New company Lucid is aiming to up Atlanta’s modern home game

For years, the modern home designs of West Architecture Studio have been fixtures on MA! Architecture Tours and the shortlists of discerning enthusiasts of the genre.

For an example of the latter, look no further than a stone, wood, and stucco three-bedroom from 2012 that smashed Edgewood’s single-family sales record by more than $200,000 last year.

Headed by Georgia Tech graduate Scott West, the architecture firm has partnered with investors to form a company called Lucid, with hopes of breaking ground soon on two spec houses in Midtown and Buckhead.

The broader goal, West says, is to bolster local appreciation for cutting-edge design while creating a company devoted full-time to the development of modern homes in Atlanta—a model that could make building more modestly priced offerings feasible in the future.

“[But] I have to build the brand with marquee projects first,” West explained in an email to Curbed Atlanta.

Specifically, the first two Lucid homes are planned for Midtown and Buckhead, both now listed as pre-construction specs and touting organic design, dramatic volumes, and stylish landscaping.

It’s no surprise such “marquee projects” carry upmarket pricing.

The cheaper of the two is asking $1.6 million on Midtown’s Charles Allen Drive, a couple of blocks south of Grady High School.

The other is planned for a hillside lot at 515 Mountain Way in Buckhead, just west of Ga. Highway 400, priced at $2 million. (Renderings below).

West says his designs strive for modern simplicity of form and to “convey a more subtle heterodoxy through pairing with more organic materials used in an unconventional way,” while emphasizing the interaction of smart landscaping with the architecture itself.

“My goal isn’t necessarily to design and build some avant garde home ‘sculpture’ that will be impressive but look dated and worn in a few years,” he says. “Or to provide the standard all-white modern box that’s arguably starting to feel a bit ‘tired,’ [although] there may be aspects of that in some of my designs.”

Atlantans as a whole have been more reticent to adopt modern homes than other cities, but the diversification of the city’s housing stock has ramped up in more prosperous, post-recession years.

Still, West guesses that maybe 15 percent of the population is open now to living in a modern house, which nonetheless represents exponential growth over just a few years ago.

“I’ve seen my workload increase accordingly,” he says. “I like to think that I’m helping increase the general demand for modern homes in Atlanta and gaining converts with every project I do.”

The longterm goal for Lucid is that West could finance his own builds and offer projects at lower prices around the city, he says. Maybe that’ll happen in two years. Or in four. It depends on the economy. And it’s too early, he says, to say what more attainable prices might be.

“I’d have to see what I can make work numbers-wise when the time comes,” says West.

Below, have a look at renderings for the first two Lucid proposals.

...

MIDTOWN

Size: Four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, 3,560 square feet.

Price: $1.6 million.

Planned to rise on a cleared lot, this home is marketed as having the “absolute highest level finishes and features.” Expect wide-plank hardwoods, hidden kitchen appliances, and a double-height main living area that opens to a landscaped courtyard with a wide fireplace and optional heated pool.

Also next to the (optional) pool, the master bathroom would overlook a walled Japanese garden complete with an outdoor shower.

...

BUCKHEAD

Size: Five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, 4,700 square feet

Price: $2 million

Beyond a three-car garage for a small fleet of luxe rides, perks at this larger option near Chastain Park would include a sculpture main stair, plus a foundation and framing designed by structural engineers to maximize longevity.

Options include a hidden roll-down movie screen for the huge covered porch, an infinity-edge pool, and a safe room.

• 748 Charles Allen Drive NE [Harry Norman Realtors]