Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). This project tests the theory of bringing high quality design to a prefabricated factory setting. Enrolled in the LEED-Home Pilot, this residence completed certification. The modular home was conceived as two boxes that slide above one another to create outdoor living space and a lower covered rear entry. The passive solar design invites large amounts of light from the south while minimizing openings to the east and west. Factory construction saves both time and costs while reducing waste and using a controlled labor force. Built in a factory north of Denver, the home arrived by flatbed truck in two pieces and was craned into place in about 4 hours providing a fast, sustainable, cost effective alternative to traditional homebuilding techniques. Upgraded lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, doors, door hardware, windows, tile and bamboo flooring were incorporated into the design. 80% of the residence was completed in the factory in less than 3 weeks and other items were finished on site including the exterior stucco, garage, metal railing and stair. Stack-Slide-Stitch describes the conceptual process of how to tie together two distinct modular boxes. Stack refers to setting one modular directly on top of the other. Slide refers to the action that creates an upper southern deck area while simultaneously providing a covered rear entry area. The stitching or interlocking occurs with the upward extension of the lower volume with the front deck walls and with the rear two story vertical.

Matthew Millman
Example of a cottage sunroom design in San Francisco with a standard ceiling

Studio Kiva Photography, Breckenridge, CO
Trendy living room photo in Denver

Inspiration for a large transitional master gray tile and stone tile porcelain tile double shower remodel in Los Angeles with raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, an undermount tub, a one-piece toilet, gray walls, an undermount sink and marble countertops

A timber frame porch with a custom-made wooden entry door welcomes guests to the Tom and Melinda Kolar’s lake cabin This Florida couple finds peaceful respite in a hybrid log and timber home on the shores of Tennessee’s Douglas Lake. Melinda is originally from Hendersonville, North Carolina and since leaving she has missed the changing of the seasons that occur there. When Tom and Melinda’s two children both enrolled in Tennessee colleges (son at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and daughter at Carson Newman University) the Kolars decided to look for some property, ideally between the two college towns. They wanted to build a family get-together home for holidays and summers. “What is came down to,” says Tom, “is yes we definitely, went around to a lot of log and timber home builders in the region.” The Kolar’s wanted a rustic-style wooden home not a conventional stick-frame and drywall house. Tom says “Hearthstone was hands down the most professional, and equally important, least pushy of all the companies we met with. They presented their product and building options in a knowledgeable, streamlined manner and escorted us to some of the custom homes they had built nearby. Hearthstone didn’t have to sell u on their product, the craftsmanship spoke for itself.” “We specialist in contracting for out of town clients who need a certain degree of total project management,” says Hearthstone’s Jobe Leonard. “Our design, accounting, construction, and subcontracting services make us unique from other log and timber home producers in the immediate vicinity,” says Leonard. The Kolars aimed to create a family-friendly livable outdoor space that would flow easily from interior to exterior. They chose a large hand-hewn 6”x14” log profile married with a two-story Easter white pine timber frame. The overall process for building the Kolar home went very smoothly. After a two-to-three-month design process, the foundation construction was started. The Kolar’s really appreciated the streamlined fashion in which the project unfolded. Melinda furnished the lake house with a mix of antiques and rustic furniture from nearby towns such as Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Now, their family enjoys spending time here during all four seasons. Melinda and Tom say there is one thing they are certain of: If another wood home project is in the picture, they have their log and timber company already figured out.

Small vintage sconces in Jean Royere style over the contemporary console table.
Hallway - mid-sized transitional hallway idea in New York with gray walls

Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). This project tests the theory of bringing high quality design to a prefabricated factory setting. Enrolled in the LEED-Home Pilot, this residence completed certification. The modular home was conceived as two boxes that slide above one another to create outdoor living space and a lower covered rear entry. The passive solar design invites large amounts of light from the south while minimizing openings to the east and west. Factory construction saves both time and costs while reducing waste and using a controlled labor force. Built in a factory north of Denver, the home arrived by flatbed truck in two pieces and was craned into place in about 4 hours providing a fast, sustainable, cost effective alternative to traditional homebuilding techniques. Upgraded lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, doors, door hardware, windows, tile and bamboo flooring were incorporated into the design. 80% of the residence was completed in the factory in less than 3 weeks and other items were finished on site including the exterior stucco, garage, metal railing and stair. Stack-Slide-Stitch describes the conceptual process of how to tie together two distinct modular boxes. Stack refers to setting one modular directly on top of the other. Slide refers to the action that creates an upper southern deck area while simultaneously providing a covered rear entry area. The stitching or interlocking occurs with the upward extension of the lower volume with the front deck walls and with the rear two story vertical.

