Current design for a pavilion centered on a beautiful existing outdoor fireplace. Because of a quirk of Arlington’s zoning regulations, a freestanding structure cannot be built within eight feet of the main dwelling. The solution?  Connect a portion of the roof to the house so that it is a part of the main dwelling. This also provides a handy shelter over the outdoor bar on the left. 

 

A further restriction come from the  building code that dictates how close any part of a roof can be to the chimney flue. This would have pushed the ceiling so low as to feel confining.  Our solution was to use a pyramidal roof form that slopes away from the chimney, while holding the whole thing back a few feet from the hearth. A vine-covered trellis shelters this space allowing sunlight to filter through as the chimney rises freely beyond the roof.