Opening of an entrance to a panic room through a hidden door.
Large transitional foyer photo in Salt Lake City

Classic finishes and subtle details create a large walk in closet that is refined and luxurious but also warm and inviting. • Lago® Sorrento finish with Tesoro™ Corsican Weave accents • LED lighting illuminates the space with toe kick lights, wardrobe lights, shelf lights and cubby lights • Backpainted glass waterfall countertop in Bronze Gloss • 5-part Modern Miter doors with clear glass • Aluminum Frame doors with Oil-rubbed Bronze finish and Bronze Gloss backpainted glass • Modern Bronze hardware • Traditional crown molding, fascia and vertical trim add substance to the design • Angled shoe shelves with Oil-rubbed Bronze fences

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

The wrap around porch creates a warm entry to this private home in Sconset, MA
Inspiration for a coastal two-story wood gable roof remodel in Boston

Alcove shower - small contemporary master white tile and glass tile porcelain tile alcove shower idea in Miami with a wall-mount sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, a one-piece toilet and white walls

We swapped the location of the slider and the 3 windows seen on the left of the deck. A slider used to be in place of those windows but was unsafe with no exit and not up to current codes. We saw an opportunity to swap the location of the window and slider. The sink now sits in front of those windows and the slider offers great indoor/outdoor access from the main living area, onto the new deck.

ZeroEnergy Design (ZED) created this modern home for a progressive family in the desirable community of Lexington. Thoughtful Land Connection. The residence is carefully sited on the infill lot so as to create privacy from the road and neighbors, while cultivating a side yard that captures the southern sun. The terraced grade rises to meet the house, allowing for it to maintain a structured connection with the ground while also sitting above the high water table. The elevated outdoor living space maintains a strong connection with the indoor living space, while the stepped edge ties it back to the true ground plane. Siting and outdoor connections were completed by ZED in collaboration with landscape designer Soren Deniord Design Studio. Exterior Finishes and Solar. The exterior finish materials include a palette of shiplapped wood siding, through-colored fiber cement panels and stucco. A rooftop parapet hides the solar panels above, while a gutter and site drainage system directs rainwater into an irrigation cistern and dry wells that recharge the groundwater. Cooking, Dining, Living. Inside, the kitchen, fabricated by Henrybuilt, is located between the indoor and outdoor dining areas. The expansive south-facing sliding door opens to seamlessly connect the spaces, using a retractable awning to provide shade during the summer while still admitting the warming winter sun. The indoor living space continues from the dining areas across to the sunken living area, with a view that returns again to the outside through the corner wall of glass. Accessible Guest Suite. The design of the first level guest suite provides for both aging in place and guests who regularly visit for extended stays. The patio off the north side of the house affords guests their own private outdoor space, and privacy from the neighbor. Similarly, the second level master suite opens to an outdoor private roof deck. Light and Access. The wide open interior stair with a glass panel rail leads from the top level down to the well insulated basement. The design of the basement, used as an away/play space, addresses the need for both natural light and easy access. In addition to the open stairwell, light is admitted to the north side of the area with a high performance, Passive House (PHI) certified skylight, covering a six by sixteen foot area. On the south side, a unique roof hatch set flush with the deck opens to reveal a glass door at the base of the stairwell which provides additional light and access from the deck above down to the play space. Energy. Energy consumption is reduced by the high performance building envelope, high efficiency mechanical systems, and then offset with renewable energy. All windows and doors are made of high performance triple paned glass with thermally broken aluminum frames. The exterior wall assembly employs dense pack cellulose in the stud cavity, a continuous air barrier, and four inches exterior rigid foam insulation. The 10kW rooftop solar electric system provides clean energy production. The final air leakage testing yielded 0.6 ACH 50 - an extremely air tight house, a testament to the well-designed details, progress testing and quality construction. When compared to a new house built to code requirements, this home consumes only 19% of the energy. Architecture & Energy Consulting: ZeroEnergy Design Landscape Design: Soren Deniord Design Paintings: Bernd Haussmann Studio Photos: Eric Roth Photography

Space-saving Stairs have been used widely in Europe for many years and now have become quite popular in the US with the rise of the Tiny House movement. A further boost has been given to the Space-saving staircase with many of the major building codes in the US allowing them. Here's the stair we designed and built for a client who wanted a super-slim, non-intrusive way to access their loft. It's built at the code maximum pitch of 70 degrees and has a 102" overall rise. The build code defines an alternating-tread stair as "A device that has a series of steps between 50 and 70 degrees from level... in an alternating manner so that the user does not have both feet on the same level at the same time." So just think with me; That's how we normally climb stairs isn't it? When we climb a conventional stair, we use half of the step at a time. So the idea of an alternating-tread stair is to save a huge amount of floor space by placing the treads in the position where we would normally place our foot as we climb the staircase. This is a brilliant solution for accessing an upper level when space in tight. Please contact Clyde if you want any type of custom stairs. 520-895-2060 or 916-991-9700

Entrance from Kitchen
Example of a trendy light wood floor and vaulted ceiling foyer design in Charlotte with white walls and a medium wood front door

We swapped the location of the slider and the 3 windows seen on the left of the deck. A slider used to be in place of those windows but was unsafe with no exit and not up to current codes. We saw an opportunity to swap the location of the window and slider. The sink now sits in front of those windows and the slider offers great indoor/outdoor access from the main living area, onto the new deck.

The pool screen cage was removed to allow better access to the pool from all sides. Because of the existing pool location, new codes would not allow standard sconce light fixtures within 5 feet of the pool. With some research, our lighting specialist was able to convert the fixtures to low voltage so the client could retain the fixtures they carefully selected.

We swapped the location of the slider and the 3 windows seen on the left of the deck. A slider used to be in place of those windows but was unsafe with no exit and not up to current codes. We saw an opportunity to swap the location of the window and slider. The sink now sits in front of those windows and the slider offers great indoor/outdoor access from the main living area, onto the new deck.

Rear Patio
Example of a trendy home design design in Charlotte

Plan - D - Includes two entry points, one a pair of double doors for easy access for moving larger musical instruments or furnishings and two a side door entry. For added security and visual privacy, the large double doors are protected by wooden sliding shutters.

Private Stair to Game Room
Trendy wooden u-shaped metal railing staircase photo in Charlotte with wooden risers

The pool screen cage was removed to allow better access to the pool from all sides. Because of the existing pool location, new codes would not allow standard sconce light fixtures within 5 feet of the pool. With some research, our lighting specialist was able to convert the fixtures to low voltage so the client could retain the fixtures they carefully selected.

Bar at Living Room
Example of a trendy loft-style porcelain tile and gray floor living room design in Charlotte with white walls, a standard fireplace, a plaster fireplace and a tv stand

We swapped the location of the slider and the 3 windows seen on the left of the deck. A slider used to be in place of those windows but was unsafe with no exit and not up to current codes. We saw an opportunity to swap the location of the window and slider. The sink now sits in front of those windows and the slider offers great indoor/outdoor access from the main living area, onto the new deck.