A home’s entry is often its first impression, and modern architects are using large scale glass to create impressions that are dramatic, surprising, and uniquely welcoming. See how six architects designed unique entries for homes, regardless of size and location.
In Blue Heron’s VM01 house in Las Vegas (above) a long water-lined sequence with native desert plants leads to a dramatic view of the iconic Strip skyline. Automated multi-slide doors can fully open, so visitors may never encounter a door as they enter the home, and instead experience a full indoor-outdoor aesthetic.
By glassing in the foyer of a Phoenix, Arizona home, architect Erik Peterson of PHX Architecture creates a dramatic moment on a more modest scale. With two floor-to-ceiling window walls and a matching hinged door, the atrium-like entry provides the perfect introduction to the home.
Architect Dennis Budd used symmetry and large-scale matching pivot doors to flank the central atrium in a San Mateo, California Joseph Eichler-designed home. The use of large-scale glass maintained the transparency and indoor-outdoor connection of the original design, while meeting today’s standards for energy efficiency.
The double hinged doors and carefully positioned entry wall of a lakeside house designed by James Evans play with the extreme transparency of the home as a whole. While the exterior walls virtually disappear, the entry becomes a notable moment of reveal for the main living area and view beyond.
In contrast, the serene garden entry of a Texas hill country home uses just enough glass to reveal the views through the house from the threshold. While the brick walls present an unassuming façade to the street, visitors are welcomed with a first glimpse through the largely glass walls at the rear of the house and can see the rolling hills beyond.
Finally, a hilltop home uses the slope of the front yard for privacy, while the glass walls of the front façade invite visitors into the home, and expose the view beyond.
Dramatic, welcoming, or surprising, these home use glass doors and windows to create a memorable first impression in homes ranging from theatrical to cozy.