Close up of the black exterior window sill and trim and beautiful hand-dipped cedar shake siding. Photo by: Brice Ferre
Inspiration for a rustic brown two-story wood exterior home remodel in Vancouver with a clipped gable roof

Around the corner, the box for the office window becomes bay windows on the south wall.
Example of a trendy shed design in Austin

Exterior forms are emphasized with glass and fiber-cement panels at the top level, soaring over and sheltering containers clad in tougher, leathery Corten Steel at the ground level. Exposed concrete walls and rock-filled gabion retaining was selected to anchor the partially day-lighted basement level and garages to the land. Materials were chosen to be low-maintenance, relatively inexpensive, and to contrast the volumes that express the interior spaces.

Barn Pros Arched Top Interior Barn Door Five door styles available in standard widths (30", 36", 42", 48") and heights (81", 85", 97") with custom sizes available by special order. Proudly made in the USA - these doors ship for a $50 flat rate fee in the continental US. Fully Assembled and unfinished 2-1/4" thickness (at thickest width) Made from Pacific Northwest Douglas Fir Easy to follow installation instructions are included with track hardware Optional sliding track hardware packages available.

The FINNE Svendsen Building is a striking and highly energy-efficient loft building in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. The design and building process was unusual, since architect Nils Finne was both designer and builder owner. The client-architect meetings were brief! The building occupies a corner lot, with street facades on the south and west. The two street facades have a nuanced play of light and shadow. The walls of glass and wood are treated as folded planes, with each façade folding back and forth within an overall depth dimension of about 10”. On floors one and three, the large glass panels project forward, while on floor two, the glass is recessed. The pattern on floor two is an inverted version of floors one and three. The wood spandrel panels are custom-milled Western Red Cedar with a blackened stain. The live-work building creates large, open loft spaces on three floors, with high ceilings, huge windows and exposed long-span steel structure. The building can accommodate a range of uses, both present and future. The three floors of the building have 12-ft ceilings and 11-ft high windows with exposed structural steel supports and steel decking ceilings. The floors are clear-span without internal columns interrupting the work space. Mechanical air distribution is limited to the linear core on the northern side of the building, so work areas have clean metal decking ceilings with no ductwork. The building has in-floor radiant heating and cooling, resulting in minimal energy usage. Operating windows are placed strategically throughout the façade, allowing the building to be naturally ventilated in Seattle’s mild climate. The oversized window walls on the south and west also allow natural lighting to penetrate deeply onto the floor plate, keeping lights turned off for much of the daylight hours. A custom sapele wood front door presents a warm contrast to the building’s blackened wood cladding. A delicate screen of wood slats filters light into the main building lobby. The 3-story stair opens directly from the lobby and has been designed to encourage use on a daily basis, keeping elevator usage to a minimum. A three-story glass wall floods the stairwell with natural light, and the all-steel stair floats in the space. Custom-designed perforations in the steel stair railing panels provide unexpected shadow patterns when the late-afternoon sun shines into the stairwell. The building was designed to be a sustainable structure from the start, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, LED lighting, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance Low-E insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. The building roof has been equipped with photovoltaic panels for electrical production, averaging about 850 Kwh per year. The modest initial amount of PV panels will be expanded over time. The radiant hydronic heating and cooling system allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The 6” thick concrete slabs for the radiant tubes conserve both heat in the winter and cooling in the summer and provide great comfort for the feet. During the winter months, the radiant heating system keeps overall energy consumption to a very low level. The 9000 SF building costs about $35/month to heat! During the summer, the passive strategies of natural ventilation combine with the radiant slab cooling to minimize air conditioning load. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are also used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into work spaces and passively warm the concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the building. The high level of craft evident in the building reflects another key principle of sustainable design: eschew “throw-away-ism” and make the building last many years!

Cascading water and landscaping flank a large wood slab entry door. Our design incorporated an operable Ipe wood screening system allowing natural light to filter into the space, much the experience of standing within a grove of Redwood Trees MAKE Architecture | www.makearch.com | 323-669-0278

Tom Arban Photography
Pool - large modern backyard stone and custom-shaped indoor pool idea in Toronto

Example of a mountain style patio design in Atlanta

Designed by our friends at Moody Landscape Architecture, we were excited to build this small, highly detailed, contemporary garden for them and their client. This small courtyard garden was completely transformed with a new mahogany deck with cable railing, western red cedar fence, new bluestone patio, and perennial plantings. Landscape Architecture - Moody Landscape Architecture (moodyla.com) Landscape Contractor - Till Gardens (tillgardens.com - 201.767.5858)

Casey Dunn
Example of a 1950s home design design in Austin

This is an example of a large traditional front yard concrete paver driveway in Dallas.

Modern exterior home idea in San Diego

Heidi A. Long
Example of a small mountain style exterior home design

© Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Trendy home design photo in New York

Inspiration for a coastal deck remodel in Vancouver

The deck detail includes modern angles and elevations. Photo: Tyler Chartier
Inspiration for a large contemporary backyard deck remodel in San Francisco

plywood marks the asymmetrical side entry at the new black-clad addition, allowing access to the rear of the home from the driveway
Small beach style concrete floor and gray floor vestibule photo in Orange County with black walls and a medium wood front door

LFE Photography; www.photosbylfe.com
Rustic exterior home idea in Austin

1x6 tongue and groove soffit, with Hardie artisan siding
Inspiration for a contemporary porch remodel in Austin