MONTH December 2011
Progress at our custom prefab Lincoln House
We are thrilled to be able to update you all on the progress being made at our modern custom prefab house in Lincoln, MA. All of the double height windows are installed at the two-storey-high living room and stair hall, eight 6×6 steel columns have been carefully inserted around the double height spaces, the Nanawall doors are installed between the dining room and screened porch, the roof and skylights are complete and water tight, and there has been a ton of plumbing, electrical, HVAC (geothermal), and listening room work performed inside. Exterior siding will start being installed this week, so everyone is hoping for continued un-seasonably-warm weather, and looking forward to the green zip-system sheathing to be covered in cedar! FOMA (Friends of Modern Architecture in Lincoln) should be pleased that the house is suitably modern, as they required during permitting; how wonderful (and unusual!) for a town to take a stand against cookie-cutter-McMansions! Check out the photos below, and let us know what you think!
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- The front of the house, seen from the street. On the right are the double height living room and stair hall, and on the left is the guest room, with the exterior roof deck between.
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- A closer look at the double height windows at the living room and stair hall. The new windows will bring much-needed sunlight deep into the main living spaces, and will also allow expansive views to the outside from the top floor home office.
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- On the side of the house, a tall window defines the two-storey living room, a large picture window defines the dining room, and a long low window defines the upstairs home office; each window is customized for its space and function.
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- Barely visible in the shadow of the screened porch is a twenty-one foot wide Nanawall door system that will allow continuous passage between the porch and dining room, blurring the line between inside and outside. The screened porch will also have a sculptural fireplace for three-season use.
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- On the north side of the house, the study / listening room volume cantilevers beyond the screened porch, with the master suite extending out to the west. The collage of volumes breaks down the overall mass of the house, helps visually “lock” the house into its landscape, and marks the original factory-built modules.
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- Off of the master suite will be a sculpted rock garden, designed by the landscape architect, Matthew Cunningham; you can see an earlier rendering of this garden, as well as Matthew’s plan, on our April 11, 2011 blog post.
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- At the west end of the house, a window in the master bedroom looks deep into the property, with lovely views of the woods.
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- Tis the season!
We are proud members of the 1%, but before anyone gets upset, we are not talking about vast, personal wealth (au contraire!), but about the program founded in 2005 by Public Architecture with support from a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. Public Architecture is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in San Francisco, and The 1% program encourages pro bono service within the architecture and design professions, and helps connect architects and non-profits. Their inspiration is that “if every architecture professional in the US committed 1% of their time to pro bono service, it would add up to 5,000,000 hours annually – the equivalent of a 2,500-person firm, working full time for the public.” We renew our commitment to meet our part of this goal annually.
As we have shared in earlier posts, we’ve provided the bulk of our pro-bono support over the past four years to the Hawai’i Wildlife Center on the Big Island of Hawai’i. (See previous posts from November, August, May, and March). We have proudly contributed over 2,000 hours of our time – a true labor of love / aloha! – not to mention all the time donated by our affiliated architectural and engineering partners in Hawaii. How did our efforts help this non-profit? Our early design digital modeling and renderings allowed this under-funded non-profit to leverage its fundraising position by illustrating a serious, well designed facility, attracting substantial public and private support without the aid of a professional fund-raising team, and in the midst a deep recession. With those early funds, the HWC was able to build the building shell and landscaping, and the building itself – the physical embodiment and symbol of the center – became a compelling fund raising tool, its image and the progress giving additional donors the confidence that the HWC was worthy of their support, allowing the HWC to raise additional funds for the labs and interior finishes, fittings and equipment. In a very real sense, the donated architectural services made the mission of this non-profit possible, not just affordable.
As our fellow professionals in medicine and law work for health and justice for the underserved, we believe that architects have an obligation to ensure that a well designed, sustainable environment should not be a privilege reserved only for the wealthy (the other 1%!). As we complete our work in Hawaii, we’re actively looking for another great fit for our interests and abilities. We’d love to have you recommend any New England organizations that could use our design help to further their mission! Please do let us know if you have any non-profits near and dear to you that you think could benefit from our efforts by commenting below.
We’re nearing completion of a renovation to a large apartment in a mid-rise Boston building. As with all of our projects, a number of larger design goals were established early on for this residence, and subsequent details and decisions were made to bring the design vision to fruition. One of the primary goals of the design was to illuminate the entry level, just inside the front door, by cutting away floor structure and borrowing as much light as possible from a glassy penthouse above. The entry space would be bright, uncluttered, and welcoming. The newly created light wells form a bridge on the upper level, which unfortunately could not be centered above a door to an existing private study below. To make matters worse, the study door could not be moved either. This juxtaposition is quite prominent, and the distracting misalignment was driving us crazy.
Finally, we understood that we could create a balanced arrangement of flush painted wall panels to align with the bridge. The study door is then completely disguised through some careful detailing and spring-loaded hinges. Problem solved. Added bonus: who wouldn’t want a secret study?
The existing study door looking forlorn and awkward under a new bridge.
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- The door now paneled, with matching panels to its right and left.
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- Entry is restricted to those who know the right spot to push.
Upstairs / Downstairs, a Modern Makeover in the Historic South End
Bigger is not always better. One of our favorite current projects under construction is also one of our smallest. For this two-story unit in an urban row house, we were asked to find a way to better connect the upper level entry to the lower level main living spaces. Budget and logistics precluded anything drastic, and happily, this is a case where a few architectural tweaks can go a long way. We’ve kept the original stair structure, but resurfaced the stair treads with a new chunky profile, to be stained a rich gray/brown. The outside wall of the stair is being re-surfaced with large-scaled, floating panels, to visually connect the two stories with one common element. On the upper level, the entry hall will feel much larger after we replace a solid half wall with a glass and stainless steel railing. Downstairs, the wall supporting the stair is being re-clad with a custom patterned “clapboard” which aligns with the steps and conceals closet doors. LED lighting strategically placed between the clapboards will add some evening sparkle.
We’ll keep you posted as the project progresses! In the meantime, let us know what you think!
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- The existing stair seen from the lower level living room is closed in with a solid plastered parapet.
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- The original view from the front door doesn’t do a good job of leading the eye – or the body – to the lower living spaces.
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- This image from a digital model shows the design for the same wall as is shown above.
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- A new glass railing and modern panels on the side wall will make the two levels feel bigger and better connected.
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- Here, the new stair treads lock into the grooves of the re-clad side wall.
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- The grooved side wall has deep inset shadow reveals, some of which terminate in little acrylic “windows” with LED lighting.