ARCHITECTURE: Honor Award PROJECT: Cathedral Campus CLIENT: Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston ARCHITECTURE FIRM: Strada Architecture, LLC ENGINEERS: Allen & Shariff; Atlantic Engineering Services; Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering, Inc. CONTRACTORS: JD&E PHOTOGRAPHER: Dennis Marisco DESCRIPTION: The Cathedral Campus project is an exercise in campus place making, which created a new administrative and religious center for the Diocese of Wheeling/Charleston. An opportunity for a makeover emerged when the parish school was closed due to low enrollment. The final result combines selective demolition, adaptive reuse of historic structures, and strategic additions to establish a new religious place focused on the historic St. Joseph’s Cathedral. JURY COMMENTS: While in some ways this project seems very basic, it is deceptively so. Its details, materials, and spaces – both internal and external – are rich and sophisticated. The building is strong and very comfortable in its response at an urban scale, just as it is very successful at the detail scale. It demonstrates a great understanding of the campus by removing those parts that do not work and creating a beautiful courtyard that enhances all of the surrounding buildings. The glass and metal façade, while modern, continues the lines of the brick buildings next to it and fits masterfully. Beautiful landscape work too!

SqFt Photography
Inspiration for a transitional kitchen remodel in Nashville

Example of a mid-sized classic backyard tile patio design in Austin with a roof extension

Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). This project tests the theory of bringing high quality design to a prefabricated factory setting. Enrolled in the LEED-Home Pilot, this residence completed certification. The modular home was conceived as two boxes that slide above one another to create outdoor living space and a lower covered rear entry. The passive solar design invites large amounts of light from the south while minimizing openings to the east and west. Factory construction saves both time and costs while reducing waste and using a controlled labor force. Built in a factory north of Denver, the home arrived by flatbed truck in two pieces and was craned into place in about 4 hours providing a fast, sustainable, cost effective alternative to traditional homebuilding techniques. Upgraded lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, doors, door hardware, windows, tile and bamboo flooring were incorporated into the design. 80% of the residence was completed in the factory in less than 3 weeks and other items were finished on site including the exterior stucco, garage, metal railing and stair. Stack-Slide-Stitch describes the conceptual process of how to tie together two distinct modular boxes. Stack refers to setting one modular directly on top of the other. Slide refers to the action that creates an upper southern deck area while simultaneously providing a covered rear entry area. The stitching or interlocking occurs with the upward extension of the lower volume with the front deck walls and with the rear two story vertical.

SqFt Photography
Example of a transitional living room design in Nashville

Dale was chosen to participate in the 2013 Hampton Designer Showhouse, sponsored by Traditional Home Magazine, because she has built a reputation for precise, elegant, and livable design work in Manhattan. The challenge of the showhouse, essentially a blank canvas with an imaginary client, was not beyond her. The room she was given is the Terrace Level Lounge; she chose a program to embrace a burgeoning art collection, and devise areas of repose to enjoy the work. And Ms. Cohen’s early training as a painter and photographer clearly are clearly a great asset in this particular room. Her method is to analyze the room as an architectural proposition. A Yale Architectural School graduate, she is able to cast a few intelligent moves to make the room a stage rather than a hallway. Creating a platform for her creative collaboration and designing the Monumental Lantern with artist John Houshmand. The seating areas are a series of compressed compositions with shapes and forms of chairs, a Minotti sofa, a Valerie Goodman Gallery coffee table, and the Holland and Sherry geometric throw pillows that evoke the early modernist paintings of Jean Arp. Accented by ceiling panels covered in a Maharam wallpaper. Her next big move was enrolling the work of artist and furniture maker John Houshmand. Ms. Cohen thrives on creative collaboration and designing the Monumental Lantern that with Houshmand, that she boldly placed in one entire corner of the room. Few designers would welcome a giant rough sawn luminaire but Ms. Cohen’s early apprenticeship with Richard Serra is evident in this wonderful juxtaposition of scale. Ms. Cohen’s reputation as a brave designer has been established with the inclusion of Houshmand’s piece. Ms. Cohen’s method is to analyze the room as an architectural proposition. A Yale Architectural School graduate, she is able to cast a few intelligent moves to make the room a stage rather than a hallway. The stairway was divided into two events, one behind a scrim and the other revealed. This gave the sitting area a theatrical backdrop as well as choreographing a Hollywood-style entrance for the visitor walking down the stairs. In fact Ms. Cohen uses a series of fabric backdrops throughout the space to denote different spatial conditions. The color palette, if said aloud, is the prototypical Hamptons beach house cheery; though Ms. Cohen’s take is altogether different. With a sea blue as her base, she treats the envelope of the space with tinted whites and grays, and just as you are comfortable with this resolve she infuses the space with drops of chartreuse. The optic shock of an electric green is a sign of strength in Ms. Cohen’s tool box. The result is a perfect balance of whimsy and sophistication. Whimsy, bravery, and compositional sophistication will not be evident or sufficient without Ms. Cohen’s razor sharp rigor. Her attention to detail is what makes one want to sit in the Fritz Hansen chair, under the reading light, with cashmere throw at its side. Ms. Cohen’s embrace of the luxury of detail is what makes for valuable moments in the design world and what sets her work apart.

Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). This project tests the theory of bringing high quality design to a prefabricated factory setting. Enrolled in the LEED-Home Pilot, this residence completed certification. The modular home was conceived as two boxes that slide above one another to create outdoor living space and a lower covered rear entry. The passive solar design invites large amounts of light from the south while minimizing openings to the east and west. Factory construction saves both time and costs while reducing waste and using a controlled labor force. Built in a factory north of Denver, the home arrived by flatbed truck in two pieces and was craned into place in about 4 hours providing a fast, sustainable, cost effective alternative to traditional homebuilding techniques. Upgraded lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, doors, door hardware, windows, tile and bamboo flooring were incorporated into the design. 80% of the residence was completed in the factory in less than 3 weeks and other items were finished on site including the exterior stucco, garage, metal railing and stair. Stack-Slide-Stitch describes the conceptual process of how to tie together two distinct modular boxes. Stack refers to setting one modular directly on top of the other. Slide refers to the action that creates an upper southern deck area while simultaneously providing a covered rear entry area. The stitching or interlocking occurs with the upward extension of the lower volume with the front deck walls and with the rear two story vertical.

New England Ranch Remodel This rambling mid-century house in Andover, MA was designed in 1952 by William Hajjar. Hajjar graduated from MIT in 1942, 40 years before Flavin Architects' founding principal, Colin Flavin enrolled there. In addition to his focus on designing houses, Hajjar was also active in research, and developed double glass curtain walls, an early innovation in making buildings more energy efficient. Our client had outgrown the original single-story house, and our challenge was to add a second floor without losing the low-slung character of the original massing. Our addition is set discretely at the rear of the house away from the street. We extended a rectangular bay window up to the new second floor, linking the new to the existing. To reach the second floor, we designed a new steel stair that wraps around the home’s original massive bluestone fireplace The second floor includes a master bedroom suite and study. The exterior color scheme is a striking contrast of charcoal siding and white painted concrete masonry units. In keeping with the spirit of Hajjar’s vision of energy efficient housing, the home features a generous number of south-facing windows to maximize passive solar light and heat.

New England Ranch Remodel This rambling mid-century house in Andover, MA was designed in 1952 by William Hajjar. Hajjar graduated from MIT in 1942, 40 years before Flavin Architects' founding principal, Colin Flavin enrolled there. In addition to his focus on designing houses, Hajjar was also active in research, and developed double glass curtain walls, an early innovation in making buildings more energy efficient. Our client had outgrown the original single-story house, and our challenge was to add a second floor without losing the low-slung character of the original massing. Our addition is set discretely at the rear of the house away from the street. We extended a rectangular bay window up to the new second floor, linking the new to the existing. To reach the second floor, we designed a new steel stair that wraps around the home’s original massive bluestone fireplace The second floor includes a master bedroom suite and study. The exterior color scheme is a striking contrast of charcoal siding and white painted concrete masonry units. In keeping with the spirit of Hajjar’s vision of energy efficient housing, the home features a generous number of south-facing windows to maximize passive solar light and heat.

Project by Studio H:T principal in charge Brad Tomecek (now with Tomecek Studio Architecture). This project tests the theory of bringing high quality design to a prefabricated factory setting. Enrolled in the LEED-Home Pilot, this residence completed certification. The modular home was conceived as two boxes that slide above one another to create outdoor living space and a lower covered rear entry. The passive solar design invites large amounts of light from the south while minimizing openings to the east and west. Factory construction saves both time and costs while reducing waste and using a controlled labor force. Built in a factory north of Denver, the home arrived by flatbed truck in two pieces and was craned into place in about 4 hours providing a fast, sustainable, cost effective alternative to traditional homebuilding techniques. Upgraded lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, doors, door hardware, windows, tile and bamboo flooring were incorporated into the design. 80% of the residence was completed in the factory in less than 3 weeks and other items were finished on site including the exterior stucco, garage, metal railing and stair. Stack-Slide-Stitch describes the conceptual process of how to tie together two distinct modular boxes. Stack refers to setting one modular directly on top of the other. Slide refers to the action that creates an upper southern deck area while simultaneously providing a covered rear entry area. The stitching or interlocking occurs with the upward extension of the lower volume with the front deck walls and with the rear two story vertical.

SqFt Photography
Inspiration for a transitional family room remodel in Nashville

New England Ranch Remodel This rambling mid-century house in Andover, MA was designed in 1952 by William Hajjar. Hajjar graduated from MIT in 1942, 40 years before Flavin Architects' founding principal, Colin Flavin enrolled there. In addition to his focus on designing houses, Hajjar was also active in research, and developed double glass curtain walls, an early innovation in making buildings more energy efficient. Our client had outgrown the original single-story house, and our challenge was to add a second floor without losing the low-slung character of the original massing. Our addition is set discretely at the rear of the house away from the street. We extended a rectangular bay window up to the new second floor, linking the new to the existing. To reach the second floor, we designed a new steel stair that wraps around the home’s original massive bluestone fireplace The second floor includes a master bedroom suite and study. The exterior color scheme is a striking contrast of charcoal siding and white painted concrete masonry units. In keeping with the spirit of Hajjar’s vision of energy efficient housing, the home features a generous number of south-facing windows to maximize passive solar light and heat.