Different designers will tell you different stories about the role of architecture: is it functional or artistic, should it be comfortable or creative, unassuming and contextual or unique and outstanding? This building answers with a resoundingly right-brained response: a house can be not only a place to call home, but can also be a work of art and can even double as a semi-public place for displaying artworks as well.

Both clients involved in this project (designed by Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects and photographed by Tim Griffith) are avid art collectors who not only wanted places to hang pictures and place sculptures for their own enjoyment, but also wanted a dwelling that could be opened up for friends, family and other people to enjoy. The first floor is the most overtly public – a gallery made to exhibit rotating works – but the integration does not end there.

Moving up through the floors, open-plan spaces blur the mixed-use boundaries between private (living, dining room and even bedroom) areas and the spaces available circulation space for guests of various kinds. The vertical experience ends in an outdoor green rooftop deck sculpture gallery. Depending on the event, the owners can open one or more levels to let visitors experience some or all of the artwork in their collection.

And then there is the architecture of the structure itself: starting with the complex geometric metal facade there is an immediate sense that this place is more than a mere home. Inside, there are artistically-executed angles but also the feel of a warehouse loft museum space – exposed metal beams and white walls throughout.