The configuration of a structural wall at one end of the bathroom influenced the interior shape of the walk-in steam shower. The corner chases became home to two recessed shower caddies on either side of a niche where a Botticino marble bench resides. The walls are white, highly polished Thassos marble. For the custom mural, Thassos and Botticino marble chips were fashioned into a mosaic of interlocking eternity rings. The basket weave pattern on the shower floor pays homage to the provenance of the house. The linen closet next to the shower was designed to look like it originally resided with the vanity--compatible in style, but not exactly matching. Like so many heirloom cabinets, it was created to look like a double chest with a marble platform between upper and lower cabinets. The upper cabinet doors have antique glass behind classic curved mullions that are in keeping with the eternity ring theme in the shower. Photographer: Peter Rymwid

photo credit: David Gilbert
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A local Houston art collector hired us to create a low maintenance, sophisticated, contemporary landscape design. She wanted her property to compliment her eclectic taste in architecture, outdoor sculpture, and modern art. Her house was built with a minimalist approach to decoration, emphasizing right angles and windows instead of architectural keynotes. The west wing of the house was only one story, while the east wing was two-story. The windows in both wings were larger than usual, so that visitors could see her art collection from the home’s exterior. Near one of the large rear windows, there was an abstract metal sculpture designed in the form of a spiral. When she initially contacted us, the surrounding property had only a few trees and indigenous grass as vegetation. This was actually a good beginning point with us, because it allowed us to develop a contemporary landscape design that featured a very linear, crisp look supportive of the home and its contents. We began by planting a garden around the large contemporary sculpture near the window. Landscape designers planted horsetail reed under windows, along the sides of the home, and around the corners. This vegetation is very resilient and hardy, and requires little trimming, weeding, or mulching. This helped unite the diverse elements of sculpture, contemporary architecture, and landscape design into a more fluid harmony that preserved the proportions of each unique element, but eliminated any tendency for the elements to clash with one another. We then added two stonework designs to the landscape surrounding the contemporary art collection and home. The first was a linear walkway we build from concrete pads purchased through a retail vendor as a cost-saving benefit to our client. We created this walkway to follow the perimeter of the home so that visitors could walk around the entire property and admire the outdoor sculptures and the collections of modern art visible through the windows. This was especially enjoyable at night, when the entire home was brightly lit from within. To add a touch of tranquility and quite repose to the stark right angles of the home and surrounding contemporary landscape, we designed a special seating area toward the northwest corner of the property. We wanted to create a sense of contemplation in this area, so we departed from the linear and angular designs of the surrounding landscape and established a theme of circular geometry. We laid down gravel as ground cover, then placed large, circular pads arranged like giant stepping stones that led up to a stone patio filled with chairs. The shape of the granite pads and the contours of the graveled area further complimented the spirals and turns in the outdoor metal sculpture, and balanced the entire contemporary landscape design with proportional geometric forms of lines, angles, and curves. This particular contemporary landscape design also has a sense of movement attached to it. All stonework leads to a destination of some sort. The linear pathway provides a guided tour around the home, garden, and modern art collection. The granite pathway stones create movement toward separate space where the entire experience of art, vegetation, and architecture can be viewed and experienced as a unity. Contemporary landscaping designs like create form out of feeling by using basic geometric forms and variations of forms. Sometimes very stark forms are used to create a sense of absolutism or contrast. At other times, forms are blended, or even distorted to suggest a sense of complex emotion, or a sense of multi-dimensional reality. The exact nature of the design is always highly subjective, and developed on a case-by-case basis with the client.

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The Peaks View residence is sited near Wilson, Wyoming, in a grassy meadow, adjacent to the Teton mountain range. The design solution for the project had to satisfy two conflicting goals: the finished project must fit seamlessly into a neighborhood with distinctly conservative design guidelines while satisfying the owners desire to create a unique home with roots in the modern idiom.

 Within these constraints, the architect created an assemblage of building volumes to break down the scale of the 6,500 square foot program. A pair of two-story gabled structures present a traditional face to the neighborhood, while the single-story living pavilion, with its expansive shed roof, tilts up to recognize views and capture daylight for the primary living spaces. This trio of buildings wrap around a south-facing courtyard, a warm refuge for outdoor living during the short summer season in Wyoming. Broad overhangs, articulated in wood, taper to thin steel “brim” that protects the buildings from harsh western weather. The roof of the living pavilion extends to create a covered outdoor extension for the main living space. The cast-in-place concrete chimney and site walls anchor the composition of forms to the flat site. The exterior is clad primarily in cedar siding; two types were used to create pattern, texture and depth in the elevations. 
 While the building forms and exterior materials conform to the design guidelines and fit within the context of the neighborhood, the interiors depart to explore a well-lit, refined and warm character. Wood, plaster and a reductive approach to detailing and materials complete the interior expression. Display for a Kimono was deliberately incorporated into the entry sequence. Its influence on the interior can be seen in the delicate stair screen and the language for the millwork which is conceived as simple wood containers within spaces. Ample glazing provides excellent daylight and a connection to the site. Photos: Matthew Millman

The white painted cabinets provide a crisp, timeless look, while the rich stained island provides a welcome contrast to the space. With cabinet heights all the way to the ceiling, these homeowners are provided with additional storage space that visually makes the room feel taller. To read more about this award-winning Normandy Remodeling Kitchen, click here: http://www.normandyremodeling.com/blog/showpiece-kitchen-becomes-award-winning-kitchen

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Peter Murdock
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Kitchen
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Master Bath in a recent renovation by Northwest Heritage Renovations
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Modern details on a traditional farmhouse porch. Whit Preston Photography
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