Son bedroom
Example of a classic bedroom design in New York

Three-phase renovation of the exterior with 3" rigid insulation, triple-glazed windows, and new fiber-concrete siding; added two bedrooms downstairs; renovated bathroom and laundry; created a 3 season room with long span heavy timber and operable glass wall; 2 ERVs for healthy ventilation and geothermal HVAC. Eliminated the front door and all fossil fuels. Purchase 100% renewable electricity.

Rear New addition added beyond 2 car garage. Framing
Mid-sized arts and crafts gray one-story vinyl and clapboard apartment exterior photo in Boston with a hip roof, a shingle roof and a gray roof

Created a Lanai or Sun Room off the pool. This room had old metal diffacult to use sliders and 2 skylignts. Customer wanted to view grandchildern from this room, but it was too had as West facing. I proposed removing skylights, adding insulation and selecting sun blocking glass and to construct knee walls and install gliding windows to replace fll sized sliders.

Daughter bedroom after
Example of a classic bedroom design in New York

We transformed an outdated porch into a stunning office/sunroom flooded with natural light. With 180 degrees of new windows, enjoy both brightness and improved insulation. Cozy fabric blinds complement the space, while contemporary lighting adds a touch of modern elegance. Preserving the charm of the Brookline brownstone, we installed a sliding door to showcase the beautiful brickwork.

We added a large sun room space, 12' x 24'. Flooded with light from 6 over-sized windows, a sliding door unit, and a main entry door. The insulated interior has painted sheetrock walls, deep window sills and features a v-groove pine-paneled ceiling surrounding a skylight centered over the room.

We transformed an outdated porch into a stunning office/sunroom flooded with natural light. With 180 degrees of new windows, enjoy both brightness and improved insulation. Cozy fabric blinds complement the space, while contemporary lighting adds a touch of modern elegance. Preserving the charm of the Brookline brownstone, we installed a sliding door to showcase the beautiful brickwork.

This back living room makeover was for some of our favorite clients we've worked with before. They have excellent eclectic taste and are so fun to work with! They wanted to makeover their den that was right off the kitchen. They wanted to replace the back patio double door and adjacent windows with a wall of windows. This room was really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter, so proper insulation was a must! The ceiling had reoccurring cracks, that needed repair. We installed energy efficient windows and added insulation in the walls. We fixed the ceiling cracks and repaired it so it wouldn't happen again in the future. A sliding door was added to the drive way side, to mirror the other sliding door, where a window was before. Three large 7' x 6' windows were added along the back of the room, so the homeowners could enjoy their backyard from the comfort of inside their home. The wood beams added a nice contrast to the Benjamin Moore Mt. Rainier Gray paint. The homeowners picked out a really cool Thomas O'Brien 'Ziyi' lighting fixture that hangs above their kitchen table for an eclectic finish to this beautiful space.

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

We added a large sun room space, 12' x 24'. Flooded with light from 6 over-sized windows, a sliding door unit, and a main entry door. The insulated interior has painted sheetrock walls, deep window sills and features a v-groove pine-paneled ceiling surrounding a skylight centered over the room.

Master bath after
Bathroom - traditional bathroom idea in New York

Flavin Architects was chosen for the renovation due to their expertise with Mid-Century-Modern and specifically Henry Hoover renovations. Respect for the integrity of the original home while accommodating a modern family’s needs is key. Practical updates like roof insulation, new roofing, and radiant floor heat were combined with sleek finishes and modern conveniences. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

This back living room makeover was for some of our favorite clients we've worked with before. They have excellent eclectic taste and are so fun to work with! They wanted to makeover their den that was right off the kitchen. They wanted to replace the back patio double door and adjacent windows with a wall of windows. This room was really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter, so proper insulation was a must! The ceiling had reoccurring cracks, that needed repair. We installed energy efficient windows and added insulation in the walls. We fixed the ceiling cracks and repaired it so it wouldn't happen again in the future. A sliding door was added to the drive way side, to mirror the other sliding door, where a window was before. Three large 7' x 6' windows were added along the back of the room, so the homeowners could enjoy their backyard from the comfort of inside their home. The wood beams added a nice contrast to the Benjamin Moore Mt. Rainier Gray paint. The homeowners picked out a really cool Thomas O'Brien 'Ziyi' lighting fixture that hangs above their kitchen table for an eclectic finish to this beautiful space.

This back living room makeover was for some of our favorite clients we've worked with before. They have excellent eclectic taste and are so fun to work with! They wanted to makeover their den that was right off the kitchen. They wanted to replace the back patio double door and adjacent windows with a wall of windows. This room was really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter, so proper insulation was a must! The ceiling had reoccurring cracks, that needed repair. We installed energy efficient windows and added insulation in the walls. We fixed the ceiling cracks and repaired it so it wouldn't happen again in the future. A sliding door was added to the drive way side, to mirror the other sliding door, where a window was before. Three large 7' x 6' windows were added along the back of the room, so the homeowners could enjoy their backyard from the comfort of inside their home. The wood beams added a nice contrast to the Benjamin Moore Mt. Rainier Gray paint. The homeowners picked out a really cool Thomas O'Brien 'Ziyi' lighting fixture that hangs above their kitchen table for an eclectic finish to this beautiful space.

The Huron Bluff Cabin renovation involved the conversion of an existing uninsulated summer cabin to a 4-season luxury family getaway overlooking Lake Huron on a 150’ bluff. While the footprint of the cabin remained unchanged, the roof line was altered to open up a double height living space with a loft and a balcony. The existing wall cavities were insulated and rigid insulation was added to the exterior of the walls and roof. All exterior finishes and windows were replaced and upgraded to exceed energy efficiency standards. Living City Architecture provided complete design services fort his renovation, which was completed in 2017.

MainStreet Design Build installed new lighting, added a gable roof in place of a low pitch shed roof, and added new roof details over the kitchen window. We also completely stripped all exterior asbestos shake shingles that were applied over a concrete stucco, and re-insulated and re-sheathed the entire home. Alicia Gbur Photography

The Huron Bluff Cabin renovation involved the conversion of an existing uninsulated summer cabin to a 4-season luxury family getaway overlooking Lake Huron on a 150’ bluff. While the footprint of the cabin remained unchanged, the roof line was altered to open up a double height living space with a loft and a balcony. The existing wall cavities were insulated and rigid insulation was added to the exterior of the walls and roof. All exterior finishes and windows were replaced and upgraded to exceed energy efficiency standards. Living City Architecture provided complete design services fort his renovation, which was completed in 2017.