House project meant construction waited to start until 2008. Kent Snyder Construction served as its general contractor and progressed in phases. The entire project was completed in 2022. It was honored with a Merit Award for small single-family residential projects from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles chapter.

TEAM

Architect: Deegan-Day Design & Architecture, Inc., Los Angeles, www.deegandaydesign.com

General Contractor: Kent Snyder Construction, Newport Beach, California

Installer: Atlas Sheet Metal, Irvine, California, www.atlassheetmetal.com

Steel Fabricator and Installer: Banks Welding, Inglewood, California, www.bankswelding.com

MATERIALS

Roofing System and Exterior Wall Cladding: prePATINA graphite-grey architectural-grade zinc, RHEINZINK, www.rheinzink.us